AT Program News Blog

Are Your State Assistive Technology Regional Centers Listed at Proloquo2Go.com?

I just got off the phone with a new coordinator of an AT Regional Center in Boston. She told me this inspiring story that I thought I'd share. The Proloquo2Go Web site has a state-by-state resources page to identify places to go see this communication app on an iPad. A colleague at the Center noticed the local children's hospital was listed and thought they should be listed too. They submitted their information and since doing so, a short time ago, they've had close to a dozen calls from people who need AAC (augmentative and alternative communication).

Many of the people calling the ATRC have heard about the iPad and Proloquo2Go, but not about AAC in general. Some have seen the 60 Mins report (that failed to mention the long history of dedicated AAC devices that lay the groundwork for Proloquo2Go). One man's family went to the Proloquo2Go site because his doctor told him he needed an iPad. He has a fast moving progressive disease and his family knew nothing about assistive technology in general. Thanks to the listing on the Proloquo2Go Web site resources page, this family is now connected with an AT Regional Center operated by Easter Seals in Boston, and will learn about a full range of solutions, including the AAC solutions that can work for him as his needs change.

Are your state AT Regional Centers listed at Proloquo2Go?

Christmas Comes Early Through ReMEDy

By Jim Branum

ReMEDy has many success stories. After all, the goal of the program is to loan used durable medical equipment to people who are unable to otherwise purchase what they need. So you can understand that we feel like it is Christmas every day we go to work and get to see the faces of the people we are able to serve.

The story of C.M. is one such success story. It begins with Carolyn, a member of one of our Birmingham Baptist Association Churches (BBA), who worked at a metal manufacturing company in the western area of the city. She would see C.M. every day that it was not raining. He would pass by her place of business pulling a rolling, plastic trash can tied by ropes to the back of his wheelchair. C.M. made his living by making a daily trip picking up aluminum cans and taking them--using his wheelchair--to a local recycling center. His daily journey started from where he lived, which was a 10-by-20 storage building he rented located in the back yard of his landlord's house, and continued out through the streets of Birmingham, passing businesses that would save cans for him. He would then return home going down different streets collecting cans beside the road.

C.M. had lost both legs some 50 years earlier in an accident, but he seemed to me to be one of the happiest people I have known. In the yard outside his storage building home were old wheelchair parts that C.M. would use to repair his manual chair when it broke down from everyday use. He also had an old, worn-out, power chair that no longer worked.

One day, while stopping at Carolyn's business, C.M. asked her if the men at her company would try and fix the power chair for him. They agreed to try. For the next 6 months they had it at the business, working on it.  But they never could get the old power chair to work.

So eventually Carolyn called her church. She was referred to the BBA to ask if there was any help for C.M. through the different BBA ministries. That is when she called and spoke with me at ReMEDy.

I called C.M. and asked if he would agree to replace his old power chair for a loaner--a beautiful working power chair through the ReMEDy program. He agreed. And so I used my truck and trailer, got the old chair out of the way, and delivered C.M. his new chair (after providing him with safety and operational training).

I wish I could share the look on his face! It was as if Christmas had arrived as C.M. transferred over from his old, worn-out, pieced-together manual wheelchair into the working power chair loaned to him for as long as he'd need it. 

Jim Branum is the director of ReMEDy, a durable medical equipment reuse program operated by the Birmingham Baptist Association in partnership with STAR, Alabama's Assistive Technology Act Program.

Vermont AT Reuse Project Receives Governor's Award

Project Coordinator Sharon Alderman attributes recognition, in part, to the growth of Vermont's AT School Exchange

Congratulations are in order to the Vermont Assistive Technology (VT AT) Reuse Project. In June the project received the 2011 Governor's Award for Environmental Conservation Excellence in Justice and Sustainability. VT AT Reuse initiatives include the Medicaid Equipment Reuse Project (recapturing publically-funded durable medical equipment for those who need it), the Assistive Technology Exchange in New England (a Craig's list style device "swap and shop"), and the Assistive Technology Exchange for Vermont Schools (helping share equipment among schools). "We received the award because our programs effectively  and uniquely achieve the award's ideals," notes VT AT Reuse Coordinator Sharon Alderman.  "We're lucky to operate in a state that values both environmental conservation and economic justice." Indeed, in federal fiscal year 2010, VT AT Reuse helped find a second life for over 285 Adapted Vehicles, DME and AT items, keeping many devices out of landfills and closets and in the hands of Vermonters with disabilities.

AT School Swap Now Includes 57% of Vermont's Supervisory Unions/Districts

Alderman is particularly encouraged by the growth of the AT Exchange for Vermont Schools (AT School Swap). The initiative helps Vermont schools share AT for the benefit of students with special needs. In June of 2009, nine months after launch, the AT School Swap had 16 VT Supervisory Unions signed on to share unused AT. As of October 2011, the program has grown to include 34 participating Supervisory Unions, 57% of the state's total. "It's steady growth. It doesn't yet reflect big savings to schools--just $19,000 in FY2010--but we're getting there."

The AT School Swap concept began as a way to keep devices out of school closets and with students who need them. As student needs change or they graduate or move out of district, many items go unused. By learning about and agreeing to exchange unutilized equipment, schools would have affordable fast access to AT. The first task, however, was getting schools on board.

