Michigan's Assistive Technology Program
Assistive
Technology Connections
December 2009
In This Issue:
- Buying Toys for Children with Disabilities
- A Guide to Easier Living with Technology
- What is Reading?
- Assistive Technology for Reading
- Print Disability Resources
- Assistive Technology Exchange Highlighted
New Item!
- Calendar
- Subscription Information
Buying Toys for Children with Disabilities
The National Lekotek Center is dedicated to making play and learning accessible for children with disabilities. Last year, Lekotek developed the AblePlay toy rating system and Web site , which provides comprehensive information about toys for children with special needs so that parents, special educators, therapists and others can make the best choices for the children with disabilities in their lives.
A Guide to Easier Living with Technology
This guide presents some sample situations you might encounter during a typical day and suggests product categories or strategies that others have found useful. In some cases, good solutions may be obvious; others are ingenious. The Alliance for Technology Access interviewed some of the people they had worked with over the years and shared their stories about how they're using various devices every day.
What is Reading?
When most people think of reading, a picture of a printed book or material comes to mind. But what is the outcome or purpose of the act of reading? To acquire information. Today, with readily available technology, we have multiple means of accessing information. Having information like text available in a digital format opens up a new world of opportunity to access this information using 
different technology. Even our cars can talk, using technology originally developed for people with disabilities. Our systems struggle to adapt to this change. The recent controversy about the new Kindle's feature to audibly read books is an example of this struggle.
Our school systems are slowly adapting to the new possibilities offered by digital information. It will happen, but change can be slow. For more about change, read the article "Technology: The Wrong Questions and the Right Questions " by Ira Socol.
A print disability is generally considered to be a condition related to blindness, visual impairment, specific learning disability, or other physical condition in which a person requires an alternative or specialized format (i.e., audio, digital, Braille, and large print) in order to access content. This issue of Assistive Technology Connections includes some web links to resources for people who have print disabilities.
Assistive Technology for Reading
- Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) For students with sensory, physical, cognitive, or learning differences and their teachers, accessible instructional materials open doors to teaching and learning that ordinary print-based materials have closed.
- Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (SBPH). The Michigan Network of Libraries serving people with visual and physical handicaps offers best-sellers, mysteries, westerns, biographies, how-to books and other types of materials found in a public library. The only difference is that the books are recorded digitally or printed in braille and will arrive at your door through the regular U.S. postal service.
- A Primer - Text-To-Speech, article by Ira Socol. "I don't want to try to offer a definitive list, rather, a few systems that I tend to use the most, including - hopefully - a small sense of why this or that has worked for the people - youth or adult - who I have worked with."
- Reading Machines and other Technology: National Federation for the Blind's Technology Resource List.
- Accessibility in Microsoft Products
- Apple’s accessibility solutions
- The Detroit Radio Information Service (DRIS), southeast Michigan's Radio Reading/Audio Information Service for people with disabilities
- Bookshare provides the world’s largest online library of accessible reading materials for people with print disabilities. Individuals can sign up for membership and access the library on their own. Organizations that serve individuals with print disabilities (schools, libraries, community centers, etc.) can sign up and provide access to their students or clients. A Bookshare membership offers unlimited access to accessible books, textbooks, newspapers and magazines. Additionally, free access technology makes it easy to read books with a computer. Through an award from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), Bookshare offers free memberships to U.S. schools and qualifying U.S. students.
Print Disability Resources
- Text-to-Speech for Beginning Readers - Presentation by Ira Socol. "Because reading should not be a school skill. It should not be a task. Reading is learning to take in information and process it for our own use - something schools rarely show students."
- Audio Textbooks Help Students With Reading Problems Access Curriculum. Article by John Kelly, President and CEO of Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D) - Learn why there's no need for a child to choose between learning to read and reading to learn
- LD Online: Reading and Dyslexia
- The Reading Rockets project is comprised of PBS television programs, available on videotape and DVD; online services, including the websites ReadingRockets.org and ColorinColorado.org; and professional development opportunities. Reading Rockets is an educational initiative of WETA, the flagship public television and radio station in the nation's capital, and is funded by a major grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs.
- Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan's Resources Related to Learning Disabilities.
- What is Braille? Resource from the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
Highlighted Item on the AT
Xchange!
Telex Professor Desktop Audio System
High-quality speakers produce excellent sound quality. CD player is compatible with Daisy CDs, standard CDs, CD-R and MP3 CDs. Easy-to-use CD player automatically detects the media format in use. 32 radio presets for easy access to your favorite stations. Uses AC adapter or rechargeable batteries (both included).
- Condition:Excellent
- Price When New: $399
- Asking Price: $150
- Date Posted: November 13, 2009
- Location: Ann Arbor
The AT Xchange is a Michigan-based web site 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 on AT Xchange.org. The AT Xchange is open to vendors who have used equipment for sale also don't worry about cost, AT Xchange is a free service!
Calendar of Assistive Technology Conferences and Events:
- December 3 - 4, 2009. Wisconsin Dells, WI AT Across the Lifespan brings state-of-the-art assistive technology information to Wisconsin. The conference will provide comprehensive information and resources through innovative presentations and an interactive exhibit hall. ATALC is the largest Assistive Technology Conference in Wisconsin with 40 plus sessions in the areas of independent living, employment, education, autism, communication, vision and hearing and product specific sessions from our exhibitors. All categories of assistive technology will be represented, all age groups from birth through adult and senior services, as well as all levels of expertise from beginner to advanced.
- December 8, 2009. 7:00 - 8:00 AM EST Webinar: Strategies and Solutions for Independent Living with Jane Berliss-Vincent. This presentation will introduce you to resources that can help elders find out about free or low-cost independent living strategies and solutions, from modified spoons to grooming tips to large-print cell phones. The presentation is based on the ATA's "Guide to Easier Living with Technology." Location: ATA Online Community Room: Water Cooler
- December 15, 2009. 10:00 - 11 AM EST Webinar: ATA Quick Guide to AT with Russ Holland ATA has developed their Quick Guide to Assistive Technology as a tool to provide those new to assistive technology a structure to help them understand the breadth of options and focus their search for the tools they need. This webinar will be the first sharing of this tool. Location: ATA Online Community Room: Water Cooler
- January 27 - 30, 2010 Orlando, FL: ATIA 2010 Orlando The ATIA Orlando Conference features the latest products and services, showcasing more than 125 exhibitors in one of the most comprehensive exhibitions in the industry.
MDRC Governing Board Meetings
Come
tell your story to the Michigan Disability Rights Coalition's Governing
Board. All meetings are open to the public and we encourage people to
attend. The next meeting is January 28 from 5 - 7 PM.
All meetings are at:
3498 E. Lake Lansing Rd., Ste 100,
East Lansing,
MI 48823
AT Connections
This newsletter is a service of Michigan Disability Rights Coalition, AT Program. Funding is through the Assistive Technology Act received through Michigan Rehabilitation Services. Subscriptions are free! For information, write to mdrc@prosynergy.org. Please mention AT Connections.
"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."
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