Bollywood embraces disability in quest for realism

(AFP/File – Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan, seen here with wife Aishwarya Rai)

MUMBAI (AFP) (Sep. 9, 2009)– From "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" to "Children Of A Lesser God", "My Left Foot" and "Rain Man", Hollywood has a long history of portraying people with disabilities or illnesses on screen.

In contrast, India's popular Hindi-language film industry has traditionally shied away from real-life subjects, preferring flights of fancy on romantic love.

But now three major upcoming films are portraying a central character with a disability or illness, marking a shift away from fantasy to treating more contemporary themes.

by Shail Kumar Singh

To view the entire article, please click on the link above.

Free Web/IT Accessibility Workshop in September

The Real World of Web/IT Accessibility and Assistive Technology

Time: Registration - 8:00 – 8:55; Workshop - 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM

Location: SC State Archives and History (online directions: http://www.sc.edu/scatp/directions.htm#archives)

Parking is free!

Note: No food or drink is allowed in the Archives auditorium.

Be on time! We’re giving out a door prize promptly at 9:00 am!

Description: Don't miss this unique opportunity to see people who use assistive technology show how they experience web pages! Speakers from around the state will demonstrate various technologies including screen readers and screen enlargers, which they use in accessing Internet and other electronic information. We'll discuss usability vs. accessibility, the basics of designing for accessibility, and show examples of positive and not-so-positive design. They'll be available to answer questions about what works, what doesn't work, and how they solve problems when accessing electronic information (the Web, Word, and PDF documents).

This workshop has been generated as a follow up to a Web Testers Pilot Program, conducted by the SC Assistive Technology Program and the SC Assistive Technology Advisory Committee, under the S.C. State Budget & Control Board, to train both people who use assistive technology and those who don't, in the evaluation of state agency web pages for accessibility and usability.

Schedule

8:30 – 9:00 - Registration

9:00 - First Door Prize Drawing (the winner chooses from the selection of prizes)

9:05 – 9:25 - ATAC Web Testers Pilot Program: Janet Jendron

9:30 – 11:45 (with short break in between) -

Demonstrations and Discussions: What makes Web Pages easier? What causes frustration? What are some simple design solutions for these challenges?

Demonstration of JAWS (Clay Jeffcoat) on Web Pages

Demonstration of ZoomText (Grace Strother) on Web Pages

Demonstration of Kurzweil (Jim Debus) on Web Pages

The demonstrations will briefly cover issues such as skip navigation links, Flash, Drop navigation menus, appropriate alt text, meaningful link text, online forms, layout tables, data tables, video captioning CSS, and heading structure. We’ll have questions and comments from CB Averitt, Cheryl Kirkpatrick, Wendy Mullin, Sam Hahn on web design techniques that could address problems.

11:45 – 1:15 - Lunch

1:15 - Door Prize Drawing

1:20 – 1:50 - Cool Tools: Demonstration of the Web Accessibility Toolbar and Web Developer’s Toolbar (Allison Yeager)

2:00 – 3:30 -

Demonstrations and Discussion: What makes PDFs and Word Docs easier to access? What causes frustration? What are some simple design solutions for these challenges? Questions and Comments from CB Averitt, Cheryl Kirkpatrick, Wendy Mullin, Sam Hahn on formatting issues that could address problems.

Demonstration of JAWS (Clay Jeffcoat)

Demonstration of ZoomText (Grace Strother)

Demonstration of Kurzweil (Jim Debus)

3:30 – Door Prize Drawing

To register for this workshop:

Option 1: Complete the online registration form

Option 2: Email Sally Young at Sally.Young@uscmed.sc.edu

Option 3: Call Sally Young at (803) 935-5263 or 800-915-4522.

Option 4: Fax your registration information to (803) 935-5342. Please include your name, organization, address, email address, phone

To view the flyer for this workshop, please click on the link above.

