Another excellent partnership with AmericaSpeaks
We just returned from supporting the Advancing Futures for Adults with Autism National Town Hall in Chicago on Friday. This meeting brought together professionals, family members and policy makers to have a conversation and agree on strategies for providing services over the next two decades to the more than one million youths who are diagnosed with autism and who will soon be moving into adulthood. This is a situation of enormous impact for our society that will require a nation-wide response.
More than 1,000 people participated in the meeting, using three different “modes”.
Chicago was the central site. By concentrating about 30% of the participants there, we were able to provide a focal point. Important leaders in this process were there, along with dignitaries (the Mayor and Mrs. Daly), and the press. The live presentations took place in Chicago. The participants, seated at tables of ten, discussed the issues and sent their thoughts in over networked computers. They voted their priorities with keypad polling devices.
15 satellite sites around the country provided a national scope, assuring a presence in every region. Each site had a good sized group of participants. They watched the presentations from Chicago on large screens at their site through a webcast. They also held their discussions at tables of ten, sending in their thoughts to the central site, and voting with keypads, just like in Chicago .
And “virtual tables” allowed equal access for any individuals who wanted to participate from their homes or offices around the country. They participated in small real-time conversations that made them equal members of the conversation being held in Chicago and the satellite sites. They watched the webcast on their own computers, broke into small groups of 5 or 6 participants on a special conference call platform to have discussions and send in their thoughts, and voted with keypads on their computers.
CoVision’s integration of these three participation modes allowed all of the participants to share the same experience and be part of the same conversation and agenda setting.
They all
• Listened to the same information being presented
• Spent time in small group discussions about the issues and sent in their ideas and feedback
• Got to see the rolled-up themes from the whole group’s discussions
• Had the opportunity to set priorities by voting on the results of their discussions
• Heard feedback from experts/leaders
• Got to see the real-time priorities of the whole group
At the end of the day, the group had eight prioritized strategies in the areas of funding, staffing, housing, employment, training and community-life. They also had the experience of hundreds of conversations and thousands of practical, in-the-trenches ideas on how to begin implementation of this nation-wide agenda. Maybe most significantly, they were able to see themselves as a large, whole, action-oriented community. And they have momentum for educating and transforming society to incorporate adults with autism in a more constructive and beneficial way into the future we all share together.
Posted by Karl Danskin
