KeyTargetPublics

SchoolsinSouthwestMichiganwithspecialeducationprograms:
TheteamhasidentifiedschoolsinSouthwestMichiganthatofferspecialeducation
programs.ThiscampaigntargetstwoschoolsintheKalamazooareathatofferspecialeducation
programs:
TransitionServicesHighSchool
YoungAdultPrograms
Thistargetpublicisessentialtothecampaignbecauseitincludesstaffmembersofthe
schoolsandfamilymembersthathavechildrenattendingtheseprograms.Toraiseawarenessof
theprogrambeingofferedatAACORNFarm,itisimportanttomakesuretheschoolsfaculty
membersareeducatedonthesubjectandcanrelaytheinformationtoothers.Facultymembers
canpreparethesestudentsforlifeaftergraduationandthetransitionstheywillmaketo
AACORNFarm.Familymembersofstudentsintheseprogramsneedtobeawareofallthe
optionsfortheirchildorsibling.Byeducatingfamilymembers,theycanraiseawarenessfor
AACORNFarm.
Informationneededfromthistargetpublicisnotavailableandwillneedtobecollected
invariousforms.Informationrequiredfromtheschoolsincludesspecificdetailsofthespecial
educationprograms,affiliationswithprogramsoutsideoftheschoolorlearningcenter,thecost
ofattendancefortheprogram,thebudgetfortheprogram,preparationstepsforstudent
graduation,andtheirmethodofcommunicationwiththeparentsofstudentswithintheprogram.
Theteamwillcollectdatathroughtelephonecallstobothoftheschoolslistedasthetarget
public.Thisinformationhelpsidentifydifferencesintheprogramsstudentsareattending,howto

identifykeyinformationtorelaytofamilieswheneducatingthemaboutthebenefitsof
AACORNFarmandwhatbestwaystogetincontactwithfamilymembers.
Tosuccessfullyreachthistargetpublicthebestapproachtoraiseawarenessabout
AACORNFarmistosetupameetingwiththeschoolsadministrativeboardandfaculty
membersofthespecialeducationdepartments.Inthismeeting,arepresentativefromAACORN
FARMwilleducatetheschoolsabouttheorganizationandhowworkingtogethercanhelp
individualsprepareforthenexttransitionintheirlives.Withtheschool'spermission,an
InformationalNightwillbeheldonschoolgroundsforfamilymembersofindividualsinthe
specialeducationprogram.Familymemberscancomeandlearnabouttheprogramsandthe
overallbenefitsbeingofferedatAACORNFarm.Familymembersandfacultywillbe
encouragedtofollowAACORNFarmonFacebookasameansofkeepingcommunicationgoing
andtokeepupdatedoncurrentnews.Theywillalsobeencouragedtosharetheirknowledgeof
AACORNFarmwithotherfamilymembersorfriendsaffectedbyautism.

FamilymembersofchildrenandyoungadultswithautisminSouthwestMichigan
Theteamhasidentifiedfamilymembersofchildrenandyoungadultswithautismin
SouthwestMichiganasapublic.Group2chosethiskeytargetbecauseitisessentialtothe
successofraisingawarenessandgainingmoreparticipantsfortheprogram.Bothfamily
memberswhoareawareoftheAACORNFarmprogram,andfamilymemberswhoareunaware
oftheprogram,willbeaffectedbyraisingawareness.

FamilymemberswhoareawareoftheprogramthathavelikedtheAACORNfacebook
pageandfollowtheAACORNblogwillbeanimportantresourcetoeducatefamilymembers
whoareunawareoftheprogram.
Beforethefamilymemberswhoareunawareoftheprogramareeducatedtheteamneeds
totargetandeducatethefamilymemberswhoareawareoftheprogram.Familymemberswho
areawareoftheprogramhavetheopportunitytosharetheirknowledgeifgiventhecorrect
resourcesbyAACORNFarm.Ifthefacebookpageandblogareupdatedfrequentlythefamily
memberswillhaveawayofsharingthisinformationtoournextkeypublic.Toencouragethis
wordofmouth,AACORNFarmcanholdfacebookcontestsandencouragefamilymembersto
sharepoststoreachthefamilymemberswhoareunawareoftheprogram.
Thefamilieswhoareunawareoftheprogramcanalsobereachedatlocallearning
centers,andsupportgroupsintheSouthwestarea.Theteamisplanningtosendsurveysto
followinglocationstolearnmoreaboutwhatexactlythesekeytargetsknowaboutAACORN
Farm.
Kalamazoo/BattleCreekAutismSociety
AutismSocietyofMichigan
AfterthesurveysaresentandtheinformationisreturnedAACORNFarmcanthen
establisharelationshipwiththestaffofbothsupportgroups.Afterfurtherresearchisconducted
foreachkeypublicandtheteamhassuccessfullyreachedthefamilymemberswhoareunaware
oftheprogramthroughthelearningcenterstheteamcanmoveforwardtocreateanimpactful
presencewithbothkeypublics.

Tosuccessfullymakeanimpactandraiseawarenessforfamilymembersofchildrenor
youngadultswithautism,AACORNFarmcanhostaTabletoFarmevent.Thiseventwould
behostedatthefarmandwouldshowcasewhathappensonadailybasis.Thiseventwould
encouragefamilymemberswhohavechildrenthatarelookingforpostgraduationoptionsto
considerAACORN.Thiswouldalsodirectlyaffectpossibledonorsfromeachkeypublic
identifiedtoraiseawarenessandincreaseparticipation.

