The telephone may be an accepted part of life in the 21st century, but not for an estimated three million Californians. Most of us take using the telephone for granted. But if you have difficulty hearing, seeing, speaking, moving, or remembering, what seems to be a simple telephone call can be challenging to many—preventing communication…
Reprinted from Easter Seals Crossroads and INDATA Written by Laura Medcalf Scenario 1: In today’s fast-paced society, it seems as though we’re always in a rush. We’ve been spoiled with smart technologies that provide us with instant notifications of texts, emails, and other miscellaneous alerts. We’ve grown accustomed to everything being so instant and easy…
by the California Department of Rehabilitation Traumatic brain injury, TBI for short, is a forceful impact to the head that disrupts the normal functioning of the brain, resulting in an array of physical, mental, emotional and intellectual symptoms and disabilities. TBIs occur more frequently than you might anticipate. According to the Centers for Disease Control,…
Did you know that Ability Tools runs 11 Device Lending Libraries (DLLs) throughout the state of California? Our DLLs provide short-term loans of assistive devices and gadgets that can help Californians live independently. Whether the need is temporary or if you would just like to try out some devices before you spend money on them,…
by Kim Cantrell, Program Director Do you struggle to remember your daily tasks and to stay organized? If so, you are not alone. The popularity of organization apps demonstrates that most of us can use a little help managing our day-to-day lives. No matter your specific needs, chances are, there is an app for that. Below…
by Chi Hung Luke Hsieh, Assistive Technology Advocate at Community Access Center in Riverside, CA Amazon announced its latest big idea last month: The Amazon Echo. The Echo is essentially a hands-free, voice activated Bluetooth speaker connected with wifi and to the cloud with a processing chip and 7 microphones. For more detailed information, visit…
by Samantha Garcia, Office & Logistics Coordinator Henry lives in a nursing home. He has dementia, rarely speaks and rarely moves. But when he is given headphones attached to an iPod with music specific to his age and known memories, he is moved – to dance, to sing, to speak about what it has given…
This week’s blog post comes to us from Laura Hall who works with the Michigan Assistive Technology Program. Many of these AT items can also be found to borrow for FREE for 30 days in California at our Device Lending Libraries. Check them out and happy back-to-school! Enjoy! Living and working near a college town,…
The following short closed captioned video provides a great, simple and easy AT idea for executive function or episodic memory loss. The idea? Use Twitter – a free program/app – to tweet to yourself about your daily activities. Then, you can search them easily if you don’t remember something that you did or what happened…
Here at Ability Tools, we enjoy following other assistive technology blogs, forums, and reviews from various sources. Here are a few for you to check out! 1. Bmeerz: This is an ambitious AT reviewer that offers many different reviews/demos of AT devices in a video format on Youtube. You can click on CC to open…