Response to "AT session with Lori Bailey"

What were your general impressions?
- I thought this was a very cool and informative experience. It was great seeing that people with disabilities were able to combat that with technology. I think as the technology becomes greater we will see more and more individuals with special needs flourish beyond their expectations. As a future teacher I was thrilled to see these different types of assistant technologies and happy to know they exist and could possibility benefit a student I might come across.

What were the 3 devices that stood out for you?

3 devices that stood out to me were:

1. Clarity PC Mate

Clarity PC Mate is a portable high quality video magnification solution. It plugs right into a USB drive and gives a clear focused video magnified up to 60x. Clarity PC Mate benefits people with low vision. Anyone who has difficult seeing. It would be great for reading a newspaper or book or using it in class to magnify the board or the teacher.

2. Text to Speech Software

Text to Speech is software that gives people that cant speak a voice. they type on a computer and the computer will talk for them. Text to speech software is great for anyone who does not have a voice. The video that Lori Bailey showed us was a little girl with Cerebral Palsy and her speech was limited and very hard to understand. She used a form of Text to speech software that gave her a voice. Bailey also showed us a video of a French woman who became paralyzed from the next down and also could not speak. Her computer with Text to Speech allowed her to communicate with her husband.

3. Adaptive switches

There are a variety of Switches. The one in class was a switch that was activated by blowing onto it. There is also ones for biting or merely just tapping. Adaptive switches provide people with an individualized way of operating a computer, phone, or medical devices. It is adapted to what ever their needs are. Anyone who has an impairment would benefit from an adaptive switch. The French lady from the video Lori Bailey showed us, was paralyzed from the next down the only way she could use all her assisted technology was through the use of her adaptive switch. Instead of clicking a mouse she used her jaw muscle to click.