People of all ages, abilities, and needs may be able to benefit from assistive technology. Everyone’s needs are different. Understanding and meeting the needs of the individual are critical. There are many technology solutions available.
Just as last weeks blog addressed, ones comfort with assistive technology is going to determine how useful it is to them. Everyone can be taught to use AT but some may be unwilling or have a more difficult time learning it after years without it. For children AT has the possibility of being very advanced and they will be able to quickly learn how to use it. Those who can quickly learn it will probably be those who are most familiar with technology as a whole. Ones familiarity with technology needs to be thought of when trying to fit someone with AT. If someone is not comfortable with a high tech device, a low tech one may be better for him or her because it will allow him or her to continue to use it and not abandon it. When ones experience and needs are not considered when fitting someone with AT it will have a higher percentage of being abandoned and not picked up again.
AT can be found to fit everyone’s needs and this only requires research. I believe that knowledge about how to use AT and knowing what is out there are the best ways of properly fitting individuals. Simple research on the Internet can inform someone of the many options available and from there they can do more research to figure out what is going to be the best fit. As we talked in the first week of class there are also agencies out there that will help fit individuals with AT and these can be used to find the right solution.
- Voice recognition software
- Touch screens
- Head/eye control devices
- Magnifiers
- Foot switches
- Sip/puff switches
- Portable personal amplifiers
- Sign language translators
http://www.enablemart.com/Catalog/Mobility
All of the devices would help individuals do everyday functional tasks and they range from low to high tech to fit ones needs.
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