Employment Opportunity: South Carolina Dept. of Education AT Specialist position open

A new Assistive Technology Specialist position is now available with the South Carolina Department of Education, located in thePee Dee Region (Florence, SC).

Job Title: Education Associate II-TG13586

Agency: Department of Education

Opening Date: Sun. 08/16/09

Closing Date/Time: Fri. 09/11/09 5:00 PM Eastern Time

State Salary Range: $44,825.00 - $82,930.00 annually

Agency Hiring Range: Min: $48,486.00 Max:$82,930.00

Job Type: Temporary Grant - Full-Time

Location: Richland County, South Carolina

Normal Work Schedule: Monday - Friday (8:30 - 5:00)

NOTE: This announcement comes from Stacy Springer.
If you have questions, please reply directly to her (information below).

Stacy Springer, MS, OTR/L, ATP

Assistive Technology Specialist

South Carolina Department of Education

1776 William Kennerty Drive

Charleston, SC 29407

843.766.2048 phone

sspringer@ed.sc.gov

http://sccatn.wikispaces.com/

To view the entire job posting, please click on the link above and scroll to the bottom of the page.

More Obesity Blues: Obese People Are At Greater Risk For Developing Alzheimer's, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (Aug. 25, 2009) — Obesity is on a rampage, with the World Health Organization pegging the numbers at more than 300 million worldwide, with a billion more overweight. With obesity comes the increased risk for cardiovascular disease, Type II diabetes, and hypertension.

Now comes more discouraging news. In the current online edition of the journal Human Brain Mapping, Paul Thompson, senior author and a UCLA professor of neurology, and lead author Cyrus A. Raji, a medical student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and colleagues compared the brains of people who were obese, overweight, and of normal weight, to see if they had differences in brain structure; that is, did their brains look equally healthy.

They found that obese people had 8 percent less brain tissue than people with normal weight, while overweight people had 4 percent less tissue. According to Thompson, who is also a member of UCLA's Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, this is the first time anyone has established a link between being overweight and having what he describes as "severe brain degeneration."

To view the entire article, please click on the link above.

Live Recordings Of Cell Communication

ScienceDaily (Aug. 6, 2009) — A new advanced method for nano-scale imaging of vesicle-fusion – vesicles are biological nano-sized containers - could add to our understanding of diseases of the nervous system and viral infections. In the long term, this could be useful in developing a cure for neurological diseases and mental disorders (e.g. schizophrenia, depression, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease).

Neurons communicate with each other with the help of nano-sized vesicles. Disruption of this communication process is responsible for many diseases and mental disorders like e.g. depression. Nerve signals travel from one neuron to another through vesicles - a nano-sized container loaded with neurotransmitter molecules. A vesicle fuses with the membrane surrounding a neuron, releases neurotransmitters into the surroundings that are detected by the next neuron in line. However, we still lack a more detailed understanding of how the fusion of vesicles occurs on the nano-scale.

To view the entire article, please click on the link above.

Taking Up Music So You Can Hear

(Credit: iStockphoto)

ScienceDaily (Aug. 27, 2009) — Anyone with an MP3 device -- just about every man, woman and child on the planet today, it seems -- has a notion of the majesty of music, of the primal place it holds in the human imagination.

But musical training should not be seen simply as stuff of the soul -- a frill that has to go when school budgets dry up, according to a new Northwestern University study.

The study shows that musicians -- trained to hear sounds embedded in a rich network of melodies and harmonies -- are primed to understand speech in a noisy background, say in a restaurant, classroom or plane...

The findings strongly support the potential therapeutic and rehabilitation use of musical training to address auditory processing and communication disorders throughout the life span.

To view the entire article, please click on the link above.

September is EdCeptional Children’s Month at EdVenture.

