Michigan's Assistive Technology Program

Assistive Technology Connections
Volume 8, Issue 12, December 2007

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Happy Holidays from Michigan's Assistive Technology Program at MDRC!

In This Issue:

• Calendar
• AT for Communication
• Assistive Technology Exchange Highlighted New Item!
  
• Subscription Information

Calendar:

• January 30 - February 2, 2008 Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) 2008 Conference and Exhibition Caribe Royale Resort Orlando, Florida
• February 20 - February 23: International Conference on Aging, Disability and Independence, St. Petersburg, FL. The conference on Aging, Disability and Independence (ICADI) will focus on approaches to support people as they age in maintaining independence in daily living at home, at work and in the community.
• March 10-15: Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference, Los Angeles, CA. The longest-running and largest annual university sponsored conference on technology and persons with disabilities.
• March 14: Alliance for Technology Access (ATA) will be at the Technology & Persons with Disabilities 2008 Conference to mark 20 years of growth and impact of the ATA and the field of assistive technology.
• June 12-14: The Collaborative Assistive Technology Conference of the Rockies will be held at the Hyatt Denver Tech Center. Attendees will learn about local and national perspectives on state-of-the-art assistive technology devices and services.
• June 18-20: The 2008 Michigan's Integrated Technology Supports (MITS) Summer Institute will be held at the Hagerty Center on the campus of Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City.
• June 26 - 30: RESNA 2008 Annual Conference Arlington, VA. An interdisciplinary gathering of individuals and companies who share a common interest in rehabilitation engineering, assistive technology and disability issues in general.

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AT for Communication:

Communication includes being understood as well as understanding others, either in speaking and listening, or in reading and writing. This is a huge area with many low to high tech devices. Below are some of the many resources for AT for various communication-related functions:

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC):

• Communities of Power Assistive Technology Links on AAC
• Young adults talk about using and funding AAC on You Tube
• The following 5 videos are on You Tube from from Dynovox:

1. Introduction to the concept of augmentative and alternative communication.
2. Beth Anne Luciani using AAC.
3. Slade who has Autism.
4. Henry Evens, who had a stroke .
5. Sara Pyszka who lives with the effects of cerebral palsy.
   

• Ellen who has CP using ACC with head switches.
• Amanda Baggs’ In My Language. She is an AAC user and a person with autism. She has received national attention for this video she produced and published via You Tube.
  

Reading and Writing Disabilities:

• According to Learning Disabilities Online, approximately 80 percent of students with learning disabilities have been described as reading disabled. This site has links to many resources for people with reading disabilities.
  
• Bookshare: If you are someone who can't read a printed book, or you know a person who has difficulty reading printed text, the Bookshare.org community is here to serve you. Bookshare.org gives print disabled people in the United States legal access to over 35,200 books and 150 periodicals that are converted to Braille, large print or text to speech audio files.
• Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (SBPH): All applications must be based on a physical disability including applications accepted under the terms learning disabilities (the broader term), dyslexia, or reading disability.
• Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D), is a non-profit service organization providing educational books (academic text books) on audio cassette and CD.
• Audible: Commercial subscription site for talking books and other printed materials.
• A great listing of technology from Ira Socal, (An Adobe PDF File) includes digital reading software, Easy Access to Digital Text, Screen Readers/Screen Magnifiers, Hand-Held Reading, Scan-and-Read Software, Voice-to-Text, Alternative Keyboards and Writing Support. Some free options are listed!
• And this looked like a fun project: This 36 page guide developed at the ACE Centre gives step-by-step instructions on how to use PowerPoint to create talking picture books. It also looks at accessing these talking books using a single switch. The guide includes step-by-step instructions on how to scan pictures, add symbols, record speech and put together a talking book. Fully illustrated with screen shots, these guides are useful for teachers, parents and professionals who want to give young people access to any story.

Hearing/Attention:

We've collected resources on our Assistive Technology Program website about Hearing Assistive Technology! Some of the devices can also be used to help people with attention disabilities to focus on a person who is speaking, like a teacher.

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Highlighted Item on the AT Xchange! http://www.atxchange.org!

Slightly used turning seat that fits Chevy or Dodge mini vans. Manufacturer: Bruno; Condition: Excellent; Seller is willing to give this item away for free; Price when new (MSRP): $7500; In storage at Daleiden in Kalamazoo. Date listed: November 29, 2007

The AT Xchange is a new Michigan-based website where people can buy, sell or give away assistive technology (AT). Do you have a used AT item
in storage that could really help someone who has a disability? It could be anything from a wheelchair, stair lift, Braille reader, or reacher! If so, just post a classified ad AT Xchange.org. The Atxchange is open to vendors who have used equipment for sale also. And don't worry about cost, ATXchange is a free service!

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