Alderman believes Vermont is succeeding because it's  flexible with how people use and access the School Swap. Participants do not have to share or sell anything they don't want to, and they learn about available and needed equipment in different ways. "We started with a web-based approach akin to the getATstuff platform [the Web site for the AT Exchange in New England]. But we realized that the School Swap site would have to be just one tool among many needed to establish a reuse network with schools." Alderman estimates that 40-50% of AT School Swap users do not make use of the Web site directly and prefer email and the toll free number. "Monthly email updates are a reminder that we're here, that equipment is available, and it puts school system needs under the noses of authorized swap-users around the state. Swap participants don't have to remember to periodically go to the site to search equipment. But we are encouraging them to post there, and slowly it is happening."

A web-based school swap system may be achievable, even inevitable, down the road. But in the meantime, Alderman's "coordinator" position is aptly titled. Alderman and her interns learn of available equipment, and devices sought, by phone and email (often in response to their monthly email), and frequently connect donors and sellers with recipients.

An AT Reuse Concierge?

Providing reuse "concierge" services is achievable in a state with a population that's not quite 626,000 (2010 Census), and builds program buy-in among participants--who in the case of the AT School Swap are school personnel in a position to network with one another. Alderman, however, has also become a point person for reused AT among state agencies, the medical community (including skilled nursing facilities and rehabilitation centers), private non profits, and most recently the Vermont FEMA disability coordinator (post Tropical Storm Irene). And she is able to directly assist individual consumers; the getATstuff site allows administrators to see visitors and what listings they view, which means she may contact them to offer help.

 
VT AT Program staff accept Governor's Award  

Indeed with the research assistance of Alderman and her interns, Vermont schools, individuals and families, nursing facilities, non profits and others have received devices through in-state as well as interstate initiatives. Reuse programs as far away as Kansas and Georgia have provided equipment to Vermonters with specific needs.

Congratulations Vermont!

VT AT Reuse Project Nuts and Bolts:

• 1 full-time project coordinator initially funded through a Medicaid infrastructure grant.
• 2 part-time skilled interns majoring in marketing and mechanical/bio medical engineering at area colleges. Alderman's interns have created marketing materials and press releases as well as data tracking systems.
• $1,447,707 have been saved by consumers (over the cost of new equipment) since the VT AT Reuse Project's inception in FY2008.

Project Partners: 

• VT AT Reuse Project is an initiative of the VT Assistive Technology Program which is part of the Dept. of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living and the VT Family Network (a private non profit).
• GetATStuff.com was developed and is maintained by a consortium of the six New England states.
• The AT School Swap platform is maintained by 3 states of this consortium: VT, CT, and MA (site improvements are ongoing),
• ReSTORE in Barre, a division of ReSource in VT, has initiated an AT-DME area with the support and technical assistance of the AT Reuse Project (and an initial donation of medical equipment from New England Medical to the VT AT Program).
• Yankee Medical and other DME vendors are providing additional supports to the project.

Learn more:

Download the Vermont AT School Swap Power Point. This is a very detailed overview of VT's AT School Swap which Alderman presented last January at ATIA 2011 Orlando.

Attend "Optimizing AT Resources in Schools: School Swap and More" on Saturday, Jan. 28th at ATIA 2012 Orlando presented by Sharon Alderman with Liz Persaud and Carolyn Phillips of the Pass It On Center.

Contact:

Sharon Alderman
project coordinator, VT AT Reuse Project
Nationwide Toll Free 1-888-827-2714

The Reuse ReMEDy for Birmingham

Birmingham Baptist Association taps a deep need for durable medical equipment with the help of STAR, Alabama's Assistive Technology Resource

Over the last fifteen years, Alabama's STAR Program (through the Dept. of Rehabilitation Services) has used its limited federal AT Act dollars to develop a statewide network of equipment reuse programs through public-private partnerships. It's a model the Pass It On Center--the national provider of reuse program technical assistance--has been working to highlight. STAR's diverse partners range from disability services organizations, like Easter Seals and United Cerebral Palsy, to low-income and faith-based charities, like Goodwill and the Birmingham Baptist Association (BBA). STAR offers its modest grants to community-based organizations that already have the infrastructure, sense of purpose, and community roots to nurture and establish successful reuse initiatives within their communities. In return, equipment reuse programs are often effective outreach for their private partners, raising awareness of the full range of services their host agencies provide.

Reused Medical Equipment Donated by you (ReMEDy) is one such program. It started in 2009 when a long-established faith-based charity--the Birmingham Baptist Association (BBA)--applied for STAR support to begin a durable medical equipment (DME) reuse project in western Birmingham. Although Birmingham is Alabama's largest city (pop. 212,000), up until that time people seeking refurbished power chairs, gently used walkers, shower chairs, etc. had to drive the 60 miles to STAR's Reclaim/Refurbish/Reuse (3-R) Project in Anniston. This was true despite the logical need for DME reuse in a city where 27.8% of residents live at or below the poverty line and nearly a third of whom do so with some form of disability (2010 US Census data).

What helped successfully launch ReMEDy and what has the program learned along the way? AT Program News had the opportunity to speak with both Branum and Helen Baker, executive director of Alabama's STAR Program. Below is more of what they shared.

Origins

According to Branum, Debbie Duke, director of Congregational Nursing Program for Baptist Health System (BHS), "clocked a lot of time driving to Anniston for equipment until she asked why we didn't have a reuse program right here." BBA is the parent organization to BHS (which runs four hospitals). 3-R Project staff referred Duke to Helen Baker, executive director of Alabama's STAR Program to discuss the idea. "The answer, it turned out, was that no one had ever asked before."

