
Change Makers: A Podcast from APH
Change Makers: A Podcast from APH
Monarch Programs and Resources for Young Adults
On this episode, we are talking about some exciting programs and resources for the Monarch. This is exciting because these programs help expand the Monarch’s reach for older children and young adults.
The portion of this podcast related to the Monarch RISE project was developed under a grant number H21F240052 from the Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. (Authority: 20 U.S.C. §§ 1221e-3 and 3474). 100% of the total costs of APH’s DIF-F project will be financed by the $10 million grant. No percentage of the total costs of the project will be financed by non-governmental sources.
On this Episode (In Order of Appearance)
- Sarah Gauer, APH Monarch Student Pilot Project Manager
- Erin Sigmund, APH Community Relations, DIF Fund Grant Policy Advisor Project Director
- Richard Rueda, Assistant Director of the ConnectCenter and DIF Fund Grant Project Coordinator
Additional Links
- APH X (Formerly Twitter)
- APH Facebook
- Email Monarch RISE
- Monarch RISE: Resources for Inclusion, Skills, and Employment
- 84.421F: DIF - Creating a 21st Century Workforce of Youth and Adults with Disabilities Through the Transformation of Education, Career, and Competitive Integrated Employment
- Email Change Makers
<silence> Welcome to Change Makers , a podcast from APH. We're talking to people from around the world who are creating positive change in the lives of people who are blind or have low vision. Here's your host.
Sara Brown:Hello, and welcome to Change Makers. Also, happy New Year. On this episode, we are talking about some exciting programs and resources for The Monarch. This is an exciting time because these programs help expand the monarch's reach for older children and young adults. Up first, we're gonna learn about the Monarch Student Pilot project. I have APH's. Monarch student pilot project manager, Sarah Gauer, here to tell us more. Hello, Sara, and welcome to Change Makers .
Sarah Gauer:Hi, Sarah . Thanks for having me. It's great to be here.
Sara Brown:And can you just share what it is that you do at APH for our listeners?
Sarah Gauer:Absolutely. I've been with APH for a little over six years in the customer experience department, and I started off as our order entry person, but since then I've been kind of a jack of all trades. I've done some of the everyday customer service work, like answering calls and emails. I've been in a supervisor role for part of the team, and I've also spent a lot of time working on our internal processes, working on the documentation improvement and training. Um, and then most recently I've been honored to lead the design and implementation of the Monarch Student Pilot Project.
Sara Brown:Perfect. Which is exactly what we're talking about today. So tell us about the Monarch Student Pilot Program. You know, what it is, who it's for, for those who might not know.
Sarah Gauer:Sure. I , I'm guessing a lot of your listeners are probably already familiar with the Monarch, but for those that don't know , um, the Monarch is a 10 line, 32 cell refreshable braille display with equidistant pins. It's going to be transformative for the field of braille literacy. Readers will finally have the option to read a book and look at its graphics all on one device. They'll even be able to zoom in on those graphics for more details. And the Monarch isn't just a braille display, it's also a word processor, a library, a , uh, graphing calculator. You can even play chess on it. So it has the power to open up whole new avenues for folks. Um, so the Monarch Student Pilot Project will be providing these incredible devices to roughly a hundred students free of charge to utilize in their classrooms and homes.
Sara Brown:What's the goal of this project?
Sarah Gauer:So the Pilot Project, it has two overarching goals. First, we really just want to get Monarchs into the hands of as many students as possible. Uh, this device is going to be transformative for how a student gets to engage in their classroom materials. It's going to dramatically decrease the time between transcription and getting it to a student's fingertips. Uh, students will also be able to access things like the tactile graphics image library and feel empowered to explore academic interests on their own. And then for educators, the Monarch could open up whole new avenues for how they teach their students. And those last minute lesson plan changes will likely be significantly easier to cope with. Um, so for all these reasons, we're really excited to get this device into the hands of as many students as possible. But the , uh, project's second goal is to gather feedback from all of these participants. Um, as part of the project, the students and their educators will complete a series of questionnaires about their experiences using the Monarch. We're eager to hear about how the Monarch is being utilized in the classroom, what's been impactful , um, things that the participants like or dislike and where the Monarch can be improved
Sara Brown:And that ever so important feedback. Will it be incorporated into future Monarch materials?
