Search Results for "assistive technology dora raymaker"
ABLEDATA Resource for Assistive Communication Technology
Published March 18, 2009 @ 04:00PM PT
ABLEDATA, an extensive, non-commercial database and resource for assistive technology, has a section on communication, including a vast page on communication devices and communication programs.
Not only does ABLEDATA list products, product descriptions, and how to contact product distributors, it allows for product reviews by (presumably) users.
There is also information about conferences and other resources, and a publication library with information on everything from how to get funding to the latest news. There is additional information specific to communication aids in all the various sections.
All that plus a beautifully designed web interface!
I had to quickly type this up and close my web browser because the web site was becoming far too interesting...
A Device is Just a Device
Published July 03, 2009 @ 09:59AM PT
Anyone who reads what I write here (all 6 of you ;-P) probably knows that I'm a huge fan of assistive technology. However, it's important not to mislead about what an assistive technology really is.
I almost passed up Weighted Belt for Autism? -- Research Summary because, well, it's not, in fact, anything resembling a "research summary" (or even a well written or interesting article). But then it is pretty illustrative of this theme. Why would anyone think the application of a piece of assistive technology--a weighted belt--would be a "cure" for anything? Any more than a car is a "cure" for not being able to run really fast?
Sometimes unrealistic expectations get put on a device. Once a man observed me use my speech device--something I have high levels of skill in. "I want one just like that," the man told others, and VR purchased him one. Then I was asked to help show him how to use it.
Now, I touch-type 80 - 90 words a minute, have been using typing-as-conversation for decades, my communication processes function natively in writing far better than they do in speech, and I've had benefit of working with an SLP who specializes in assistive technology. Unfortunately, the man is an exceptionally slow hunt-and-peck typer with a preference for speech over writing. And I am no SLP. This lead to some disappointment.
Or, here's a second story: My state has a lovely program to enable all individuals to have telephone access. I have a speaker phone through this program, and my speech device right next to it. However, I don't use the telephone any more than I did before I had this system. Because, well, I don't have any better phone skills than I did before I had this system. I still have no clue when it's my turn to speak, can't understand most of what an unfamiliar voice is saying, and any number of other things that make using the telephone functional.
The two-parter key point here is that, one, assistive technology can make a HUGE difference in the types of activities that are available to a person. I can do things with AT that I could never dream of doing without. But, two, this is not because of the device itself. A device is just a device. What makes a device truly functional is the individual who uses it.
Whether it's technology for sensory needs like a weighted belt (or my beloved extra heavy, knee-high boots), or a speech device, or a telephone, or anything all else, the usefulness of the item is going to depend on the skill, needs, and personality of the person using it as much as it is on the device. And successful use of a device is akin to successful use of a car or a computer--it's not a cure for anything, it's technology that enables us to do things we could not do otherwise.
PDA Yay
Published July 27, 2009 @ 04:58PM PT
An article from the Star Tribune (MN) iPods may help Asperger's kids navigate life mostly highlights the use of iPods for social prompts (interesting correlation perhaps with the Scientific American story on verbal prompts for AS which deserves a post all its own). It may be fair to expand the scope of usefulness to Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), prompts, and the autistic spectrum in general.
A PDA with calendar, tasks, and reminder capabilities can be great for those of us with little sense of time. Many organizational programs have graphical capabilities for people who don't resonate well with numbers or words. Notes, tasks, and reminders also can also substitute for short term memory. The awesomeness of PDAs with a built in GPS is invaluable for those of us with a tendency to confuse easily, especially in new places. PDAs that take pictures can help with memory, navigation, orienting in new places, all sorts of things. And PDA applications with favorite sights, sounds, and games can soothe the nerves. Best of all for anyone with executive function issues is that there is only one does-it-all device to keep track of, not a ton of separate calendars, notebooks, devices, etc. to lose, forget about, and curse.
As a long-time PDA user (as soon as they became marginally affordable over a decade ago), I am quite serious when I tell people my executive function skills are present not in my brain, but in my PDA.