In 2007, Duke brought the situation to the attention of Princeton Hospital's Director of Chaplains, Lynn Gavin who helped run with the idea. "He was frustrated advocating for seniors, learning that insurance providers wouldn't pay the $85 for a shower chair. He wanted other options." Gavin helped pulled together meetings with reps from BHS and BBA. Eventually BBA Director Mike McLemore, and others from BBA (including Branum) went to meet with Baker.

BBA's Community Assets

For BBA, identifying the need for a DME reuse project met with perfect timing. In 2009, BBA was in the process of creating initiatives for a new ministry center in western Birmingham--the Center at Central Park. The Center would re-purpose a large BBA church facility that had once housed a congregation of close to 3,000 people and was now down to fewer than 100. There was space to adopt. Also helpful was the Center's location; western Birmingham is a distressed community in need of revitalization, and an ideal location for a program offering free durable medical equipment. Of course it helped, too, that BBA has an over 100 year history of operation within the community including the provision of health care. Today ReMEDy is the Center's cornerstone initiative, anchoring and raising awareness of other Center offerings.

Program Nuts and Bolts:

• Two half-time staff members operate the program. Branum and an administrative assistant, Myra Patterson, are tracking data, writing grants, training and coordinating volunteers, sanitizing and finding storage for equipment, and responding to community requests and donations.
• Marketing has been largely word-of-mouth, both through established healthcare networks and among community members served.
• Equipment transport is provided by equipment donors and recipients whenever possible, and by program staff when not.
• ReMEDy provides a monthly inventory to STAR that is incorporated with other reuse centers' inventories and posted on the STAR Program Web page. (STAR is looking at converting to the AT4ALL data system--see the AT4ALL article this edition).

Additional Program Partners:

• The Community Foundation of Birmingham provides a $15,000 grant.
• AT&T organizes a twice-yearly equipment drive among its 2000+ area employees.
• In addition to BBA, local churches--including the United Methodist church across the street--donate storage space, volunteers, and financial support.

Lessons Learned:

• Do not reinvent the wheel. "One of the keys to starting a program," Branum asserts, "is that you go see one that is active." Branum and McLemore studied how the 3-R program in Anniston is organized. Eventually Branum also visited the Huntsville and Montgomery programs, as well as FODAC in the neighboring state of Georgia. Branum learned about sanitizing equipment, storage, inventory, and policies and procedures through the PIOC online knowledge base, and by attending two PIOC conferences in Atlanta.
• Negotiate your liability insurance at the outset. BBA's insurance provider would not cover a DME reuse program that includes equipment involving breathing or blood, and ReMEDy had to assure that they would have safe practices with the mobility and seating equipment they loan out.
• Get trained on data reporting. Branum credits Baker for providing training on how to effectively track and report data. STAR requires that certain data be consistently collected and reported as a requirement of the STAR grant.
• Document as you train others. Branum is creating a manual he calls "The ReMEDy System" to house all the necessary forms and other program documentation, policies and procedures, and systems for program operation. "It's hugely complicated if you don't grow up with it," he realizes. On the statewide level, Baker is also making use of the ReMEDy start up experience, and is at work on a manual: "How to Start a Reuse Center" which will include a policies and procedures template.
• Be flexible with equipment transport. "Our program would be in its infancy if we had said from the outset that we would never collect or deliver equipment. We had to be willing to go to people's homes and work with them." Branum has been using his own vehicle and trailer, but recently received a donated cargo van for this purpose.
• Keep learning. Branum is facing challenges with building the program's capacity to meet the rising demand for services. He plans to explore Americorp/Vista internships and additional grant sources. Baker is looking to bring together additional stakeholders to discuss ongoing sustainability.
• Create a network of reuse programs. On the state level, Baker is working to connect the STAR reuse programs more closely for sharing and problem-solving. She has recommended, and is in the process of developing, a statewide AT Reuse Network and Summit among other initiatives.

Learn more about the Alabama STAR reuse network:

Check out the PIOC 08/31/11 webinar on partnerships to expand reuse. Helen Baker provides a lively overview of the STAR reuse network.

Contact: Helen Baker, executive director of Alabama's STAR Program

Explore PIOC Knowledge Base modules:

• A model reuse program operating budget is available under Finance>Budgeting

• Marketing/PR provides over a dozen articles ranging from "Community awareness--developing a strategy" to targeted advice, such as "Press Releases--how to use."

• Sustainability offers strategies ranging from capacity building and funding to stakeholder engagement.

VGO-Robotic Assistive Technology Brings Homebound Child Into His Classroom

This is a MUST WATCH video brought to my attention by a colleague in Massachusetts. The video shows a child who is homebound traveling the halls of his school thanks to VGO.

 

Great Video: Keith Jones Using Assistive Technology for His Home-Based Enterprise

Igniting Student Writing with Storybird

One tech-savvy parent's just-in-time classroom intervention 

Last year my second-grader was learning to hate writing. "It's the worst part of the day," he'd say. "I can never think of anything to write about!"  

His teacher, it turned out, used no prompts and fiction was outlawed. ("Their plots are too messy at this age" she told me.) Writing periods were spent practicing the structure of a paragraph among other prescriptive tasks.  

Back in graduate school, I'd had the opportunity to teach high-schoolers a summer course I called "Writing with Passion for School and for Yourself." Now I was wondering how I could also show my son that writing is satisfying, nourishing and essential. How could I show his class? (After all, I'm a writer not an educator.)

At an AT Advisory Council meeting in December, I took the opportunity to share my woes with Karen Janowski. Janowski is an educational technology and AT specialist working with public schools in Massachusetts (see "ReThinking: He Doesn't Want to be Seen as Different" in the sidebar). I told Janowski about my son, how he receives reading room support and hates writing so much he gets angry with waitresses who bring him crayons.