FREE ADMISSION: Every Sunday in September for children with disabilities and their families! Admission for Sunday, September 27 is sponsored by the SC Assistive Technology Program/USC School of Medicine.The South Carolina Assistive Technology Program will be sponsoring hands-on assistive technology exhibits all month throughout the museum. See how to make a grocery list with pictures, feel how easy it is to write using different pencil grips, test your knowledge of assistive technology gizmos and gadgets and check out what assistive technology you may already be using!

Visit EdVenture’s CyberLoft on Wednesday, September 16 from 3:00-5:00 and Sunday, September 20 from 1:00-4:00 when South Carolina Assistive Technology Program staff demonstrate how to adapt books and share resources for struggling readers.

Check out these and many other events scheduled for EdVenture’s EdCeptional Children’s month by visiting EdVenture’s website at http://www.edventure.org/ or see the calendar of events at http://www.edventure.org/pdf/EdV_EdCeptSept09(2).pdf .

EdVenture Children’s Museum211 Gervais Street • Columbia, South Carolina 29201803-779-3100Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 9:00am-5:00pm Sunday Noon-5:00pm

Project Rise Improves Grades

Central Illinois News Center (Sep 1, 2009) -- Heartland Community College is doing more to make sure students with developmental disabilities can go on to a four year college.

"Project Rise" is a program where peer mentors show new students the resources available to them, how to get involved in social groups and work to improve their grades.

The program is available to anyone but students on the autism spectrum are seeing some of the biggest advantages.

"With her disability, which is autism, she has actually managed to get A's in writing classes. You know, someone on the autism spectrum describing things in written form is difficult, but with the help of Project Rise is has been successful. We are very happy with them," said Janet Ogunmokun, parent.

To view the entire article, please click on the link above.

Children With Autism Use Alternative Keyboard To Communicate With Their Families And Their World

The OrbiTouch keyboard. (Credit: Blue Orb)

ScienceDaily (Sep. 1, 2009) — Autism can build a wall of poor communication between those struggling with the condition and their families. While a personal computer can help bridge the divide, the distraction and complexity of a keyboard can be an insurmountable obstacle.

Using a unique keyboard with only two "keys" and a novel curriculum, teachers with Project Blue Skies are giving children with autism the ability to both communicate and to explore the online world.

At the heart of the project is a device called the OrbiTouch. Human-factors engineer Pete McAlindon of BlueOrb in Maitland, Fl., conceived of the concept behind the OrbiTouch more than a decade ago as a way to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome and provide computer access to people with limited or no use of their fingers.

To view the entire article, please click on the link above.

Job Announcement

CLASS TITLE: Teacher/Access POSITION#: 138377

Technology Specialist

CLASS CODE/SLOT: CB 10/20 BAND: 5

DEPARTMENT: Outreach/Blind School

LOCATION: Spartanburg

EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION: FTE Position/42 weeks per yar/37.5 hours per week

SALARY RANGE: Minimum: $24,452

Midpoint: $34,847

DUTIES:

Provide individual student and group instruction on campus in the SC School for the Blind and in the off-campus mainstreamed program so that students receive appropriate instruction and can demonstrate increase knowledge in the use of access technology. Coordinate and assist with individual and multidisciplinary assistive/access technology assessments for students at the SC School for the Blind. Develop appropriate IEP goals in the use of Access Technology(AT) that leads to students' success and independence in the integration of AT with the general curricula as well with activities related to the use of computers, note takers, and various AT items in recreation, academics and independent living. Maintains an accurate inventory of the School for the Blind Access Technology. Recommend AT purchases based on current trends, research and cost effectiveness needed for student instruction and use. Monitor service maintenance agreements and updates to ensure, with the coordination of the SCSDB IT staff, that all software and equipment is kept current. Coordinate with SCSDB IT to ensure that all Access Technology is appropriately placed, in good working order, and that copyright law is not violated.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Bachelor's Degree and 3 years experience in the use of, training in, and support of Access Technology. Must have knowledge of information processing operations, micro/minicomputer hardware/software and state-of-the-art technology as it relates to individuals with disabilities. Must also have background in installation, operation, testing and maintenance of Access Technology for individuals who are blind, i.e., refreshable Braille, scanning and speech software. Must be proficient in Braille, and computerized production of Braille. Must have an expert use of Microsoft Office and office equipment such as computer, fax and thermoform copier.

