What are your options for assistive technology

Do you have problems with mobility or have a certain disability? Assistive technology can help make your life easier, and give you greater independence and mobility! Assistive technology refers to various different assistive devices which help people to perform various tasks and functions! Thanks to assistive technology, people who have different impairments and disabilities can perform tasks which were previously impossible! There are many different types and options for assistive technology. Here are a couple of your options for assistive technology. Perhaps one of the things listed below will help make your life a little bit easier!

1) TeleTypewriters - TeleTypewriters, also known as TTY or TDD (Telephone Decice for the Deaf), are one of the most popular forms of assistive technology. If you are deaf or hearing impaired, then this could be an option of assistive technology for YOU. There devices are connected to a normal telephone land-line and can interpret typed characters or verbal sounds. These verbal sounds can then be transferred over the phone, to a recipient at the other end. There are also operators who work with companies that are set-up with these text telephones. These operators, who work with "relay services," can read the text that the hearing impaired individual writes, and then they relay the message to the person on the other line, acting as if they are the actual deaf person speaking! This option of assistive technology has changed the way that deaf and hearing impaired individuals are able to communicate!

2) Other assistive technology telephone options: There are other telephone devices that have assistive technology to help other people as well! Many phones have a basic form of assistive technology: the volume control. This can help people who are hard-of-hearing to be able to hear the speaker on the other end of the line. In addition, enlarged keypad numbers is another form of assistive technology, which aids people who have either shaky hands or problems with their eyesight.

3) Dropped curbs: Probably one of the most common and popular options for assistive technology is the "dropped-down curb" (or "curb cut") on the sidewalk at intersections. This is a type of assistive technology which helps handicapped people in wheelchairs cross the street from sidewalk-to-sidewalk. Most sidewalk curbs in the United States now have curb cuts. In addition to helping people in wheelchairs, this option for assistive technology also helps people on bikes, mothers with strollers, and people with walkers, travelers with suitcases, and skateboarders!

4) Wheelchair devices: There are many types of wheelchair devices which can help quadriplegics or paraplegics! These different options of assistive technology can help people to move around without someone pushing them from behind. For some quadriplegics, there are assistive technology methods where you can move yourself around by blowing in or out of a tube. The different puffs and blowing motions that you make will tell the wheelchair how to direct itself! In addition, there are also different types of joysticks and motor controls that are used to help paraplegics move without additional help!

You can learn about more options for assistive technology either on the Internet or through publications. A great resource for assistive technology is the AT Journal, which is sent out twice a month by the AT Network and California Assistive Technology Systems. You can conveniently receive this journal by e-mail! This is a great journal for people who have disabilities, for family members of people with disabilities, for employers, and for assistive technology professionals. If you are interested in subscribing to this journal or looking at the journal's archives, you can visit the AT Network website at atnet.org.

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