She recommended trialing Storybird.com, a free online storytelling program. Storybird allows users to create gorgeous picture books by selecting graphics by participating artists, and writing accompanying text. The site is durable for young students; once logged in, student projects are automatically saved as they work. Once a book is finished, the project may be published online and/or ordered in hard copy.

Back at my son's school (in Vermont), a group of parents and I decided to tackle integrating Storybird into his class of 20 first- and second-graders. For guidance I enlisted the support of the reading specialist (she met with me on her own time and attended class when she could manage it). To get into the weekly schedule, I took over the class computer lab (unstructured time used solely for learning the keyboard and playing games). And to motivate the kids, I got a grant from the PTO to buy one soft-cover copy of each student's book for them as a keepsake.

My Goals:

• To give the students a writing project that was completely theirs.
• To envision themselves as published authors (elevate their task and sense-of-self).
• To introduce them to the elements of a story (concepts of plot, character, and setting--part of the state standards).
• To provide motivation for learning basic word processing skills and sentence construction.
• To model my own love of writing.
• To have fun.

Nuts and Bolts:

• To introduce the unit, I showed them a Storybird I wrote (above) which incorporated some of their first names to get them excited. (Here is the Google Doc slide presentation I used to guide them on that first day. Be sure to click on the speaker notes).
• To ensure enough time, including time to learn and play with the Web site, we met weekly for over four months of the school year.  
• The first set of weeks was spent writing individual stories; the last half we spent in small groups on collaborative works (adult facilitated!)
• Collaborative stories were shared in a final wrap-up celebration using a SMART Board.  
• At the end of the school year, the students chose which stories they wanted the PTO to purchase (their individual or their group project).

The Devil in the Details:

• 4 adults helped in computer lab each week.
• I pre-registered each student at home to create simple user names and passwords.
• I used a projected screen to help guide them through log-in and tools.  
• To maximize class time, eventually we learned to arrive early to pre-log them in, choosing who would sit where for a quieter classroom (it worked!)
• We came up with some parameters: no project could be over 20 pages, and words must accompany every page.
• One parent made colorful, paper "choosing hats" for drawing names when conflicts in small groups needed resolving.
• Storybird updates were sent home to parents including login instructions for home access.

Outcomes:

• Initial grumbling about lost free computer lab time vanished by the second week.
• A mid-session show of hands revealed 50% of the classroom was working on Storybird at home, writing on their own free time (and not always the students we would have predicted!)
• Logging in, I found that older siblings had also created stories or collaborated with younger siblings to get in on the action!
• The first-grader on the autism spectrum enjoyed sequencing pictures and thrived contributing during group work (he was assigned to the reading specialist's group).
• I used a SMART Board with my small group, which made everyone eager to place pictures, enter text, and stand up to read what we had created.
• Final results varied, predictably, by skill level. For some, just learning to navigate the site, drag and drop pictures, and move a cursor were big accomplishments. However, all developed a range of skills much faster than anticipated. Most were eager to read and share their stories with the class and answer questions (making me wish we'd had more time for literary criticism because they loved it).
• Their plots were, indeed, messy. They loved them anyway.   

Special Needs (with input from Karen Janowski):

• Storybird works with Co:Writer word prediction and Dragon Naturally Speaking software.
• Storybird is forgiving and flexible; students can easily change, edit, correct, and update their work. Nothing is unfixable, even after you hit "publish."
• Spell check may be enabled or disabled (I found many second-graders were empowered and delighted to use spell check).
• Reluctant or struggling writers love placing and sequencing pictures. The artwork inspires storytelling.
• Older students can collaborate via email on a common Storybird project (swapping turns). Comments may be left on published works (a huge motivator).

Final note:

In March my son was stuck at home with walking pneumonia while I was stuck out of state due to a snow storm. Using Skype with Storybird, however, I was able to babysit him for over an hour, providing respite for my partner. I chose Skype's "screen share" option, and he and I took turns reading published Storybirds aloud to each other (I turned the pages as well as guided him, word-by-word, using the cursor). It was a wonderful way to visit with each other as well as support his learning.

Plus, these days he admits that writing is not the worst part of his day.

-Eliza Anderson, ATPN editor-in-chief

One Man's Path to Meaningful Self-Employment

Bill Fuppull and Get Guam Teleworking

Bill Fuppul used to work in cargo for Continental Airlines. Today he is a self-employed translator and interpreter with clients that include the Guam Dept. of Education and the Guam Dept. of Rehabilitation. He retooled his work life with the help of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at the University of Guam, the Guam alternative financing program for AT (GOAL AT), and most recently Get Guam Teleworking.

Fuppul's new career is a good match for his skills, abilities and the needs of his community.  Several years ago he had an electrical accident that resulted in paraplegia. With the help of the SBDC and its partnership with the loan programs, however, Fuppul spun his language skills into an entrepreneurial opportunity that addresses a deep community need: English translation and interpreter services to help reach Guam's Chuukese immigrants.

"One of my first clients was the Dept. of Education, special education. They needed their parent's rights brochure in Chuukese. I created that for them."  A native of Chuuk (an island in Micronesia), Fuppul is literate and fluent in both Chuukese and English; he also speaks Pohnpaien, another Micronesian language.

Many Chuukese natives come to Guam for better economic and educational opportunities, so Guam's public services need Bill's translation skills. The SBDC helped him create a business plan and acquire a business license. Through GOAL AT Bill acquired his first computer in 2007. Through Get Guam Teleworking, he upgraded that hardware in 2010.

