The DayBeacon assistive technology encourages students with invisible conditions to strengthen their skills in navigating, communicating and advocating for themselves within the classroom, while also enabling teachers to provide a more personal and supportive approach
Introducing a New Tool in Assistive Technology and Self-Advocacy
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There are many reasons why those of us with invisible illnesses may not feel comfortable with self-advocacy including:
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Worrying about people believing you
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Apprehensive about drawing attention to yourself
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Feeling like you are always asking for help
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The perception of complaining
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Not knowing when or how to ask for help
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Uncertain about how you feel today versus tomorrow
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These were several factors in developing The DayBeacon, a educational technology tool that we intend to help those with invisible illnesses learn to better advocate for their needs.
Learning to advocate for yourself is a long process and can be even more challenging when you have a chronic or invisible condition.
Our Story
Over the years, we have been lucky to have educators who have been willing to learn about his unique conditions and worked with us to help him navigate his school days. Together we have gone through several methods to help him communicate during the day and learn to advocate for himself. He has had pain charts, teachers checking in, lots of conferences and he has even given presentations to his classmates and teachers about his diagnosis. While all of these have been helpful, proactive education doesn’t change his level of fatigue or mental and physical health challenges
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he experiences to simply get through each day. For him, school days are often considerable, challenging battles.
We have had a lot of complications and hurdles along the way, but we also fully realize that we are certainly not the only family dealing with this type of situation. And, even though our teachers have been incredibly supportive and kind, the reality is they simply have a lot of students. It isn’t easy to check-in with every student or track different needs across classrooms. This understanding led us to develop The DayBeacon.
My son and I share a rare, invisible genetic condition called Ehlers-Danlos. My son also has Dyspraxia which creates long and overwhelming school days, but it also makes me very aware of the many challenges and hesitations that are associated with advocating for individual needs.
Why The DayBeacon?
The DayBeacon is named for the markers found in coastal navigation which help identify possible hazards to safely navigate the desired route.
The DayBeacon name was a natural choice for this assistive technology given the goal is to help children with invisible illnesses be able to navigate their school days more easily and successfully.
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The DayBeacon uses interactive technology in order to help ease the process by which students communicate their needs to teachers and gather data to help manage invisible and chronic conditions more effectively. Not only does this provide more clarity, it also helps them learn to navigate their days, communicate their needs and advocate for themselves which are all important skills for anyone with an invisible illness.
About WearIt.
WearIt. is a purpose driven awareness apparel brand whose mission is to help people find confidence through their rare, chronic and invisible conditions. Further, WearIt. has a mission to discover and develop new tools, assistive and educational technology to help in every day life with the first major project:
The DayBeacon.
To learn more about WearIt. and embrace your stripes, visit: wearitbrand
The DayBeacon assistive technology is still under development.
We thank you for your patience, and if you would like more information on how it works, how it could help your child or how to get it in your classroom, please contact us.