Schools

Flutie Foundation Funds Communication Board At Medford School

The board, which helps children who are non-verbal or have limited speech communicate, was unveiled at the Roberts School last week.

A communication board was unveiled at Roberts Elementary School last week.
A communication board was unveiled at Roberts Elementary School last week. (Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn)

MEDFORD, MA — The city's second communication board was installed at the playground of Roberts Elementary School last week.

The board, sponsored by the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism, helps children who are non-verbal or have limited speech communicate at the playground. The Flutie Foundation, named for Flutie's son, who was diagnosed with autism at 3 years old, has a goal of funding communication boards in every community in Massachusetts.

The city of Medford also plans to install one board at each of its playgrounds in the coming months.

Find out what's happening in Medfordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn credited Medford's partnership with the Flutie Foundation to police Sgt. Charlie Hartnett, whose son, Michael, has autism.

"Sgt. Hartnett and his wife, Emily, have been amazing advocates for Michael and other children with autism in the Medford community," Lungo-Koehn wrote in a Facebook post.

Find out what's happening in Medfordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

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