GOAL AT provides financial loans to eligible applicants with disabilities (or family members) who are looking to purchase AT. Telework has a much smaller target: eligible applicants with disabilities who need equipment in order to "telecommute" (work from home or a telework center) through an employer or as a self-employed small business owner. In FFY10 Get Guam Teleworking made five loans. Bill, having paid off his original loan and already self-employed, was an ideal applicant.

Telework approved a $2,000 loan for a faster laptop equipped with Microsoft Office plus a wireless printer/fax and router.  The faster computer meant Bill could take on larger projects and more clients. Once equipped, his first new job was a 48 page translation for the Guam Dept. of Education. "I could not have taken the job without the new computer," he says. And thanks to the wireless router and printer, he was able to complete the project easily from his wheelchair and bed.

Asked how the new loan has impacted his life, Fuppul told ATPN that these days he is enjoying the benefits of a solid credit rating (he provided a nice Christmas for his family) and is now considering how to market his Chuukese translation services beyond Guam. It frustrates him, he says, to see such poor translations on Hawaiian Web sites. Need an English-to-Chuukese translator? Email Bill Fuppul

Get Guam Teleworking Nuts and Bolts:

    * Get Guam Teleworking is administered by the Guam Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (Guam CEDDERS)
    * Loans made in 2010: 5
    * Loans Guaranteed? Yes
    * Loan range: $100 to $5000 (may exceed in certain circumstances)
    * Rate/term: currently 2.125% for up to 5 years (longer terms may be approved by the Loan Board)
    * Average income of applicants: $16,386/year
    * Bank partner: Pacific Island Microcredit Institute

Lessons from an AFP-AgrAbility Partnership

Back in 2007, Kevin Yasnowski became the first farmer to receive a financial loan through the Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation (PATF). At the time, Mr. Yasnowski was working at a Nike shoe outlet, but he didn’t want to just sell shoes. He wanted to help with haying and raising heifers alongside his father on their family’s farm. To do so Yasnowski, who has Down Syndrome, needed safety equipment for a tractor. But because he was already employed, the Penn. Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) turned down his request for assistance. Indeed there was no program that could help with this equipment. That’s when PATF stepped in.

“It’s important to do what you love,” notes Executive Director Susan Tachau.

PATF learned of Yasnowski through a partnership it had just launched with AgrAbility and Penn State University. AgrAbility’s mission is to help farmers keep producing; the Pennsylvania AgrAbility program provides outreach to farmers with disabilities, assessments for equipment needs, and information and referral for funding. PATF, in turn, provides alternative financing, case management, and advocacy.

In Mr. Yasnowski’s case, PATF helped finance a seat belt to keep him in the operator’s chair and the roll over protective structure (ROPS) for protection should the tractor flip over. “What’s important about this story,” Tachau emphasizes, “is that no other program could help him. But he paid off his loan in about a year.”

Since 2007, PATF has made ten loans to farmers through its AgrAbility program, and learned some lessons about working with farmers and state agencies along the way. Recently ATPN spoke with Tachau about her experience with AgrAbility and gleaned the following lessons, surprises, and strategies to share with the AT program community:

1. Loans to farmers are not particularly risky.

PATF’s farmers have had a much higher debt to income ratio than its other loan recipients, yet so far none have defaulted or even gone delinquent. “A farmer’s debt to income looks higher because their assets are in the farm,” Tachau explains. “But farmers are committed to their family farms. It’s more than a job. We don’t put liens on cows to make these loans, and the farmers are paying them off.”

2. Farmers want all resources to go to the farm.

“Because farming is much more than a vocation, farmers put everything on the farm. So when AgrAbility’s OT comes back to them recommending, among other things, an ergonomic chair for the office, it’s a hard sell. Steps up to the tractor? Yes. Help converting to another product that is physically easier to make? Absolutely. The chair? Not so interested.”

3. Vocational Rehabilitation can’t cover everything.

At the time Yasnowski’s loan was made, PATF assumed financing farm equipment would prove to be unusual. AgrAbility would get the farm equipment from Vocational Rehabilitation, and PATF would finance the farmer’s non-vocational needs (i.e. home and vehicle modifications, hearing aids, and perhaps an ergonomic chair). Now, looking back, of the ten AgrAbility loans they’ve helped finance, every one has gone to purchase farm equipment.

4. It works best to complete a package for the farmer.

“Because there is a limit to what OVR can cover, we find that we’re completing packages for farmers. OVR will fund much of the adaptive equipment and we’ll try and finance the rest, including the vehicles.” In 2009, PATF worked with OVR to help a farmer with cervical and lumbar pain obtain new farm equipment that would simply be easier on his body. The needs were significant: an Ag-bag machine, a feeder wagon, a utility vehicle, an elevator lift system, upgrades to his tractor (new suspension seating, adapted shifting mechanism to engage the transmission and other gears), and a new truck that provides a smoother (and less painful) ride.  OVR paid for the new farm equipment as well as $1,200 for the adaptations to the tractor.  PATF guaranteed a loan for $19,300 (at 4.5%) so the farmer could pay the difference between the old tractor and the new one ($4,800) and the truck ($14,500). Monthly loan payments:  $306.37. Repayment period:  6 years.

5. Get creative when considering income.

PATF has learned that if anyone in the farm family is working off the farm, PATF may not have to guarantee the loan, which makes available a lot more money to work with to help a farmer.

6. Help OVR to “think outside the box” when it comes to AT.

As the example above illustrates, AT for farmers is not always adaptive equipment; sometimes it is just new or different farm equipment. “Of course we advocate for the farmers to OVR,” emphasizes Tachau, “and partner to help make it happen.”

