Upper Chi teen develops program for people with disabilities

Upper Chichester resident Jessica Smith, 19, was presented a proclamation at a recent meeting of the township Board of Commissioners for designing special police communication boards. The boards are designed to assist emergency personnel in communicating with individuals who have disabilities and find it difficult to communicate.

Smith, who is autistic, said often times people with disabilities struggle to get their point across and the laminated boards with pictures make difficult situations easier.

“I care because I personally have autism and I’ve had some instances with the police, none of them were too bad,” Smith said…”They aren’t trained well enough to deal with people with disabilities and I wanted to make these boards to start a change.” The boards include pictures with phrases such as “sad,” “When is your birthday?” as well as self-explanatory photos.

Smith father, Carl, who serves as Upper Chichester’s deputy emergency management coordinator, said his daughter has used boards such as these her entire life and believed it would be a good way to help first responders. “Jessica has always wanted to help people,” he said.

She has assisted police department across Delaware County and has also sent boards to Nevada and South Carolina.

“Ever since I started doing this, I have improved my own social skills,” she said. “I just want to make other people’s lives easier.”