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The ability to communicate with others, control your environment,
and actively participate in events and conversations is a vital
part of everyday life. When these abilities are lost through illness
or injury, quality of life can be severely diminished.
With today's technological advances, many individuals with
disabilities are able to communicate and access their environment
with assistive devices. The Rehabilitation Institute's
assistive technology program
is for people with physical, cognitive, and/or communication
impairments. It is designed to increase independence and improve quality
of life
through the use of augmented communication, computer access,
and environmental controls.
Services Available
The assistive technology team consists of licensed speech and language
pathologists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists who specialize
in helping people communicate. The team provides comprehensive evaluations
and assessments, training, education, and equipment recommendations
in these areas:
- Augmentative Communication -- A speech
pathologist evaluates cognitive, linguistic, and speech abilities.
The team assesses the feasibility
of using communication systems and provides training for specific
devices to meet the person's current and future communication needs.
- Environmental Controls -- An occupational
therapist evaluates and assesses a person's abilities and environmental
limitations.
The therapist then recommends assistive technology to meet
the person's lifestyle needs.
- Computer Access -- The assistive technology
team evaluates and assesses a person's goal, such as returning
to work or school.
The team also looks at the person's physical, communication,
and cognitive skills. After analyzing all of the data, the team determines
the most
appropriate means of computer access and equipment.
Assistive Technology Equipment
The Rehabilitation Institute's assistive technology program
has a wide range of both low- and high-tech devices, computer equipment,
and software, including:
- Picture-based communication boards and software
- Text-to-speech software programs
- Devices and computers with speech synthesizers for voice output
and voice recognition
- Alternative keyboards
- Switches, mounting devices, head mouse devices, and mouth stick
controls
- Infrared and environmental control units
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