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On Wednesday, May 9th, DACS and the Datahr Rehabilitation Institute co-hosted a presentation of assistive technology tools for the disabled. The meeting was held at Datahr’s headquarters facility in Brookfield.

The main focus of the presentation was devices that provide an artificial voice for the speech-impaired. David Goldberg, president of Health Science, a New Jersey-based provider of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) demonstrated a variety of laptops and hand-held systems that let the user key in text or select pictures and have the results spoken out through a voice synthesizer.

Each system is customizable, allowing the operator to add words from an extensive dictionary and place them in convenient areas of the screen for later access. Word prediction automates the process of creating frequently chosen text, and the user can record his or her own voice to be used in reading the finished document. The bad news is this option can only be used with individual words and phrases, and does not affect other words already in the dictionary. The good news is that the synthesized voice has a much more natural human sound than previously, and the words flow more smoothly.

Goldberg did not include in his presentation alternative input devices, which are available for people with limited mobility. These would include special switches that detect faint pressure from a finger or chin, or infrared devices that can respond to head movement or the blinking of an eye. These are among the tools used by Voice for Joanie, the New Milford foundation that provides assistance to victims of Lou Gehrig’s disease, and which were demonstrated at a special table during the presentation by Shirley Fredlund, VFJ’s executive director. A special feature of the table was a map with more than 350 pins showing places in Connecticut where ALS and other disabled patients have received computer assistance from Voice for Joanie in the ten years the organization has been in existence.

Although DACS provided the speaker and exhibits, on very short notice, Special thanks go to Pat Conway, who organized resources at the center and helped get the word out. Her contribution was indispensable in providing the hall and in helping to promote the event. Datahr’s outstanding service on behalf of the disabled made it a perfect fit for DACS in fulfilling our mission to provide technology to the area community, and it is hoped that we can both work together again in the future.

To learn more about assistive technology and augmentative communication, go to David’s Web site at www.speechgeneratingdevices.com. For those needing help with communication, new opportunities for financial assistance are opening up from Medicare, Medicaid and other sources.

You can contact David directly at healthscience@erols.com for more information. The VFJ Web site (www.voiceforjoanie.org) has taken on a more professional look and feel under Web master and DACS member, Steve Schwab. You can learn more there about the work of VFJ, as well as find useful information on the ALS and the search for a cure.