Foundations of Assistive Technology:

Week 2

Damian Gordonand divers hands

History of AT & AT Organisations

Cook and Hussey Chapter 1

Last Week

History of AT

When do you think AT originated ?

A. [ ] 1980sB. [ ] 1970sC. [ ] 1960sD. [ ] 1950sE. [ ] Before that

History of AT

When do you think AT originated ?

A. [ ] 1980sB. [ ] 1970sC. [ ] 1960sD. [ ] 1950sE. [X] Before that

History of AT

The previous slide is the stereotypical view of 'cave man' as a brainless brute surviving on instinct alone. The following is a painting by Charles R. Knight under the direction of the palaeontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn for the American Museum of Natural History in 1925, showing Cro-Magnon cave painters illustrating their homes.

History of AT

Since the first Stone Age person picked up a stick to help themselves walk after an injury, assistive technology has existed.

This would have been “High-Tech” AT at the time, since it was cutting edge in terms of design and fabricated from state-of-the-art materials.

There is little structural difference between the crutch that our Stone Age friend had and the modern-day cane and crutch.

History of AT

Generations after the first crutch another Stone Age person picked up an empty animal horn and discovered that it can amplify the voice, and that same person may have discovered that it also helps compensates for fading hearing.

There is a big structural difference between the horn that our Stone Age friend had and the modern-day hearing aid, but they are functionally equivalent.

History of AT

The earliest record of wheelchairs date back to the 6th century, and were found inscribed on a stone slate in China.

There is little structural difference between the those wheelchairs and the modern-day wheelchairs.

History of AT

During the US Civil War great strides were made in the development of prostheses, especially for the legs.

A socket was developed by Parmelee in 1863 that is still used in modern prostheses.

Although the original was made of wood and leather whereas its modern equivalent is made from metal and plastics.

History of AT

The development of the microprocessor and subsequent innovations have resulted in – synthesized speech, – robotic aids, and – computer graphics.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Acronyms and Abbreviations

AAC: Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Acronyms and Abbreviations

AT: Assistive Technology

Acronyms and Abbreviations

IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 1990

Acronyms and Abbreviations

IEP: Individual Education Programme

Acronyms and Abbreviations

OCR: Optical Character Recognition - a type of software used in scanners. Printed material, when scanned, is converted into text in a word processing programme.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

OT: Occupational Therapist or Therapy

Acronyms and Abbreviations

MPT: Matching Person and Technology

Acronyms and Abbreviations

SEN: Special Educational Needs

Acronyms and Abbreviations

VR: Voice Recognition

Irish Organisations

Department of Education and Science

http://www.irlgov.ie/educ/generalpolicy/generalpolicy.htm

Details of the IT2000 Report also a short list of reports on special needs.

National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE)

http://www.ncte.ie/ 23 School Integration Projects (SIPs) have been set

up for special needs. These Projects were set up in Special Schools around the country as well as Learning Support in mainstream schools. Details of these Projects are on the NCTE website under the SIP under current projects.

SCOILNET.IE

http://scoilnet.ie The Special Needs section provides information for

teachers, parents and students on categories of SEN, ICT advise for students with specific, guidelines on how to evaluate software and some case studies of individual children with specific impairments and ICT solutions.

Irish Association for Teachers in Special Education (IATSE)

http://www.iatse.ie/ IATSE is an association of and for teachers and

educators of pupils with special educational needs in Ireland. It aims to spread knowledge among all teachers involved in special education and to promote and encourage research in this area.

Irish Learning Support Association (ILSA)

http://www.ilsa.ie The ILSA is a teacher organisation to facilitate the

continuos improvement to the service provided to children with learning disabilities, so that these children have the access to the professional expertise of Learning Support Teachers and other relevant services.

Central Remedial Clinic (CRC)

http://www.crc.ie The Central Remedial Clinic is a non-residential

national centre for the care, treatment and development of children and adults with physical disabilities. Services are provided for people with physical conditions ranging from the very rare to the more familiar, such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy and arthrogryposis.

Dyslexia Association of Ireland (DAI)

http://www.dyslexia.ie/ The DAI is an organisation which promotes

awareness of specific learning disability (dyslexia) and to serve the needs of people with this difficulty.

EnableIreland

http://www.enableireland.ie Enable Ireland is the country's largest provider of

services to people with physical disabilities and their families.

National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI)

http://www.ncbi.ie The council seeks to encourage the economic, social

and intellectual independence of members through the provision of a range of services such a mobility, daily living skills, library services, telephony skills and rehabilitation training.

Muscular Dystrophy Ireland (MDI)

http://www.mdi.ie/ MDI provides support to persons with neuromuscular

conditions and their families through the provision of a range of support services.

