What's Going On In Our Lab

Here a participant enjoys a shopping game to sharpen his skills to make change and in some cases make choices.

"If someone with a disability wants to work and technology will assist with that endeavor, we want to help make it possible." Michiana Assistive Technology Coordinator

The Assistive Technology Lab serves approximately 18-20 persons on a weekly basis. Persons from the Industrial program, as well as the Adult Day Program, attend 30 min. to 2 hr. sessions on skills appropriate to their needs.

Michiana's AT Lab highlights:

Creativity is one of the abilities we are working to strengthen in our Community Assistive Technology program this quarter. To demonstrate their creative side, nine lab participants combined efforts to make up a Power Point presentation for our Annual Awards Dinner. Generally, the Planning Committee for that evening selects a consumer to speak at the dinner. But dinner attendees were treated this year to a dynamite, animated show using Michiana's new projector. The nine participants took on the challenge to express their self by preparing a short narrative to be converted into a slide show presentation. They each prepared the text according to their abilities - some used word prediction software, some typed from a "fill-in the blank" template, one used storywriting software and another his voice recognition software.
Then, they had their turn sitting with either one of the lab volunteers (both are Employment Assistive Technology graduates) or with the AT Staff who helped copy their text into PowerPoint software, adding the colors they selected, animating the text according to their selections and adding clipart, photos and sounds. Best of all, we as lab staff learned about all the possibilities Power Point could offer because was also the Premier use of our new projector with that software.
The individual contributions ranged from friendly finger-poking at our agency transportation system to an inspirational memorial of September 11. And representative of our nation - we have just begun to roll.

711 On Line October 1
Even grade school kids know that dialing 911 gets emergency aid. Now 711 will be the nationwide access number of the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS). Both voice and TRS users will be able to place calls anywhere in the United States without having to remember the previous 7 to 10 digit relay phone numbers. Under the new rules adopted by the FCC 711 TRS dialing must be provided by all telecommunication carriers in the US effective October 1, 2001.
For more information visit the "disability issues" section of the FCC website at http://www.fcc.gov/cib/dro/trs/dial7-911.html.

Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) enables standard voice telephone users to talk to people who have difficulty hearing or speaking on the telephone. Under Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act, all telephone companies must provide free relay services either directly or through state programs throughout the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and all of the U.S. territories. Businesses, government agencies, family, friends, and employers of persons with hearing and speech disabilities make and receive relay calls everyday. http://www.fcc.gov/cib/consumerfacts/trs.html