Sarah Gauer:Absolutely. The feedback we gather in the Monarch Student Pilot Project will be instrumental in the future of the Monarch. Ultimately, the Monarch is for the end user. So the most important place for us to get feedback from are those end users. Um, they are the experts in what they want and what they need the Monarch to do for them. So we would be fools not to scoop up every nugget of wisdom that they have to offer us.
Sara Brown:Absolutely. And you get a lot of wisdom and feedback and a lot of things you might not have ever thought of, and that Absolutely, that's critical feedback. Now, for those who missed out on this first round, will there be a second , um, Student Pilot Program?
Sarah Gauer:We really hope so. Um, teams of folks at APH are working to secure more funding for this project. The more of these devices we can get in the hands of students means the better an outcome for students . And that's the real endeavor here . So yes , with any luck , there will be many more campaigns for the Monarch Student Pilot Project in the future.
Sara Brown:Okay. For the second round of the student pilot project, is there a way people can stay connected and keep informed on, you know, when it's time to possibly sign up for this project again?
Sarah Gauer:Yes. I would recommend signing up for a's newsletter and also following APH on social media. If we get to open up a second round of nominations, we will definitely be making several announcements to let folks know,
Sara Brown:And that's great to hear. And I will put links in our show notes to our various social programs, social media programs. So if and when the next round for the Monarch Student Pilot Project is announced, listeners can just go to our social media channels and learn how to sign up. Sarah , thank you so much for joining me today on Change Makers.
Sarah Gauer:Thanks so much, Sara.
Sara Brown:And I've put links in the show notes to a's social media channels, so definitely check those channels from time to time to see if there is an alert or call for more participants. Now we're talking about another exciting development for the Monarch American Printing. House For the Blind is pleased to announce it's the recipient of a five year , $10 million federal grant. Here to tell us more is Community Relations Policy advisor, project director for the DIF Fund Grant. Erin Sigmund and assistant director of the ConnectCenter and Project coordinator for the DIF Fund Grant, Richard Rueda. Hello, Erin and hello Richard, and welcome to Changemakers.
Richard Rueda:Good morning, Sara.
Erin Sigmund:Hi . Good morning Sara. Glad to be here.
Sara Brown:<laugh> . Great. Now before we get going, would you like to just introduce yourself and let our listeners know what it is that you do at APH?
Erin Sigmund:I'll jump in first. My name is Erin Sigmund. I'm the Community Relations and Policy Advisor here at a h and I'm also the project director for the Disability Innovation Fund Project, which you'll be hearing a little bit more about today.
Richard Rueda:And yes, my name is Richard Rueda. I am the Assistant Director with the APH ConnectCenter, and I'm happy to be here. I'm also a part of the DIF Innovation Fund project.
Sara Brown:Wonderful. Now tell us about this federal grant and what program APH is creating and why it's so exciting and new for APH
Richard Rueda:Ab . Absolutely. Sara, the Monarch RISE is something we're very excited about. RISE is an acronym and I will ex , uh, spell that out here. It's "Resources for Inclusion Skills and Employment," and that's the project name for the federal grant that we're working through , uh, through our brand new advanced multi-line , uh, braille technology that renders tactile graphics with braille. And in support of competitive integrated employment, we are , um, aiming to get the Monarch into hands of those who are seeking employment, who are gainfully employed in the world, and to help them , uh, identify that just their jobs. But future job leads through vocational rehabilitation training through their universities, organizations that support them as well as for on the job. And using the Monarch, we believe will get students and job seekers and those employed , uh, into positions that they've never , maybe never have done before. And we're very excited about that through competitive integrated employment. We want to understand how the Monarch can help people be empowered through their employment opportunities and journey, and also to the Monarch to identify targeted improvements for future advanced technology. Erin, did you want to add to that?
Erin Sigmund:Yeah, Richard, I was just gonna jump in and share. You know, we know that braille access has long been recognized as critical for individuals who are blind, low vision or deaf-blind in achieving and maintaining competitive integrative employment. So, as Richard so clearly stated, this project is taking this new braille technology, the Monarch, and discovering and really measuring just how this piece of braille access and braille technology can empower individuals in an employment setting. And then we're also looking towards the future. We're never just stuck in the now, so what improvements need to be made , um, to continue to advance further advancements in technologies that support barrel and tactile graphics, not just in the education space, but in the employment space.
