Your online newsletter of resources for people with Disabilites
	Edited by: Rosemary Musachio

"Tech Tibbits"

Technology Center For Children With Adaptive Needs

    If adults with disabilities want to have independent lives, they must begin to gain independence as children in classrooms. Adaptive technology such as communication devices, reading software, and assistive living tools allow children to excel in their scholastic environment as well as in the outside world.

    The National Center to Improve Practice (NCIP) recognizes the need for adaptive technology to be the major part of a disabled student’s schooling. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, NCIP’s mission is to promote the effective use of technology in the education of students, from preschool to twelfth grade, who have cognitive, emotional, physical, or sensory disabilities.

    To help execute its goal, NCIP has developed a worldwide website at http://www.edc.org/FSC/NCIP/ . The informative, insightful website features NCIPnet, facilitated discussion forums which focus on technology and special education. The site also has the NCIP Library containing a wide variety of information on students with disabilities and technology. Within the library, you can explore, read, print out, or upload resources. Another component of the NCIP website are video profiles. You can view video clips online that show how students with disabilities use a range of assistive and instructional technologies to facilitate their learning, deciding for yourself what works and what doesn’t.

    Recently, NCIP added three more features to its website. One of which is a four-week online workshop called READY! SETT! GO!. During the four-week program, participants learn how to apply the SETT (Student, Environments, Tasks, and Tools) Framework to a hypothetical student case through online analysis and discussions. Another new addition is the Early Childhood Guided Tours where participants can "visit" two classrooms to see how teachers integrate low and high tech tools to ensure that students with severe disabilities have full access in the curriculum. Finally, TEC Author Online offers readers of "Teaching Exceptional Children" a chance to discuss selected articles with their authors.

    Beyond the Worldwide Web, NCIP produces a series of videos. The newest is "Welcome to My Preschool! Communicating with Technology," featuring students with speech impairments using communication boards and voice synthesizers. To order the video or to learn more about NCIP, call 617-969-7100 (voice) or 617-969-4529 (tty). Or e-mail NCIP at ncip@edc.org

Technological DREAMMS For Disabled Kids

    Today’s technology has allowed children to explore new frontiers that was beyond reach a couple decades ago. Present technological advancements also have permitted kids with disabilities to explore capabilities that were once unimaginable for them. DREAMMS has helped this become a reality.

    DREAMMS for Kids, Inc. (Developmental Research for the Effective Advancement of Memory and Motor Skills) is a non-profit parent and professional service agency, specializing in assistive technology related research, development, and information dissemination. Founded in 1988 by the parents of a Down syndrome child, DREAMMS is committed to facilitating the use of computers, assistive technologies, and quality instructional technologies for children and individuals with special needs in schools, homes, and in the community.

    DREAMMS for Kids provides affordable and necessary technology-based information to parents and professionals in a variety of ways. 'DIRECTIONS: Technology in Special Education' is a monthly newsletter focusing on issues relating to current assistive technology use and application. Readers are kept up to date in the areas of funding, IDEA, IEPs, adapted computer access, augmentative communication, conferences, adapted software and technology inclusion. Individual subscriptions, library versions, and electronic formats are available.

    The DREAMMS staff has been researching educational and assistive technology literature and collecting related public domain reprints from large national agencies for the last four years. They are also an official information dissemination point for the UCP sponsored Assistive Technology Funding and Systems Change Project. Articles and literature are used as the base for Tech Paks and the DREAMMS Super Pak products. Catalogs and product information from as many as 40 pertinent vendors are also included in these unique resources. There are 15 different topical Tech Paks, with the Super Pak being the combination of them all.

    DREAMMS for Kids also maintains a very active and informative World Wide Web site. Besides providing numerous assistive technology related information pieces, the DREAMMS Web Site offers easy access to many special needs related pages.

So start making realities come true with DREAMMS. For adaptive technological resources or further information about the organization, contact:

DREAMMS for Kids, Inc.
273 Ringwood Road
Freeville, NY 13068
Tel. 607-539-3027
E-mal: DREAMMS@aol.com
URL: http://users.aol.com/dreamms/.

Learn About Multiple Sclerosis And More On The Web

        With the increased popularity of the World Wide Web, learning about disabilities and obtaining resources can just require a few simple &ldquosurf&rdquo moves.  One type of disability that you can now get loads of information on
the WEB is multiple sclerosis.

        Managed by The International MS Support Foundation, the web site is designed to serve those who have MS and stop their isolation.  It&rsquos full of research data, articles, and other useful information.  With 3,900 people from over 60 countries visiting the site daily, it&rsquos probably one of the most visited sites on the Internet.  When you enter the site, you&rsquoll find pages devoted to kids, spouses and caregivers, adaptive equipment donations, and events.

        Yet the website&rsquos main focus is on medical areas, having sections that cover medical information, international MS research, clinical trials, and MS clinic referrals.  Moreover, its Doctors&rsquo Corner features contributions from two of the top ms neurologists: Dr. Randall Schapiro, founder and director of the Fairview MS Center in Minneapolis; and Dr. Herman Weinreb, associate director of the MS Care Center in New York. 

        When you visit the MS website at http://aspin.asu.edu/ msnews , you just might find the answers that you&rsquove been looking for.  Of course, if you don&rsquot have access to the Internet, you can still find the answers by writing to:

The International MS Support Foundation
P.O. Box 90154
Tucson, Arizona 85752-0154

Now You Can work On The Farm

        Ten years ago a person in a wheelchair mowing the grass or plowing farmland might have been science fiction.  What could be done?  Tie a lawn mower to your wheelchair?

        Fortunately, thanks to the engineering talents of a company in Ohio, more sophisticated tactics are employed.  Venture Products has designed a unique power tractor called Ventrac that enables persons with disabilities to independently perform a wide variety of outdoor activities from mowing the lawn to hauling heavy equipment to blowing leaves. 

        Without any assistance, you can operate Ventrac directly from your wheelchair.  You can load yourself onto the unit by lowering the operator compartment and tailgate.  Once you&rsquore in the Ventrac, you can reach all the controls very easily including power steering with tilt steering wheel, forward and reverse hand controls which have a comfortable grip. and smooth speed control with the hydraulic transmission.  By simply pushing a button, you can raise or lower attachments to transform the Ventral into a lawn mower, miniature bull dossier, slip scoop, or leaf blower.

        If you ever wanted to work outdoors, then the Ventrac is what you&rsquove been looking for.  It offers you the ability to be independent and self-sufficient.  For more information on this liberating piece of machinery, cal or write to:

Venture Products, Inc.
P.O. Box 148
Orville, Ohio 44667
Tel. 330-683-0075
Fax 330-683-0000
E-mail: venture@bright.net

[Subscribe to The Able Informer] [Contribute ideas to The Able Informer]

[Back to home page]

@Copyright 1997 The Able Informer

All rights reserved