AT Program News

Medicare Coverage Update on Speech Generating Devices (SGDs)

2014 has been a critical year for how Medicare handles its coverage of SGDs (Speech Generating Devices), and the result has been significant impact on individuals with complex communication needs. Currently the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking comments on a National Coverage Determination (NCD) for SGDs and so the situation remains dynamic. Read Amy Goldman's explanation of the issues and the history that has led to this policy moment in the latest AT Program News. CMS needs to hear from as many knowledgeable people as possible before December 6th about their experiences and the SGD functions that individuals need. Submit a comment to CMS

Sample comment:

Posted by Roy Bouchard on 12/03/14

I am writing to urge CMS to establish a coverage policy that ensures people with ALS have access to speech generating devices (SGDs), including the ability to upgrade devices and access additional functionality such as email, internet access and environmental controls. I also urge CMS to ensure coverage for access technologies like eye tracking, which people with ALS need in order to utilize an SGD if they have lost mobility in their hands and arms. [PHI Redacted]has been living with, and suffering from, ALS for more than four years now. She has been totally dependent on an SGD device with eye gaze technology for over 2 of those years and has no other means of communicating. Without that device, she could not regulate the heat in the house as well as other utilities when I’m not around. More importantly, she needs to communicate with the outside world via the internet in order to live some semblance of her normal life. This includes communications with outside caregivers (health aids and others setting up schedules) and for personal business that is either too sensitive or private to be transmitted via audible output or hard to convey by the immediate caregiver to another party.

Restricting eligible speech assistive devices to speech-only capabilities would significantly reduce the ability of these people to communicate with a wide variety of outsiders (what, after all is the difference between audible speech and written communications re: directing ones care or planning day to day events in one’s life?) It is also a mental health issue. In [PHI Redacted] case, her hallmark personality trait is outreach to others and a wide circle of friends, which she has been able to maintain despite her total disability. Without this internet capability, I know she would have a harder time fighting off the despair which I have seen other isolated people struggle with. Consider the relative benefits vs. the minimal additional cost to enable these devices to use internet services, (which the user pays for anyway.) most if not all the capabilities to ready an SGD for such communications are necessary as part of the software-hardware configuration anyway.

So please do not further debilitate and impoverish the most dependent of our population, totally disabled people, by restricting eligibility to really capable SGD devices.

Read more comments posted to CMS

Progress Report on Global ICT Accessibility Now Available

G3ict publishes the second edition of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) Progress Report on ICT Accessibility, in cooperation with Disabled Peoples’ International

by Nilofar Anshar, online producer for the G3ict (the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies – an initiative of of United Nations)

More than 75% of ratifying countries report no or minimum levels of implementation of policies or programs promoting the accessibility of the information infrastructure

The 2012 CRPD Progress Report includes the latest data on 52 countries representing 77.4 percent of the World Population. The report offers disability advocates, governments, civil society and international organizations -- monitoring the progress of the implementation of the Convention by States Parties -- a unique benchmarking tool that collects data on country laws, policies, and programs pertaining to accessible and assistive Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) around the globe. All results are available cross-tabulated by region, level of income per capita of Human Development Index to facilitate benchmarking by advocates and policy makers.

The study indicates that significant deficits remain to set in place a foundation to promote ICT accessibility. For example:

• Only 36 percent of countries have a definition of accessibility which includes ICTs or electronic media in their laws of regulations compliant with the definition of accessibility in CRPD Article 9;
• While 71 percent of the countries have dispositions to consult persons with disabilities at large, only 16 percent have a mechanism to involve Disabled Persons Organizations (DPOs) in the design, implementation and evaluation of laws, policies and programs regarding ICT accessibility;
• Although 82 percent of the countries have a government body dedicated to persons with disabilities, and 62 percent have a government body solely dedicated to ICTs, only 31 percent of the countries have government funds allocated to programs in support of digital accessibility;
• Only 26.7 percent of States Parties mention having public procurement policies promoting accessible ICTs, meaning that the vast majority of States Parties continue to purchase equipment or services which may be inaccessible to persons with disabilities; and
• In relation to the above, only 35.6 percent provide services to the general public, including through the Internet, in accessible and usable formats for persons with disabilities.