The obvious point here is that a PDA can be an invaluable piece of assistive technology for autism-specific "stuff." Plus, PDAs are mainstream, even "cool," so there's no weird looks for using one.
The less obvious point is that it can be beneficial to think about what sort of tool can give a person a skill they don't otherwise have, rather than pouring energy into trying to find a way to make that person have the skill unassisted. What actually works is more important than appearances.
The Finer Points of Employment Discrimination
Published July 10, 2009 @ 10:52AM PT
The sorts of employment issues we tend to read about, write about, worry about are all fairly large and obvious, and often times even against the law. But employment discrimination can also be subtle, insidious, and even culturally sanctioned.
True Story: County social services, wowed by a person's skills, wants to hire the person--until they find out the person is also a client of county social services. There is a rule in the office that the county can not employ anyone who receives county DD services.
True Story: Person with an impressive set of skills is hired--but not for their actual skills, only as a representative of a person with a disability on the staff. When the person attempts to apply their actual skills to the job, they are told their skills are not wanted (in fact, that the person even possesses such skills is actively denied), and they are only wanted in their capacity as a PWD, not as a professional in any of the ways they have been trained.
True Story: Dora says, "Why aren't there any self-advocates on your autism committee, only parent advocates?" Committee member answers, "Oh, because those parent advocates have other skills that they can contribute to the committee." (It does not cross anyone's mind that the same might also be true of self-advocates.)
True Story: Autistic person who has appropriate credentials does a training series for education workers on how to work better with students on the spectrum. The education workers ask for personal details about the trainer's life: details about the trainer's marriage, mental health, and childhood. The education workers do not ask for details related to the content of the training.
True Story: An appropriately credentialed graduate student attempts to hook up with an academic group involved in assistive technology design. The student is instantly dismissed with no further discussion because the student is an end user of the type of assistive technology being developed--the principle investigator (even after some coaching by others) simply can not fathom how someone who uses the technology could possibly have anything useful to contribute to its design (the fact that this is a grad student looking for research experience like any grad student is completely ignored).
The fact is, none of these things would happen to someone who wasn't on the spectrum. These are clear cases of discrimination. However, there is no recourse to them. They are socially sanctioned as acceptable forms of discrimination. They exist because of attitudes. Because of how disabled people or autistic people are perceived. That we are only good for work that has to do with our disability, and that we are not useful in any other way. That what makes us "remarkable" is our knowledge of being autistic or being disabled, but never our knowledge of things like graphic design, computer programming, engineering, nursing, or whatever else is in our actual skill sets.
Anti-discrimination laws alone do not solve discrimination problems. A paradigm shift in how society sees us is equally necessary. Else these sorts of stories will continue to be told.
Division, Again, but of a Different Sort
Published July 01, 2009 @ 04:00PM PT
I wrote (perhaps way too much) about professional / parent / self-advocate differences recently and the previous week (it is a topic that interests me very much). There's another sort of divide though: the division between the "autism community" and the greater cross-disability community.
At the Megaconference, there were mostly vendor booths from 1) disability rights organizations such as Disability Rights Oregon and the State Independent Living Council, 2) disability-positive service or research organizations such as Oregon ARC and the OIDD, 3) assistive technology companies, selling everything from ergonomic keyboards to telephones to toys.
...and then there were the autism-related booths. All about snake oil, pity, and panic. A harsh reminder of what disability rights groups have rallied against.
There were 65 presentations given over the course of three days, on topics from community weaving to the ADA. Those which were not autism-specific included things like the joys of communication without speech, assistive technology, healthy lifestyles, empowerment, acceptance, and accessibility.
...while the autism-specific presentations were about remediation, normalization, and intervention (remember what Kunc had to say about that).
It's as though autism has been left behind in a pre-1960's, pre-civil rights era. Often I feel as though many people who work specifically with autism have no idea that we are part of a larger community--one that has fought and won some important civil rights battles, including initiating a cultural shift away from the attitudes that produce such demeaning treatment. What's up with that? And, way more importantly, how do we fix it?
