b-Calm Focus Group Results
We’re excited to share with you the excellent feedback we received during our recent focus group meeting.
First a bit of background information:
In the Fall of ‘08 b-Calm donated the use of a prototype AudioSedation device to a small elementary school in a nearby school district. We were prompted by comments from the parent of a young autistic boy that our AudioSedation sound tracks might be advantageous to ASD and ADHD individuals.
Immediately, our first evaluator saw excellent results. We included some of her comments in a previous post. With that feedback we launched a school district wide trail that saw b-Calm units go into 6 different elementary schools across the district.
Immediately we began to see very positive results. With both ADHD and ASD students, teachers were able to quicly and easily put b-Calm to work and see increased student performance and participation in school activities. The evaluation continues and we continue to receive very encouraging results. While not all students respond to AudioSedation, it’s simple application and broad appeal have made it a valuable tool.
Back to the focus group:
The focus group this past Tuesday was the chance for b-Calm designers to hear first hand the results of b-Calms use in the elementary education environment. Overwhelmingly, positive comments were received as well as suggestions for further features and options that would add to the effectiveness and ease of use. Instances where b-Calm was ineffective were addressed and discussed.
Key Focus Group Comments:
Teachers found substantive improvement in attention to individual work for a majority of students.
Work with ASD students showed improved participation and reductions in behavioral issues.
The hardware provide was effective and easy to use.
Students were not stigmatized for their use of b-Calm in general education classes.
The key challenge posed to b-Calm engineers was to continue to improve and diversify the AudioSedation tracks so that they could better address the specific needs of autistic students.
We’re thankful for the opportunity to work with these teachers and will look forward to the additional feedback they can provide. Be watching our User Reviews page for evaluation data as it becomes available!
b-Calm™ Focus Group
We have a meeting this coming Tuesday (1/20/09) with our Teacher Focus Group. We’re looking forward to hearing from all of the elementary teachers who have been using the b-Calm™ with various ADHD and/or ASD students. We’re excited to gather feedback from these teachers about the b-Calm™ and the effects they have seen it have with their students and in their classrooms as a whole. We hope to learn much from this feedback and begin to meet with others within the educational field as we move closer to our February 2009 launch date.