7. Get to the policy table with multiple agencies.

An AT program can provide far reaching impact for people with disabilities by creating relationships with other state agencies, making sure AT is included in service definitions, and preventing program asset limits that threaten to exclude farm families and others from needed services. PATF is at the table with Medicaid as they craft their home and community based waiver (HSBS) service definitions and asset rules. It is also helping create the Pennsylvania State Plan for Independent Living (SPIL).  “Ultimately we are looking to create opportunities,” Tachau says, “to complete more packages for people with disabilities so they can get and afford the AT they need. Not just with OVR.”

8. Get to the kitchen table with farmers.

Outreach to farmers with disabilities is effective when the AgrAbility staff members are farmers themselves (or have a strong farming background). “It’s fascinating to me what we have learned, culturally,” Tachau muses. “Our AgrAbility people are farmers. They talk the language. When they visit a farm they know what is a priority and what is not a priority. I don’t step foot on a farm. I could, but they would know I don’t come from a farming background and that does make a difference.”

Learn more about creating an AgrAbility partnership; download this National Assistive Technology Technical Assistance Partnership (NATTAP) publication (rtf).

Tasha Shoffner Finds Her Calling as an AmeriCorps Volunteer in Texas

In 2007, Tasha Shoffner completed her MBA with the help of a DynaWrite speech generating device. After graduation she was in pursuit of full-time employment when she learned of an opportunity to serve as an AmeriCorps volunteer at the United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) Houston assistive technology (AT) demonstration center, a program of the Texas AT Act program. She couldn’t resist. Tasha had already been working part time as a consumer representative for Dynavox (a maker of alternative and augmentative communication devices) and had discovered the pleasure of helping others get empowered through assistive technology (and AAC in particular). Now here was an opportunity to light that fire for people with disabilities of all kinds; it was a chance to put her skills and life experience to work in a powerful and satisfying way, and learn about a lot of assistive technology in the process.

Shoffner’s own story with AAC did not begin until her junior year of college. She was contemplating switching majors to avoid the oral presentations necessary to complete her BA in social work when the Texas Rehabilitation Commission hooked her up with Dynavox software on a laptop. It changed her life. Shoffner, who has cerebral palsy, had discovered the power of AT. As she learned more, she settled on a DynaWrite—a keyboard-based device—because it allows her the greatest freedom of expression (Shoffner can type 20 words per minute with one hand). Finally speaking for herself, Shoffner completed her social work degree and later entered and completed the MBA program.

At UCP Houston, Shoffner has spent the last year and a half demonstrating all the AT equipment the center has to offer including JAWS screen reading software, Dragon Naturally Speaking (computer access for people with limited mobility), various alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) devices, as well as CCTVs and portable magnifiers for low vision.

“My favorite part of the job is watching the light go off in the client’s head when they realize what AT means to them,” Shoffner told ATPN in an email. “Every time a parent or teacher has come into the AT lab for the first time and realizes that there is help for their child or student, there has been an expression of relief and pure excitement of what the future may hold for them. That expression is all I need to know that I have had a positive impact on another person’s quality of life.”

Shoffner serves as an AmeriCorps Active Service Solutions for Economic Transitions (ASSET) Navigator, a program of UCP Texas. Congress expanded AmeriCorps funding in 2009, changes which include allowing volunteers to maintain their SSI benefits while earning their AmeriCorps monthly stipend. In addition, Shoffner will receive a Segal Americorps Education Award to put toward her student loans at the completion of the UCP assignment.

The Texas AT Act program (Texas TAP) funds an ASSET Navigator in each of six AT demonstration centers in the Texas TAP network.  For Texas TAP, the AmeriCorps partnership was an easy fit; it began when UCP Texas, already a Texas TAP partner, became an AmeriCorps subgrantee through the Texas One Star Foundation (which administers AmeriCorps State). Texas TAP Program Director Roger Levy says Americorps provides the centers with inexpensive and highly competent personnel, and so far over 50% have been people with disabilities.

Shoffner would like to stay on at UCP Houston, but her second and final Americorps term ends in August, and she will again be looking for full-time work (contact Tasha Shoffner). ATPN asked Christine Ellery, Shoffner’s supervisor at UCP Houston, about the turnover that is inevitable with AmeriCorps. After all the training time, was it worth it to have Tasha for just two years? Ellery was succinct, “I think any time you get the chance to have someone like Tasha serve you take it.”

Know someone interested in becoming an Americorps volunteer? They can explore all the programs of Americorps at this interactive program selector for individuals.

United Cerebral Palsy of North Texas helps those with disabilities use technology, live independently | Dallas Morning News

11:27 AM CDT on Monday, March 29, 2010

By KIM HORNER / The Dallas Morning News
khorner@dallasnews.com

Connie Prilliman has gone through life for 63 years without being able to say a word – until this month.

Prilliman was born with cerebral palsy, which limits muscle control. She cannot speak or type. She has communicated mostly by leaning toward the yellow sticker on her wheelchair that says "Yes" or shaking her head to indicate "No."

But earlier this month, Prilliman found her voice – through a computer that lets her eyes do what her fingers cannot.  Read the rest at the Dallas News

via www.dallasnews.com

Mauricio Lizama on Puerto Rico's Low Cost Device Design and Development (LD3) Program

 A Different Approach to Alternative Financing for AT

PRATP is making AT accessible by actually making AT! Here Mauricio Lizama, Ph.D., ATP, describes their unique approach to a state financing activity and how it helps residents with disabilities in Puerto Rico and beyond. 

