Subject: Re: Fw: [Wash-at] FW: Daily Toreador - article - Braille PDA among newgadgets built for people with disabilities
From: Alan J. Knue (aknue@u.washington.edu)
Date: Fri Oct 14 2005 - 10:31:41 PDT
Debbie and Kurt monitor the list, so if anything looks good they forward
it to me- so no need to worry- Thanks, Alan
UWAT wrote:
> Is it helpful to forward you annoucements like this, or are you
> already on the Wash-at list?
>
> Nina
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Ginette <mailto:gperkins@wa.easterseals.com>
> *To:* WASH-AT List serve <mailto:wash-at@u.washington.edu>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, October 11, 2005 8:55 AM
> *Subject:* [Wash-at] FW: Daily Toreador - article - Braille PDA among
> newgadgets built for people with disabilities
>
>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2005 8:46 AM
> Subject: Daily Toreador - article from ginette
> <ginettep@wa.easterseals.com <mailto:ginettep@wa.easterseals.com>>
>
>
>
> ginette <ginettep@wa.easterseals.com
> <mailto:ginettep@wa.easterseals.com>> thought you would be interested
> in this article at Daily Toreador (http://www.dailytoreador.com/).
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> Braille PDA among new gadgets built for people with disabilities
>
> http://www.dailytoreador.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/10/10/4349bc602337c
>
>
>
>
> *National News*
>
>
> *Braille PDA among new gadgets built for people with disabilities*
>
> By Carlos Bergfeld/Staff Writer
>
> October 10, 2005
>
> As exciting as emergent technologies can be, people with disabilities
> may have conditions that render those technologies useless.
>
> Those with disabilities may be unaware of the several assistive
> technologies developed in parallel with current technology to give new
> devices increased practicability.
>
> The Virginia Murray Sowell Center for Research and Education in Visual
> Impairment at the College of Education held its 7th Annual
> Distinguished Lecture Series at Texas Tech Saturday in conjunction
> with an assistive technology fair to show professionals and the public
> what tools the disabled can use to facilitate technological interaction.
>
> Exhibitors set up booths to display technology available for the
> blind, the deaf and those with other disabilities, or to promote
> awareness of organizations working with assistive technologies.
>
> Julia Aguilar, a senior psychology and music performance major from
> Lampasas, helped present devices available to the blind from
> Humanware, a company based in New Zealand.
>
> Aguilar showed off some of the features of the BrailleNote and the
> BrailleNote PK, two Braille-displaying personal digital assistants.
>
> "It's great to just have technology and be able to use it as
> efficiently as you can to get your stuff done," she said.
>
> Being blind herself, Aguilar said she uses her BrailleNote in all of
> her classes to take notes, but the device boasts much more functionality.
>
> Users can play music, read books, type papers, use the Internet or
> sync up to a personal computer to download e-mails or other files.
>
> Another device, the Brailliant Braille Display, allows blind users to
> use standard desktop or laptop computers.
>
> All of the Braille devices have refreshable Braille displays, which
> raise small dots through holes in a flat surface to create Braille
> that refreshes as the user inputs commands.
>
> Derrick Smith, a doctoral student of special education from Talladega,
> Ala., presented assistive technologies from Tech's Assistive
> Technology for Teaching in the Inclusive Classroom project.
>
> Smith said the project aims to demonstrate and define what can be
> considered assistive technology for educators.
>
> "The purpose of this is to show people that even little things you can
> pick up in a local store can be assistive technology," he said.
>
> Sometimes, things as simple as highlighters or transparent colored
> strips for reading can help a child with a learning disability stay
> focused, Smith said.
>
> A "sip-and-puff" toy dinosaur using a mechanism similar to the
> mobility controller in Christopher Reeves' wheelchair can give
> disabled children a new way to interact with their toys, he said.
>
> Assistive technology companies, organizations and users gave
> presentations and demonstrations throughout the day to give an
> in-depth view of some of the tools.
>
> Wallace Johnston, site manager for Texas Tech at Amarillo, showed
> attendees how he uses a Segway Human Transporter to increase his
> mobility.
>
> Johnston said he has a back condition that hinders his walking
> ability, but with the Segway, he can go almost anywhere he could walk.
>
> "This is 24 inches wide. The standard wheelchair is 32 at the
> narrowest," he said. "This'll go places."
>
> The Segway - a two-wheeled, self-balancing, electric transportation
> device - was not designed with the disabled in mind, and thus it
> cannot be paid for by a disabled person's health insurance as it is
> not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
>
> Johnston said his mission was not to sell the Segway or get FDA
> approval, but to just let people know what other options are available
> to them.
>
> "It's coloring outside the lines; thinking outside the box," he said.
>
> Lindsey McDaniel, a senior multidisciplinary studies major from
> Lubbock, said she was surprised to learn about the variety of devices
> that are considered assistive technology.
>
> "Training to be a teacher, it's important to know what options there
> are to have special assistance for kids," she said.
>
> Other exhibitors and presenters included representatives from the
> American Council for the Blind, Communication Services for the Deaf of
> Texas and the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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-- ___________________________________________ Alan J. Knue aknue@u.washington.eduUniversity of Washington Center for Technology and Disability Studies CHDD South Bldg, SB-104 Box 357920 Seattle, WA 98195 206.685.6836 Phone 206.543.4779 Fax
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