USA Organisations

Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA)

http://resna.org RESNA is an organisation for those engaged in the

research, development, and application of assistive technology and rehabilitation engineering. RESNA's purpose is to improve the potential of people with disabilities to achieve their goals through the use of technology. RESNA serves that purpose by promoting research, development, education, advocacy and provision of technology; and by supporting the people engaged in these activities. Run in conjunction with the University of Florida

USA

AbleData

http://www.abledata.com/ ABLEDATA is a federally funded project whose

primary mission is to provide information on assistive technology and rehabilitation equipment available from domestic and international sources to consumers, organisations, professionals, and caregivers within the United States.

USA

Alliance for Technology Access (ATA)

http://www.ataccess.org/ The mission of the ATA is to increase the use of

technology by children and adults with disabilities and functional limitations. ATA encourages and facilitates the empowerment of people with disabilities to participate fully in their communities. Through public education, information and referral, capacity building in community organisations, and advocacy/policy efforts, the ATA enables millions of people to live, learn, work, define their futures, and achieve their dreams.

USA

Family Center on Technology & Disability

http://www.fctd.info/ The Family Center on Technology and Disability

(FCTD) is a resource designed to support organisations and programs that work with families of children and youth with disabilities. FCTD offer a range of information and services on the subject of assistive and instructional technologies.

USA

Australian Organisations

Australian Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission

http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/standards/standards.html

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 requires equal access on the WWW for people with a disability in employment, education, provision of services, banking, entertainment, public transport, activities of voluntary associations.

Australia

Australian Rehabilitation & Assistive Technology Association

http://www.arata.org.au/ Open to a wide range of people, including those who

are working with or using assistive technology, as well as individuals who have a general interest in the use of assistive technology for people with disabilities. Australian equivalent of European AAATE.

Australia

European Organisations

The Disability Intergroup

http://www.disabilityintergroup.eu/ The representative organisation of persons with

disabilities in Europe. The Disability Intergroup of the European Parliament is an informal grouping of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from all nationalities and most political groups who are interested in promoting the disability policy in their work at the European Parliament as well as in the national contexts.

Europe

European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education

http://www.european-agency.org This body aims to collect and process information

and knowledge that is available in individual countries and make them available to other countries that may need them. The information is about special needs in 18 participating countries as well as innovative measures, research and development at the national and European levels.

Europe

The European Disability Forum (EDF)

http://www.edf-feph.org/ The European Disability Forum (EDF) is an

independent European non-governmental organisation (ENGO) that represents the interests of 65 million disabled people in the European Union and stands for their rights. EDF is the only European platform of disabled people, which is run by disabled people or the families of disabled people unable to represent themselves.

Europe

France - CRPF

http://www.cos-crpf.com/ Centre de Readaptation Professionnelle et

Fonctionnelle de Nanteau-sur-Lunain (CRPF) offers state of the art vocational training facilities to people at risk of exclusion, including people with disabilities.

Europe

UK - British Educational and Communications agency (BECTa)

http://schools.becta.org.uk/index.php?catcode=ss_tl_inc_02&section=tl

The Inclusion and Special Needs Section of this web site investigates a series of issues on SEN and ICT in schools, research projects, information sheets on different areas of SEN and impairments. The site also has an extensive directory of organisations that can provide information to teachers, parents and students on the implementation of AT.

Europe

Sweden - CERTEC

http://www.english.certec.lth.se/ This is a division of Rehabilitation Engineering

Research, Department of Design at Lund University, Sweden. It provides research and courses to contribute to improve opportunities for people with disabilities by developing more usable technical devices, new design concepts and new individual methods of learning and searching. A rich resource of case studies, research papers, publications and strong theories and methods behind the research.

Europe

Belarus – Society of the Deaf

http://www.wfdeaf.org/members.aspx?l=B Belarussian Society of the Deaf is a member of the

World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), an international, an international, non-governmental, central organization of national associations of the Deaf. WFD's large membership reaches across many continents and emphasizes removing barriers to communication and improving the situation of sign language.

Europe

European Organisations

Learning Disabilities Association of Canada (LDAC)

http://www.ldac-taac.ca The organization's mission is to be the national voice

for persons with learning disabilities and those who support them. LDAC is dedicated to a level playing field for individuals with learning disabilities to enable them to function as citizens with equitable opportunities and to develop to their chosen potential.

Canada

Canadian Association of the Deaf (CAD)

http://www.cad.ca/ The CAD provides consultation and information on

Deaf needs and interests to the public, business, media, educators, governments and others. They conduct research and collect data regarding Deaf issues; issue reports on these studies; and provide expertise on them; develop and implement pilot programs. They also offer assistance to Deaf organizations and service agencies across the country.

Canada

Abilities.ca

http://www.abilities.ca/ This web site links people with disabilities to a world

of resources both on a national and international scale. The site also has a search engine for over 5,000 Organisations in Canada that deal with disabilities.

Canada

Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB)

http://www.cnib.ca/ The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB)

is a national voluntary agency providing services to individuals across Canada to whom loss of vision is a central problem in personal and social adjustments. The CNIB also acts as a consultant and resource agency to the helping professions, government departments and private industries.

Canada