Assistive Technology Presentation WF

1. Assistive Technology By: Whitney M. Frost

2. Assistive Technology • Assistive technology is an umbrella term that includes assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities and also includes the process used in selecting, locating, and using them. Assistive technology promotes greater independence by enabling people to perform tasks that they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing, by providing enhancements to, or changing methods of interacting with, the technology needed to accomplish such tasks.

3. Assistive Technology Laws • Americans with Disabilities Act ( ADA ) The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, state and local government, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunications. • Section 508 of the Rehabilitation ActSection 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires that all electronic and information technologies developed and used by any Federal government agency must be accessible to people with disabilities. • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was initially passed in 1975 as P.L. 94-142. That law, known as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, or the EHA, guaranteed that eligible children and youth with disabilities would have a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) available to them, designed to meet their unique educational needs.

4. Assistive Technology Laws Continued… • Assistive Technology Act of 1998 The Assistive Technology Act, also known as the “Tech Act” provides funds to states to support three types of programs: the establishment of assistive technology (AT) demonstration centers, information centers, equipment loan facilities, referral services, and other consumer-oriented programs; • Federal/state programs to provide low interest loans and other alternative financing options to help people with disabilities purchase needed assistive technology. • The Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1988 Public Law This law requires that all telephone equipment manufactured or imported for use in the United States after August 1989 be compatible with hearing aids.

5. Hearing Impaired • A hearing aid is a small electronic device that you wear in or behind your ear. It makes some sounds louder so that a person with hearing loss can listen, communicate, and participate more fully in daily activities. A hearing aid can help people hear more in both quiet and noisy situations.

6. Visual Impairments • "Visual impairment including blindness" means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.

7. Learning Disabled • a condition found among individuals giving rise to difficulties in acquiring knowledge and skills to the level expected of those of the same age, especially when not associated with a physical handicap.

8. Physically Disabled • Physically Disabled is the consequence of an impairment that may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental, or some combination of these. A disability may be present from birth, or occur during a person's lifetime.

9. Assistive Technology in Action • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYmfrrY4Hfk

10. References • http://www.fctd.info/resources/techlaws.php • http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Visual+Impairment • https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/pages/hearingaid.aspx • http://nichcy.org/disability/specific/visualimpairment