Organisation
It’s hard for us to imagine what it would be like to be unable to communicate with our family, friends, schoolmates or colleagues: it’s a gift many of us take for granted. But verbal communication is a struggle that many children with cerebral palsy face every day of their lives. And that is exactly what the Cerebral Palsy Education Centre (CPEC) in Melbourne has dedicated the past 17 years to alleviate.
CPEC in Melbourne is a specialized education and early-learning centre that supports children with cerebral palsy and their families. Its vision is to empower people with the knowledge, skills and support they require to achieve their goals. The centre supports children from birth to 18 years, and is the only specialised centre of its kind in Australia. CPEC’s unique programs and services are literally ‘Learning for Life’.
Business Need
The centre’s staff of 35 includes physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech pathologists along with an administration and fundraising team. Together they support over 100 children and their families in a number of ways.
The therapists help children within the centre as well as outside it. They visit each child at their home, school, and key community environments and work to ensure they can interact, learn and socialise to the best of their abilities. The centre also has a well-equipped Technology Assessment Room where families can trial new cutting-edge communication technologies to assess their suitability before committing to their own purchases
Every child learns the best way to express themselves and their needs. CPEC’s speech pathologists are highly skilled in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems, which include electronic speech generating devices (such as computers with attached voice synthesizers) or devices that use the eyes to track letters and symbols.
Solution
Microsoft, via Connecting Up, has been donating its software solutions to CPEC since 2007. With the on-going donation program, the centre can rest assured that it has the latest office management, project management and network management tools – from Office Professional Plus 2013 to Visio.
According to the CPEC’s Administration Manager, Sue Kennedy, the donations take the pressure off keeping up-to-date with new software launches. “I now don’t have to panic when there’s an upgrade. Microsoft’s contribution not only saves a lot of worry but also time – I otherwise would have to try and source new software from other places such as retailers.”
Results
When it comes to technology, CPEC isn’t just looking to increase office efficiency, or get the latest server software (but of course that helps enormously). It’s much, much more important than that. Technology for the children and families that CPEC helps opens up doors that would otherwise be shut – it allows them to communicate and participate in life.
IT helps the centre’s operations in three ways. Firstly, as the therapists are often on the road it allows them to stay connected. Secondly, the centre’s network represents the backbone of its operations. Finally, the centre’s Technology Assessment Room uses laptops to show the possibilities of the latest communication solutions to children and parents.
For the therapists, staying connected with the centre and its resources is vital. The Microsoft Office Suite supports their flexible work styles, while Windows Remote Desktop Services enable them to remotely execute applications on the centre’s Window server.
Moreover, up-to-date versions of Microsoft software allow them to show technology in action - to parents, children and to schools. “It’s important that we present a working solution to them so everyone can see it in action,” said Sue. “The Microsoft applications allow us to do this." Although the centre is a not-for-profit organization, it is still a business, and according to Sue, like any business, it must be managed efficiently and cost effectively.
The Microsoft Office suites and Windows operating systems provide consistency and continuity for all computers within CPEC, which allows the management team to focus less on IT and more on helping the children. “Without the affordable resources offered through the Microsoft program we would never have been able to achieve many of our organization’s goals”, she said.
But where the Microsoft donations are worth their weight in gold is in the Technology Assessment Room. It’s here that parents and children alike learn how the Microsoft Office suite provides an interface between the AAC technologies that the children rely on with desktop and laptop PCs and mobile devices.
For example, when the children have a lesson or project in school, they will be able to create a Word document that can be read by their teachers and classmates. They also learn how to reach out to the rest of the world – to use the Internet, to send emails, search the Web, and interact with others on social media.