The Puerto Rico Assistive Technology Program (PRATP) developed the  Low Cost Device  Design and Development (LD3) program in February 2007 as a State Financing Activity for the Assistive Technology State Grant Program. After previous attempts to implement low interest loans and other alternative financing programs in Puerto Rico, the LD3 program was created under the category of "state financing activities that allow consumers to obtain AT at reduced cost."

The LD3 program designs and develops low cost devices that mimic AT solutions on the market, and provides installation, configuration, and training for the end user. The AT user pays only for the materials needed for the construction of the device.

A consumer's device request qualifies for LD3 program assistance if it falls under one or more of the following scenarios:

1.    The desired AT device does not exist on the market: In this case, PRATP works with the consumer to fabricate an AT device to satisfy the particular needs of the individual with disabilities (i.e. develop a head-controlled videogame system for a quadriplegic child).
2.    The AT device exists, but it must be modified to make it usable by the consumer (i.e. adapt an electric feeder controller to be activated through a fiber-optic switch).

3.    The AT device exists, but it is too expensive to be obtained otherwise. In this case, the adaptation targets the functionality of the original device but with a different design, therefore preventing intellectual property issues (i.e. adapt a $45 mouth controlled joystick with sip-n-puff to provide the functionality of similar products available in the AT market for $1,500 and over).

To implement the LD3 program, PRATP assembled an AT Development Team (ATDT) which receives referrals of technology needs from consumers, family members, local AT evaluation centers and health related professionals statewide. The ATDT is comprised of volunteers from several fields including assistive technology, engineering, rehabilitation technology, electronics and human factors engineering. The LD3 program also leads design teams of mechanical, electrical and computer engineering students and faculty at local universities for the development of complex technologies that are beyond the design and manufacturing capabilities of the program.

To create the university partnerships, PRATP worked in direct collaboration with faculty in charge of existing engineering design courses and Capstone projects. Prior to PRATP's involvement, faculty members were using Capstone and engineering courses for researching and designing technologies in response to design competitions (i.e. battlebots and solar race cars). Most of these projects were never actually constructed. PRATP worked with faculty and students to redirect their efforts to an applied research and development track focused on AT for people with disabilities, projects that are actually constructed and have real-life impact.

Examples of some adapted devices built by the LD3 program are: electronic circular  scanning communicators, laser-based communication board systems, customized seating systems for school, computer-based dynamic communication systems, adapted shower seats, computer-based and voice activated bed control systems, computer switch interfaces, head controlled video game systems, single and multi-switch controlled electric ride on cars, low cost head tracking systems, environmental controls, mouth controlled joysticks  with sip-n-puff, electronic musical instrument tuners for the blind, switch adapted baseball pitching machines, adapted switches (pad, lever, tilt, sip-n-puff, string, cap switch, touch switch, etc.) among several other devices.   

PRATP compares the cost of each adapted device with the market version of its closest match (when available) in order to track the financial impact of the low cost solutions it provides. As of December 2009, consumers had invested $3,645 (since 2007) in order to obtain over $62,000 worth of AT devices through the LD3 program. For consumers, this translates into savings of over 94% in the acquisition of needed technologies in the areas of education, employment and community living. Cost to consumers includes only materials, since labor is provided by the LD3 team. However, even if labor is included in the cost comparison, the devices still represent over 70% savings over their closest AT match on the market.

Outside Puerto Rico, the LD3 program has also been able to provide context-sensitive solutions to consumers in Latin America particularly because of its emphasis on the design and development of “low cost high tech devices” and in technologies that address particular needs of Hispanics with disabilities. The car in the photo on the right was adapted by PRATP and then donated to a program in Mexico that provides services to children with disabilities. To learn more about the LD3 program visit PRATP’s web page.

Mauricio Lizama is the coordinator of the Assistive Technology Design, Evaluation and Development Unit at PRATP.

Have an idea for an article you'd like to contribute to ATPN? ATPN can work with you to make it happen. Contact ATPN.

Proloquo2go Helps Boy to Communicate

"iPhone App Opens World to Boy with Rare Syndrome"

For the first seven years of his life, Andrew struggled to tell his mother, Beth Patitucci, when he was hungry or when he wanted to sit on her lap. On an almost daily basis, his family and teachers at school would see Andrew cry, bite on his thumbs and lash out as if in pain. But he was unable to let them know what was wrong. By Matthew Nojiri Read the full story at the ABC News website.

Success! The incredible true life adventure of one state AT Advisory Council member and his ATIA video contest victory

For Peter G., assistive technology offers people with disabilities a game-winning Hail Mary pass; the problem is that more people need the chance to get in that end zone.

In 1988, Peter G. became disabled and had to withdraw from Bates College six weeks before his expected graduation. For the next eleven years, homebound and in bed, Pete relied on his parents for most of his needs, and experienced profound social isolation. As an avid sports fan, he said, "It felt like the game was over."
 
That was before he learned about assistive technology.
 
This past October, Pete won the AT Industry Association's AT video YouTube contest. His video, "My Assistive Technology (AT) Success Story," includes a reference to Doug Flutie throwing a Hail Mary pass from the 48 yard line. "This game is over," declares the announcer, before erupting, astonished, at Boston College's unexpected win. That moment, Pete explained in a recent phone interview, is a metaphor for his own experience. Learning about AT provided him that same transformative moment. Turns out it wasn't "game over" after all." I was looking for meal services, talking on the phone to MRC [the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission], when the man asked me, 'would you like a voice activated computer?' And I was, "Excuse me? Did you say 'voice activated'?!"
 
