Removing the "Dis" from Disabled
by Gordon Gibson
Technology is making life brighter for the disabled as they
work toward independence. The California Community Colleges
Chancellor's Office and the Department of Rehabilitation have
teamed up to provide grants for the implementation of the "High-Tech Centers for the Disabled". They are providing instruction,
guidance, training, and support in the use of state-of-the-art
adapted computer technology. Access to adapted computer
technology will allow most disabled students to 1) fully
participate in courses or career paths in which computers play an
integral part, and 2) avail themselves of the special benefits
provided by computer access to students in general. The High
Tech Center is divided into two sections: adapted word processing
(ACT) and computer assisted instruction (CAI). The ACT section
is designed for students who are unable to successfully access
the screen, keyboard, or word processing in traditional computer
classes. Programs in this area were chosen because they met the
following criteria: 1) adaptations were in software; 2)
adaptations work with standard systems; 3) all of the adaptations
work together in whatever configuration is needed; 4)
affordability of software; 5) learning ease of software and 6)
provision of significantly improved access to microcomputers.
significantly improved access to microcomputers.
Typing alone can be quite a chore for someone who uses a
mouthstick or head wand. However, a "smart" word processing
program that can increase typing speed by 75% with a few months
practice is available. The key is a window that displays
possible options - selected with one key stroke - in response to
the beginning letters of a word. As the student uses the
program, the words used most frequently are calculated and appear
most often in the window. In conjunction with this, a keyboard
adaptation in software allows a variety of control keys to be
latched so the user can easily access double and triple key
commands. Students who have relied on others to do their typing
in the past are now proudly producing their own documents.
The visually impaired and blind can access the screen through
Vista, putting letters up to one inch high on the screen, and
Freedom 1, reading the screen through Dec Talk. Freedom 1 also
provides seven different voices for those with hearing
difficulties in addition to their blindness.
Students with learning disabilities and acquired brain
injuries are also benefitting from the new technology. Spelling
checkers have allowed many to freely express themselves in
written form while bypassing the constant fear of misspelled
words.
The CAI section at the High Tech Center employs a
number of standard instructional programs. Memory, cognitive
reorganization, foundation skills, education, and production
skills are some of the areas targeted. Skills learned or
strengthened in the high tech center are put to use in mainstream
classes.
There are 51 High Tech Centers serving 6,000
disabled students in California. The funding stops June 30,
1990 and many colleges are unable to continue the programs under
their own funding. A letter to your assembly person and
the Governor asking for the allotment of funds for 1 full-time
staff person for each site will help these centers remain
available for the disabled.
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