Sara Brown:Great. Now, what can participants expect with Monarch RISE over the course of the grant?
Richard Rueda:We're going to distribute 250 Monarchs that's gonna support those in their employment journey, as I said before and through higher education. So we're looking at students currently graduating from high school, entering the university space, those who have vocational rehabilitation plans, and those who are working with the job coach or are already painfully competitively employed, we're going to give those out and support them through training, through , um, in-person and online curriculum courses offered through the HIVE, through the ConnectCenter's Transition Hub, through interviews, through blogs, and through peer sessions where everyone can learn not just from APH staff and the community, but from themselves. And, and that's one of the guarantees you're going to see with the delivery of the Monarchs. And we're gonna have , uh, effectiveness through evaluations, assessments, focus groups to learn more about what people are experiencing, the pros, the challenges, and, and things that we can over the next five years assess and improve upon. Um, we're gonna also create an application that's gonna , uh, similar to Microsoft applications have Word and PowerPoint on the Monarch. Uh, we're gonna, as I said, highlight existing and , and new content and curriculum from the Connect Center and from the HIVE. Um, those are, those are some of the high points that people can expect. If Erin , do you want to expand upon that?
Erin Sigmund:You did a great job. Those are the kind of our key activities that we're looking for. Um, and I hope that folks , as they hear kind of these cur key activities, it's a back and forth process of sharing information and learning with the consumer and then with the, the developers of the technology itself. So we're getting Monarchs in the hand. It already has amazing capabilities, right? It has, you know, the word processor, the, the, the graphing calculator, the library, all these things that already support folks in their educative or in employment goals. So we're working to measure that, but we're also doing new things as, as Richard mentioned. So this application that's going to be developed, it's gonna be an iterative back and forth process where that application is getting loaded onto or pieces of the application. I'm not the tech person <laugh> , um, but it'll get loaded onto that device and our participants will have the opportunity to give consistent and, and constant feedback on those applications saying, you know, this is working, this isn't working, this is what I'd love it to do. So that over the course of this five year grant, we really have a robust library of both applications, but training resources and skill development that go alongside the Monarch to support this , uh, employment use of the Monarch in the employment , uh, realm.
Richard Rueda:And Sarah and Erin, I also see this is Richard. I also see with the expansion and advancement of tactile graphics with braille, we're gonna see things that we haven't seen before. We're gonna learn from people on the job , people , uh, learning about intimately their tactile graphics when there may be a new employee and they're reading a handbook and they're having to explore some of the things that their , uh, non blind peers are seeing in their handbooks or in their, on their job training on how things look, the scale of model, and looking at that in real time and accessing that in real time on your Monarch. I think these are things we don't really know much about right now as this technology emerges and we're gonna be able to learn, improve and expand upon that with the monarchs in the hands of people who are employed, who are in college and are, or seeking , uh, higher education and vocational training. I , I didn't mention much about that, but vocational training will be also a critical component in using the Monarch in , in new ways.
Sara Brown:Okay, that was awesome to hear and learn a little bit more about that. Now, who all can get involved in this?
Richard Rueda:That's a very good question. And we're really , um, through the delivery of the 250 Monarchs over the, over the course of the grant, we're really aiming targeting , um, people who are competitively in , um, people who are competitively or seeking competitive employment. Uh, and people who are either in graduating from high school, who are entering the world of work through vocational training, through university and higher education training , uh, folks who have a rehabilitation plan through the Rehabilitation State Agency Division for the Blind, commission for the Blind, and , um, working with an access access technology trainer , uh, employment , uh, job coach, anyone who's gonna be supporting the student and the employee and on the job trainer to become competitively employed is eligible for the Monarch. Uh, and, and you're gonna see over the course of the grant, 250 of those monarchs will be distributed through an application process and, and later in spring of 2025, we'll , we will have applications in place for people to apply and , uh, go through the motions to be eligible to receive the Monarch. It , it's a fairly straightforward process, and I think , uh, very soon we're gonna be hearing a lot more about that. We are at the very beginning stages of this grant process and are very excited. So really there's no age limit , upper age limit. We are , uh, obviously wanting to target that transition age population and for people who are active job seekers and people who are competitively employed.