Context-Smart AAC
Published June 11, 2009 @ 09:15AM PT
When I saw the headline about a new innovation in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Software 'gives children a voice' (or the Guardian's version Device offers hope to children with communication problems) I had my usual cranky thought "why not adults too?" But when I read the article it became immediately clear that, yes, this case, the kid reference really is being used 100% appropriately; the current implementation of this technology does not translate into adult usage at all. However, the broader technology definitely could translate for adults, and is really quite exciting!
The technology uses various sensors to record what a person does during the course of their day at primary school, hence both the name of the technology pilot program "How was school today?" and the reason why the current implementation is quite literally just for kids. The information recorded by the sensors is then used to generate stories about what the person did at school that day, filling in names and activities, and using natural language processing to make it coherent and put it all into neat grammar. The child can then review and edit the story, delete anything they don't want shared, and add remarks like "that was boring."
Next steps for the software involve making it work in additional contexts, and making versions that are appropriate for autistic kids (no longer assuming the child uses a wheelchair perhaps?).
This technology is very interesting for a number of reasons, one being that it sounds like it assists with figuring out what to say as much as it assists with the actual saying. I may be able to use my speech device to tell someone about my day, but I typically have no clue what about my day could possibly be interesting or relevant to others. Most of the time I seem to guess wrong (occasionally with near-catastrophic effect--"you're supposed to tell someone when you have nearly chopped off your finger!" oh, oops...).
The research was done at University of Dundee. Here is the University's page on the project.
The Times Online's story How was school today? Now disabled pupils can tell the story also notes that the principle investigator on the project has cerebral palsy--one more plug for why it's so important to include people who actually use assistive technology in the creation of that technology. We know what is useful to us!
Eager to see what this technology develops into (and finding time to read the academic papers).
Photo source http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/north_east/8081410.stm
Little Computers Yay!
Published May 24, 2009 @ 09:35AM PT
The plaintive question of an autistic kindergartner Did you get my little computer back yet? is the title of an article on kids using a Convertible Classmate computer. Convertible Classmate is a hearty tablet PC.
So how did it help, aside from being really cool? Among the younger kids, it was most helpful for the students on the autistic spectrum. Both the tablet functionality (responsive to fingers and a stylus) and the keyboard were very helpful to students whose motor skills make writing very difficult. The teachers and aides also reported that the interface itself helped keep the kids engaged in writing and reading assignments when attention may otherwise have been an issue.
I recall trying to watch a video (trying because it was somewhat offensive) on the uses of PDAs for people on the spectrum--alas, my memory failed me on re-finding that video, but a google search for "pda autism assistive technology" turns up 6,670 (most of them actually relevant sounding!) results. PDAs are a pretty big deal to me--I joke (although it's really not a joke) that my executive function lives in my PDA and my PDA is my "extra brains." It's not just that the PDA does a bunch of stuff like notifies me with alarms and reminders or displays a lovely color coded schedule--it's that all of these items are in the same place, on the PDA. Prior to using the PDA people would encourage me to use alarms, reminders, lists, schedules, etc. to help with executive function problems, but they couldn't quite grasp that keeping track of all those parts requires more executive function skill than I possessed: a catch-22. Only remembering one thing--my PDA--instead of many things--lists, reminders, timers, calendars, etc.--is far more do-able.
...not to mention that my PDA now also functions communication device.
For still more (and different) ideas on the autism/computer connection, check out the Autism and Computing site.
Getting back to the question in the initial article "Did you get my little computer back yet?", wouldn't it be best if people who could really benefit from a "little computer" (Convertible Classmate, a PDA, or otherwise) had constant access to such technology? It's time to start considering computers to be every bit as necessary assistive technology for some as a mobility device. Make sure those who need them can get them, and keep them (not only have them for use during school hours!).