ResearchPlan
AACORNFarmlacksanadequateamountofawareness.Thekeytargetpublics,learning
centersandhighschoolsinSouthwestMichiganthathavespecialeducationprograms,family
andfriendsofchildrenandyoungadultswithautism,andgeneralpublic,needtobestudied.
OnOct.16,theteamwillstartwithqualitativeresearch.Theywillconductshort
interviewsasamethodtoresearchhighschoolswithspecialeducationprograms.Theywillcall
highschoolsintheKalamazooandsurroundingareasseekinginformationontheschools
existingprogramsforyoungadultswithautismandanyaffiliationstheyhavewithoutside
organizations.LizwillinterviewAlgerMiddleSchool,AlleganHighSchool,BarryIsdSpecial
Education,BehavioralEducationCenter,Bisd.SpecialEducationPrograms,CampusPark
School,andCampusEarlyChildhood.GarrettwillinterviewCommunitybased,Discovery
Enrichment,DorisKlaussen,HillsideLearning,KalamazooResa,Kenosha,andKentEducation
HighSchool.AbbywillinterviewKentEducationMiddleSchool,KentVocationalOptions,
KresaWestCampus,LakesideAcademy,LighthouseEducation,LincolnDevelopment,and
LincolnSchool.KerrywillinterviewNorthPointe,NortheasternElementary,PineGrove,Pine
Rest,ShawneePark,SorterInternational,andSouthsideSpecialEducation.Shannonwill
interviewThreeRiversHighSchool,TransitionServices,WaldronLearningCenter,Wellerwood
Early,WoodsedgeLearningCenter,YoungAdult,andYouthCenter.
Theteamwillasksixspecificquestions:
1.

Whatdoyourspecialeducationprogramsconsistof?

2.

Isyourschoolaffiliatedwithanyprogramsoutsideoftheschoolorlearningcenter?

3.

Whatisthecostofattendancefortheprogram?

4.

Whatisthebudgetfortheprogram?

5.

Howdoyoupreparetheirstudentsforgraduation?

6.

Whatisyourmethodofcommunicationwiththeparentsofstudentswithintheprogram?
Thetimetableforresearchingtheschoolsisshort.Thetelephoneinterviewswillbe

conductedonThursday,Oct.16,from11a.m.to12:15p.m.Theteamwillconsolidatethe
informationduringagroupmeetingonTuesday,Oct.21.Theteamwillmeasuretheresultsof
theinterviewsthroughanalysisofthemesandcomparisontosecondaryresearchaboutthe
programsthathasalreadybeenfoundonlinethroughschoolwebsites.
Theresultswillbemeasuredbylookingattheformativeresearch,input.Wewilllookat
thefeedbackthatwereceivedandusetheresultswithappropriateandinsightfulcontent.With
theresults,thegroupwillhaveinsightintowhatpublicschoolsaredoingtohelpyoungadults
withautism.Theresultswilltellwhatschoolsprovideinformationaboutprogramsforyoung
adultswithautismandwhatschoolshaveaffiliationswithoutsideprogramsalready.
Thegroupwillalsoquantitativelyresearchthepublicoffamilyandfriendsofyoung
adultswithautism.Asurveywillbesenttofriendsandfamiliesofyoungadultswithautism
throughFacebookandemail.ThesurveyswillbesenttotheKalamazoo/BattleCreekAutism
Societyformemberstofilloutandreturn.Thesurveyswillbeanalyzedbycomparinganswers
andfindingthemesthroughcommonalities.
Asatimeline,thesurveywillbewrittenonQualtricsandsentonOct.17at8:30a.m.to
familiesandfriendsofyoungadultswithautismthroughFacebookandemail.Surveyswillbe
deliveredtotheKalamazoo/BattleCreekAutismSocietyonOct.18at12p.m.Thesurveysat

thesociety,intheemail,andonSurveyMonkeywillbecollectedonOct.25at5p.m.Results
willbeanalyzedandmeasuredatthegroupmeetingonOct.25at8:30p.m.
TheresultswillbemeasuredbylinkingtheQualtricssurveytoSPSStofind
commonalitiesbetweenanswers.Thegroupwilllookatthemeansandfrequenciesofeach
answerandcreateacrosstabofthemasavisualfortheclient.

GoalandObjectives
Thegroupwillconductfurtherresearchofautismawarenessthroughanonlineand
facetofacesurvey.WewanttofurthercomprehendhowawarepeoplewithinSouthwest
Michiganareofautismandadultautismprograms.
MethodologyInternalAACORNFarmSurvey:
1. CreateashortsurveybasedoffofourknowledgeofautismandAACORNFarm
2. ThegeneralpublicofSouthwestMichiganandpeoplewhoareaffiliatedwith
AACORNFarm(volunteers,familymembersofparticipants,etc.)
3. Wewill

MethodologyInternalAACORNFarmSurvey

GoalsandObjectives
ThegoalofthiscampaignistoraiseawarenessofAACORNFarmandtheneedfor
assistancethatadultswithautismrequireinSouthwestMichigan.Ouroverallgoalistoassist
AACORNFarmwithcreatingawarenessoftheiradultautismprogramsotheyareableto
provideautisticadultswithabeneficialexperience.
Toreachourendgoal,wehaveconceivedobjectivesthatwillserveascheckpointstoour
endresult.OurfirststepoverallistoincreaseAACORNFarmsonlineandsocialmedia
presence.CurrentlytheyonlyrunaFacebookpagewhichhasnotbeenupdatedsinceearly
August2014.Notonlywillregularupdatesinformtheirfollowingbaseoftheiractivitiesbutit
willalsodemonstratethattheyareanactiveorganizationworthkeepupwithandifnotalready
involved,checkingout.
Objectives:
1. AssistinthecreationofarelationshipwithAACORNFarmandanoutsideautism
programorpublicschoolaustimprogram
2. Farmtotableevent