Erin Sigmund:We're also constantly building our partnerships with this grant. So not only is there an opportunity to get involved as a project participant and a recipient of The Monarch, as Richard stated, that would be folks working with people who are seeking competitive employment, people who are braille readers, who are already competitive employed and wanna give us some great feedback. And then, of course, our largest group of folks is folks who are seeking competitive integrative employment, and the Monarch would be helpful for them to do that. So not only can you get involved in a project participant, but we're also reaching out and seeking agencies, organizations , um, groups of folks that want to come alongside us as partners. We're still dreaming what that partnership looks like, but I know off the top of my head, we're gonna be hosting some in-person trainings all across the country as a part of this grant to provide the skills and, and resources needed to use the Monarch effectively and to create opportunities for those conversations back and forth , uh, brainstorming. And so we're gonna be looking for agencies that are organizations that wanna help host those that wanna come alongside and, and really champion those trainings in their region. And so we have some meetings coming up that we're, we're reaching out to folks about to say, Hey, come and learn more about this as a participant or as a partner. And if you're interested in learning more, I'm kind of skipping ahead here, but , um, it , it's on my mind. You can email us at RISE @aph.org and we can get you connected to the right meaning or help determine which group might fit best for, for your organization or your group of individuals.
Richard Rueda:And , and this is Richard. I just want to underscore that The Monarch RISE again is an acronym, "Resources for Inclusion Skills and Employment." I really like that. I love acronyms. I come from a space where we do acronyms and I think RISE really, really underscores what we're hoping to do with the Monarch and how we're going to empower the lives of many, many folks and their support system out there.
Erin Sigmund:This field, loves acronyms. Richard, when I first came onto the field, I had a whole list of acronyms that I was using and I'm , I'm glad to add another one as important as this,
Sara Brown:And that's very true. There's a lot of acronyms. And here's one too. Um, the Disability Innovation Fund, I guess "DIF" right? Um, talk more about what that program is.
Erin Sigmund:Sure. So the Disability Innovation Fund is the funding in which this grant is coming from. We're so , um, grateful to have received this $10 million grant to fund in entirety the Monarch RISE program over the next five years. Disability Innovation Fund , um, began back in, in 2012 ish <laugh> and it's , it's Congress provided authority to use some amount of dollars , um, to conduct innovative activities aimed in improving outcomes for individuals with disabilities. You're hearing us chat a lot about our project and how it's all wrapped around, around this idea of competitive integrative employment, and that's because that's the focus of this cohort's DIF grant. But there's been a variety of DIF activities that were related to all kinds of things and activities aimed at improving outcomes or individuals with disabilities, not just employment. Um, we're really excited because this year fiscal, I think the 2024 funding is actually the first year that this DIF Innovation Fund funding has been available to public, private , and nonprofit entities. So we're, we're hitting the ground running with the Department of Education as , um, this first cohort of nonprofits and we're so excited to join them in that, that world. So if you, as I mentioned, these project in in previous years included projects to improve education outcomes of children receiving SSI , um, ensure that individuals with disabilities can access web-based computer information and develop work-based learning transition demonstrations for student disabilities, all those types of things. This year is focused on, on Competitive Integrative Employment or "CIE," another acronym. And we've mentioned it a couple times on this podcast, so perhaps I can share a little bit more about , um, kind of that key term. So, competitive integrative employment is , um, used to describe employment that meets those three criteria. Competitive means that , uh, individuals with disabilities are earning wages that are at least minimum wage and comparable to the wages of coworkers without disabilities performing the same or similar tasks. And of course, that includes benefits that are provided on equal basis. The workplace is integrated, which means it's inclusive. Um, there are opportunities for social interaction and collaboration , um, with all kinds of individuals and employees. And , and so it's, it's really looking for folks who have , uh, or opportunities that have equal opportunities for advancement, professional development and participation and worse , worse activities. Richard may be able to get into a little more of the detail of how that differs from some opportunities if we wanna get into that, but that's our focus for this year. If you want to learn more about the Disability Innovation Fund , um, this year's cohort, I encourage you to get online. It's a , it's the, you can look up the DIF grants and the, the title for that is "Creating a 21st Century Workforce of Youth and Adults with Disabilities Through the Transformation of Education, Career and Competitive Integrative Employment Model, Demonstration Process or Project." Um , we're one of 27 grantees that are in our cohort, and we'll be looking to learning alongside them. All of the 27 grantees projects are aimed to be , um, replicable. So as we work to get these monarchs into folks' hands to learn what works, to learn what doesn't work to improve and, and disseminate resources and information related to employment skills, all of that material and all of all of which is created is going to exist in online and be available for folks even beyond the, the span of the five-year grant. We want other organizations to be able to pick up the work that we've done to learn from it and , um, create their own opportunities as well.
