Michigan's Assistive Technology Program
Assistive
Technology Connections
Vol. 7, No. 8, October 2006
In This Issue:
- Calendar
- Resources Available for Community Groups
- Medicare Further Restricts Coverage for Wheelchairs
- Subscription Information
Calendar:
- October 19-21, 2006 Closing the Gap, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Pre
conference: October 17-18, 2006. For registration and information: http://www.closingthegap.com/ctg2/registration2006/index.lasso.
- November 7 - 10, 2006: Accessing Higher Ground Conference: Assistive
Technology and Accessible Media in Higher Education University of Colorado
- Boulder Campus For conference registration and general information,
please visit: http://www.colorado.edu/ATconference.
Michigan's Assistive Technology Program is providing
support for
upcoming events:
- On
November 8th, UCP of Metro Detroit is holding a free Conference and
Expo "Life Without Limits Through Assistive Technology" at the
Doubletree Hotel - Dearborn with a keynote address by Norman Kunc.
For more information, see www.ucpdetroit.org or call (248) 557-5070. - On November 18th, an AT Conference will be held in Sault St. Marie.
For
more information, please contact the Superior Alliance for Independent
Living at (906)228-5744. - Web Accessibility is the focus of the event
in Lansing on November 7th!
Learn about the importance of accessible web pages in reaching not
only people with disabilities who use AT, but also people who use cell
phones, PDA's and other ways to access the web! For more information,
please contact the Statewide Independent Living Council at (517) 371-4872.
For more local activities around the state, including assistive technology demonstrations, training and public awareness activities supported through the AT Program please see: http://www.copower.org/At/demo.htm and http://www.copower.org/At/awaretrain.htm
Resources Available for Community Groups
Michigan's Assistive Technology Program has copies of the DVD "Freedom
Machines" available to community groups to show to the public in
order to
increase awareness of assistive technology. This documentary is a
public television program and national outreach campaign, looks at our
beliefs about disability through the lens of assistive technology. The
program
explores how human experience and technological innovations are outpacing
social policies-and the perceptions that have guided them. The DVD includes:
captioning, descriptive video, Spanish, lesson plans and community group
presentation advice, other resources.
More information about "Freedom Machines" is available at http://www.freedommachines.com/. For information about how to obtain a copy Freedom Machines DVD for your community group, please contact Kathryn Wyeth at kdwyeth@prosynergy.org or (517)333-2477 ext 335.
Medicare Further Restricts Coverage for Wheelchairs
Medicare’s mobility device benefit has never been generous.
Medicare will only provide wheelchairs and scooters to those beneficiaries
who need them
for use inside their homes and, in fact, a beneficiary may only receive
a
mobility device if it helps him/her eat, bathe, groom, dress, or toilet
inside their
home. These current rules prevent many beneficiaries from regaining full
function; returning to work or school; accessing their place of worship, the
bank,
or the grocery store; and participating in their communities. And while the
existing coverage rules are restrictive, Medicare has issued new coverage
policies that will genuinely harm Medicare beneficiaries, all the in the name
of
reducing fraud and abuse.
For more information about this issue please read:
http://www.itemcoalition.org/press/pr/SummaryLCD_9-7-06.htm.
List Information:
To Subscribe:
Send an e-mail message to: majordomo@match.org. In the body of the message, write: subscribe atconnections youremail@youraddress (replace with your email address.)
To Unsubscribe:
Send an e-mail message to: majordomo@match.org. In the body of the message, write: unsubscribe atconnections youremail@youraddress (replace with your email address.)
If you have problems or questions about this list send an e-mail message to Kathryn Wyeth at kdwyeth (at) prosynergy.org or call 1(800)760-4600 extension 35.
"The contents of this web page were developed under a grant from the Department of Education. However those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal government."
Search This Site and Communities of Power: