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Re: assistive technology for ALS victim

for

From: Jon Brundage
Date: Mar 28, 2011 12:30PM

Thank you James, John and Dawn for the helpful information

Jon

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jablonski, James (LNI)" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
To: "WebAIM Discussion List" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Sent: Monday, March 28, 2011 12:02 PM
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] assistive technology for ALS victim


> Hi Jon,
>
> An assistive technology solution for the combined limitations and
> restrictions you mentioned would likely need to combine several
> components. Start from where your client is and move from there to the
> next level. At first guess, I'd expect you want to be sure two-way
> communication works well. There are a lot of speech synthesis solutions
> available, but it's more important that the client will be comfortable
> with the computer interface and then that the speech synth component
> will work well with it.
>
> What does you client most need to do? That's probably the best place to
> start. Even if you are not putting something together for a job
> situation, the "Job Accommodation Network"
> http://askjan.org/soar/other/als.html can be helpful with background
> information and ideas, since at the functional level tasks and desired
> results can sometimes be generalized. Generally, I'd expect you will be
> looking at an eye tracking component as part of the long term solution
> for computer input. Check with her medical team. You want to capitalize
> on her best long term capabilities because mastering an assistive
> technology solution is not something one takes on lightly. It's a lot
> of work.
>
> If your client already has some switch-based control mechanisms in
> place, you may want to look into using something similar or, if the
> client is willing and able to go through another set of learning curves,
> perhaps a more elaborate means of user input could be tried.
>
> Companies like www.zygo-usa.com, www.words-plus.com,
> http://orin.com/access/, http://www.eyecan.ca/, http://www.eyegaze.com/,
> offer a variety of devices and methods that may be of interest. In
> managing expenses and learning curves, it is sometimes possible to
> implement incrementally with the best first choice being good
> communication capability. If you help with that, be sure as much as
> possible to plan for both short term gains, but especially for the
> longer term. Depending on AT itself is often both liberating and
> frustrating - even if what the world out there has to offer is
> accessible.
>
> Assistive technologies can be expensive, as you probably already know,
> but depending where you and your client are, there may be funding or
> equipment support available. Again, your client's medical providers
> should be dialed in to helpful resources.
>
> I hope that helps. Feel free to contact me off list if you'd like.
>
> James
>
> James Jablonski
> Assistive Technology Consultant
> Labor and Industries, Information Technology Division
> LowerLevel , MailStop 4770, 7273 Linderson Way SW
> Tumwater WA 98501
>
> (360) 902-5888 <EMAIL REMOVED>
>
>
>