Today Pete uses multiple forms of voice activated technology. Pete has many of the limitations of someone who is quadriplegic and the technology helps him be independent on a level that had previously been impossible. A Quartet Technology Environmental Control Unit (ECU) allows him to manage his living environment (hospital bed, lights, television, drapes, computer monitor); the voice recognition software Dragon Naturally Speaking provides him with comprehensive computer access. And computer access has enabled him to create a website for his family's business, write articles on AT for newsletters and magazines, and effectively tear down his social isolation.
 
"Before AT became a part of my life, I was merely existing," Pete calmly reports in his video. "Now, thanks to AT, I am truly living."
 
On the phone Pete admits that an important hurdle remains: finishing that Bates College degree. Until recently, Bates College didn't accept online course credits, his best bet for finishing those incompletes. "And until recently I didn't have the technology to follow through anyway."
 
His technology hurdle was a problem with Dragon Naturally Speaking. Dragon is powerful software that enables Peter's computer to respond to customized voice commands, providing a hands free operation that is nearly as efficient as conventional computer access. Dragon's principal weakness, however, is its tendency to freeze up. It's a problem that required Peter to reboot multiple times a day, over a hundred times a month, each time requiring help from his parents. "Under those conditions I couldn't really imagine signing up for online college courses or taking online exams," he explains on the phone.   
 
In his video, Pete doesn't get personal. We don't learn much about his disability and he never mentions those unfinished college credits. "I didn't want to distract from the AT," he explained on the phone. "The AT is the point."
 
Indeed, the unique strength of his video is his demonstration of the innovative and pragmatic way he now gets around Dragon's weakness. Pete and his Easter Seals AT specialist, Eric Oddleifson, solved the problem by installing ViaVoice, back-up voice recognition software. Together they learned that ViaVoice can co-exist with Dragon in sleep mode when Dragon is operable. When Dragon freezes, Pete can wake up ViaVoice and use it, along with a HandiEye hands-free mouse emulator and a Logitech QuickCam, to reboot his computer and get Dragon moving again. "Now," he reports, "I need my parents, maybe, once a month."  And, "Yes," he confirms, "I am researching online college courses."
 
Pete's video won the ATIA's Grand Prize: an all-expenses-paid trip to attend the ATIA 2009 Chicago Conference at the Renaissance Schaumberg Hotel and Conference Center. He also won the Member Physical Access/Mobility Special Interest Group Award: a $400.00 visa gift card. Pete was unable to attend the conference, but donated his conference winnings to the Easter Seals AT department.
 
The rewards for entering ATIA's contest go far beyond the prizes, however. Winning the competition was partially dependent on the number of views Pete could generate to his YouTube video. To help, Easter Seals spread the word, and the provider of his personal care attendant (PCA) sent an announcement on their listserv. Pete also got the word out through his Bates College e-zine, through Facebook to college friends, and through his father's fraternity brother network. "People were amazed by the technology. Many didn't know anything like that existed. I had over 300 hits from my college newsletter, and over 100 hits on the PCA network, all with similar comments. Even people working with people with disabilities didn't know much about AT."
 
Which, for the ATIA, is the whole point. "Since our inception 10 years ago," asserts Executive Director David Dikter in his press release, "the overarching goal of ATIA has been to educate and create awareness about assistive technology and the enhanced benefits and opportunities it brings to people with disabilities."
 
But for Pete, AT is really much more. It turns Game Over to a game-winning Hail Mary Pass. "It's what motivates me. To help more people achieve unexpected success." 

Learn more: Read Tips from Pete at the Easterseals-MA website. To view Pete's video as well as the 28 other video contest entries visit this ATIA video contest web page.

Have a success story you wish you had time to write? ATPN can draft a profile that your program's newsletter can use too. Contact ATPN and put "story idea" in the subject line.

How an AFP Helped the Woodburys Enjoy Halloween

This past Halloween, the neighbors on Lynn Street did a double-take when they saw two lions happily pedaling by in a shiny yellow tricycle built for two.

The tricyclists were Kriss Woodbury and her daughter Hannah, 8, out trick-or-treating in their matching lion costumes. They had just picked up Hannah’s new two-person tricycle and were taking it out for its very first spin.

Hannah has a number of disabilities and doesn’t have the strength, coordination or eyesight to ride a regular tricycle.  Kriss thought the two-person variety, that they could both pedal, would give Hannah’s legs some much-needed exercise and get her out into the sunshine.

But the tricycle cost more than Kriss, a single working mother, could afford.

So she turned to the Massachusetts Assistive Technology Loan Program (MATLP). The MATLP is an interest buy down and loan guarantee program enabling people with disabilities and families to access affordable credit to purchase AT. The program is administered by Easter Seals of Massachusetts, and Sovereign Bank is the program’s lending partner. Leo Tonevski, the loan program coordinator, helped her through the loan process. “Leo was just super,” she said.  “He went out of his way to help me.”

Hannah got to choose the tricycle’s color and picked her favorite – yellow.  On nice days, she loves peddling it on the flat road beside the beach near her house.

“The tricycle has made a huge difference in Hannah’s life,” Kriss says. “Without it she would have been cooped up in the house, bored out of her mind and very frustrated. It’s also exercising her legs . . . and it’s made me realize how out of shape I’ve gotten!”

Reprinted with permission from Easter Seals-MA

Have a success story you wish you had time to write? ATPN can draft a profile that your program's newsletter can use too. Contact ATPN and put "story idea" in the subject line.