Richard Rueda:I love how this is shared and that we can learn from other programs and they learn from us. This is, I think, that collaboration that goes far beyond the walls of APH, which I'm excited about.
Sara Brown:So what can listeners do if they are interested in learning more about Monarch RISE?
Erin Sigmund:So they can first email us at RISE@aph.org. You'll get connected to me, you'll get connected to Richard and a couple other of our colleagues, and we'll get you , uh, answers to your questions or we'll, we're just like to learn more about you, you can also go online at aph.org/meet-monarch/ RISE, and that will get you to our Monarch RISE page. It has an abstract of the project that describes a little bit more, and that will be the place where we'll continually update with information and resources as we develop them throughout the course of this grant.
Sara Brown:Okay. And before I let you two go, is there anything else you'd like to share or discuss?
Richard Rueda:I am very excited to hear , uh, how the Monarch RISE is going to impact the lives of those who are going to seek or who have maintained and attained competitive, competitive integrated employment , uh, now for people who are just entering the workforce or people who have been in the workforce who are going to learn how this is going to impact them in ways that we're still dreaming about and, and that makes me the most excited and how we're gonna support that with evaluation and content development. That that's what I'm most excited about.
Erin Sigmund:And I'm gonna take a moment to, to brag on Richard a little bit , uh, through the APH CareerConnect and Transition Hub Services, APH has been developing wonderful resources for job seekers and transition age students. Um, so I encourage folks to check those out at APH CareerConnect, but I, I would share that this , um, significant focus on employment and competitive integrative employment and the use of advanced technology in competitive integrative employment is exciting because it's a new pathway for APH to be joining on. Um , we have a , you know, APH is , uh, central to our mission has always been education and the education of students. And this project creates , um, the opportunity to really dive in and think about those next steps for students in a concentrated way of , um, moving from, from education settings, from schooling settings to an employment setting. You know, we've had some incredible projects , uh, beyond <laugh> , the DIF project launch this year, and I'm thinking of the Monarch Student Pilot program. And it's a great thing to chat about next to the Disability Innovation Fund program, the Monarch RISE program, because I think it shows how we're building this ecosystem around technology to support individuals as they use this technology to meet their self-identified goals. So I could see you have a Monarch student pilot project participant, they've had their Monarch, they're using it in a school setting, and then later on in the years as they're getting ready to graduate, they might become a , a part of the Monarch RISE program where they can learn how to take those skills that they learned in the education space and transition those to an employment space. Um, if there were students that were a little bit too old for the Monarch Student Pilot Project, perhaps they could be great participants in the Monarch RISE project. Um, so we're creating technology based ecosystems that kind of create wraparound support , um, no matter where you're at in your, in your journey, be it education or employment . So that's new for APH we're learning and , um, it's, you know , we're building, continuing to build the, from the foundation that Richard and his team has been working on over at CareerConnect. So I'm excited to see what's next there.
Sara Brown:All right , then Erin and Richard, thank you both so much for coming on Change Makers and talking to me today.
Richard Rueda:Thank you. It's been a pleasure.
Sara Brown:And I'll be sure to put links in the show notes to the email address and the website that Erin mentioned as well. So thank you both so much again.
Richard Rueda:Thank you.
Erin Sigmund:Thanks.
Sara Brown:And I've put links in the show notes to the Monarch RISE email address as well as the APH Monarch RISE webpage. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Change Makers . Again, I've put links in the show notes to everything you just heard about. That includes the email address for Monarch RISE, the website for Monarch RISE, as well as the APH social media channels. Do you have a podcast topic suggestion? I wanna know, send an email to ChangeMakers @aph.org . As always, be sure to look for ways you can be a change maker this week.