You can download the PDF version of the report from this G3ict Recource Center Web page

Read the Press Release

Chairman Miller asks GAO to Examine Effectiveness of Federally-funded Secondary Transition Programs

September 14, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC-- U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, today asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine the effectiveness of federal programs that exist to help students with disabilities transition from high school to college or the workforce [....]

"Currently, educators across the United States are striving to ensure that all public school students are college and career ready to enable their success in this global economy," Miller wrote. "However, students with disabilities often face academic, physical, social, and economic challenges when transitioning from high school to postsecondary education or the workforce. As a result, they are less likely than other students to make this transition successfully.

"The federal government plays a significant role in supporting students with disabilities through a variety of programs. I remain concerned about whether federal efforts adequately provide a comprehensive, coordinated approach to transition services for youth with disabilities," Miller said in the letter.

Read the full text of the letter at this Committee on Education and Labor Web page.

21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act Passes Final Legislative Hurdle

WASHINGTON, DC – September 29, 2010 – The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) commends the U.S. Congress for passage of the “Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act.” On September 28, the bill cleared its final legislative hurdle by passing the House and is expected to go soon to President Obama for signature.

“This legislation is a victory for civil rights in our increasingly digital world,” explains Andrew Imparato, AAPD’s President and CEO. “The bill makes clear that it is not okay for people with sensory disabilities to be second class citizens in 21st century America.” AAPD is the country’s largest cross-disability membership association and organizes the disability community to be a powerful voice of change—politically, economically, and socially.

The legislation requires captioned television programs to be captioned also when delivered over the Internet and requires video description on television for people with vision loss. The bill also allocates $10 million per year for communications equipment used by people who are deaf-blind, ensures emergency information is accessible to individuals who are blind or have low vision, requires accessible user interfaces on mobile browsers that connect to the Internet, and requires hearing aid compatibility of ‘smart phones,’ among several other provisions.

Read the rest of the press release at this AAPD web page.

Equal Access to 21st Century Communications Act Passed by Senate

On August 5th, 2010, the Senate passed the Equal Access to 21st Century Communications Act (S3304). The House passed its version (the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, HR3301) on July 26th, 2010.

The new legislation helps to close the digital divide for individuals with sensory disabilities.

Some highlights include:

• Requiring captions for television content that appears online.

• Mandating mobile phone companies make Web browsers, text messaging and email on smart phones fully accessible where feasible.

• Providing $10m in funding each year for assistive technology for deaf-blind individuals to access relay services.

• Requires the phase-in of video description for the top TV and cable channels in the most populated markets.

Learn more about it at www.coataccess.org

Department of Justice Announces Plans to Prepare New Technology-Related ADA Regulations

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department (DOJ) announced Friday, July 23rd, that it will publish four new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) proposals addressing the accessibility of websites, the provision of captioning and video description in movies shown in theaters, accessible equipment and furniture, and the ability of 9-1-1 centers to take text and video calls from individuals with disabilities.   The proposals are in the form of advance notices of proposed rulemaking, or ANPRMs, which provide information on these ADA issues and ask questions seeking comments and information from the public.   The four ANPRMs will be published in the Federal Register on July 26, 2010.   Read the details in the DOJ press release

FCC’s Broadband Plan Endorses Accessibility--abledbody

By Suzanne Robitaille

In a move that has been eagerly anticipated by the disability community, the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday submitted its National Broadband Plan to Congress. The 360-page plan, which lays out a vision for high-speed broadband that’s both affordable and accessible, has wide implications for American with disabilities. Read the complete article at this abledbody web page...

via abledbody.com