September is National Preparedness Month In his proclamation designating September as National Preparedness Month, President Barack Obama stated, “In April of this year, a devastating series of tornadoes challenged our resilience and tested our resolve. In the weeks that followed, people from all walks of life throughout the Midwest and the South joined together to…
School is back in session, which means that assistive technology and individualized education plans (IEPs) are on the minds of many students and teachers. The Georgia Project for Assistive Technology (a program of the Georgia Dept. of Education) created a four-part video series framing essential concepts and action steps for the responsible provision of AT services. Useful…
10 Web pages with apps for special education and adults with disabilities Thank you to the AT Program News for sharing the resources below. As the volume of apps for mobile devices explodes, websites are cropping up to help us learn, review, and share about them. Below is a selection to help you get started:…
By Dr. Bob Segalman, President, Speech Communications Assistance by Telephone, Inc. People with speech disabilities are asking others to help urge the FCC to update technology regulations to improve their telephone access. The FCC is considering whether Speech-to-Speech (STS) should be upgraded to include a video component, called Video Assisted Speech- to-Speech (VID-STS). The information provided…
This is a guest post by Jeff Symons, MSE, ATP, a rehabilitation engineer located in Northern California. Jeff provides AT and ergonomic assessments to individuals and clients of the California Department of Rehabilitation as well as other agencies. I recently got feedback from a counselor that many of the clients that I assessed had quit…
Shannon Coe, CFILC’s Reuse & Finance Coordinator, interviewed Nellie DeMeerleer, YO! Volunteer As students are getting ready for the new school year, I wanted to find out what kind of AT youth are using these days in college. So I decided to interview Nellie, a youth volunteer for the Youth Organizing (YO!) Disabled and Proud…
By Allan Friedman, CFILC’s Technologies Manager California made a BIG bet in March. We (the disability community, caregivers and the legislature) bet that AT devices for a few at-risk individuals will save the state $140 million dollars in prevented hospitalizations. And if we’re wrong? A cut to IHSS hours for all. When SB 72 was…
By Jorge Ruiz, Assistive Technology Coordinator at the Central Coast Center for Independent Living in Salinas As an assistive technology advocate, I often get requests from consumers on a variety of different pieces of equipment and services. Recently many of our consumers have inquired about funding assistance for basic eye glasses. Of course, before acquiring…
By Shannon Ramsay, CFILC’s Information & Assistance Advocate We increasingly communicate using advanced devices that zip data back and forth between us over the Internet. Since many of these new types of communication technology have not been designed to be accessible for those of us with hearing impairments, it has become necessary to update and…
by Fred Tchang, ATP and Director, Assistive Technology Services in New Jersey People working in the field of assistive technology have many different backgrounds–education, technology, therapy. The one credential that unites us is the RESNA Assistive Technology Professional (ATP). How does a credential differ from a training course? Training courses are great for learning new…