STATE APPLICATION Office of Human Resources

REQUIRED: SC School for the Deaf and the Blind

355 Cedar Springs Road

Spartanburg, SC 29302

OPENING DATE: June 18, 2009

CLOSING DATE: Until Filled

For more information about this job posting, please click on the link above.

SCATP Fall 2009 Training Schedule

Thursday, September 10, 2009

I Can't Believe It's Free: Technology Resources for People with Disabilities

9:00am – 11:00am

Fast Forward Community Technology Center, 3223 Devine Street, Columbia, SC

Instructors: Dee Albritton, Director of Fast Forward Community Technology Center;

Mary Alice Bechtler, SC Assistive Technology Program

Friday, September 11, 2009

Introduction to Boardmaker

9:00 – 11:00am

Presenter: Val Gioia, Assistive Technology Specialist, SC Department of Education

Assistive Technology Resource Center, Poplar Building, Midlands Center, 8301 Farrow Road, Columbia, SC

September 22, 2009

The Real World of Web/IT Accessibility and Assistive Technology

Registration - 8:00 – 8:55am; Workshop - 9:00am – 3:30pm

SC State Archives and History (see our online directions page)

Presenters: Janet Jendron, Clay Jeffcoat, Jim Debus, Allison Yeager, Grace Strother, CB Averitt, Wendy Mullin, Sam Hahn, Cheryl Kirkpatrick

Tuesdays, October 6 - November 3, 2009

Creating Visual Supports for Children with Autism

9:00 – 11:00am

Presenter: Carol Page, PhD, CCC-SLP, ATP

Topics and Locations:

-October 6, 2009: Introduction to Visual and Environmental Supports for Behavior and Social Skills - SC Autism Society Training Room

-October 13, 2009 Supports for Communication - SC Autism Society Training Room

-October 20, 2009 Supports for Literacy - SC Autism Society Training Room

-October 27, 2009 Free Electronic Resources - SCATP AT Resource Center

-November 3, 2009 Supports for Functional Skills in Family Life - SC Autism Society Training Room

Tuesday, October 6 – Florence

Tuesday, December 1 – Columbia

Accessible and Usable Web Pages Using CSS

9am - 12pm

Presenter: CB Averitt, Webmaster, Florence-Darlington Technical College.

-October 6 Location: The Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing and Technology. 1951 Pisgah Rd., Florence, SC 29502, Room 149 (Located behind Florence Darlington Technical College).

-December 1 Location: Midlands Technical College Northeast Campus/Center of Excellence for Technology, 151 Powell Road, Columbia, SC 29203

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Supporting Language and Communication for Individuals with Autism (Repeat)

This is a repeat of a workshop being offered on October 7th in North Charleston

9:00am – 3:30pm

Collaborative Training Center, Midlands Center, 8301 Farrow Road, Columbia, SC 29203

Presenter: Implementation Workshops are presented by speech-language pathologists employed by DynaVox.

This course is offered for 0.5 ASHA CEUs (Intermediate level, Professional area).

Friday, October 9, 2009

Intermediate Boardmaker

9:00 – 11:00am

Presenter: Val Gioia, Assistive Technology Specialist, SC Department of Education

Location: Assistive Technology Resource Center, Poplar Building, Midlands Center, 8301 Farrow Road, Columbia, SC

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Trash to AT Treasures

9:00am - Noon

Presenters: Dr. Carol Page, Speech-Language Pathologist SCATP and Val Gioia, Assistive Technology Specialist, SC Department of Education

Location: SC Assistive Technology Resource Center, Poplar Building, Midlands Center, 8301 Farrow Road, Columbia, SC

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Building or Updating Your Home for Accessibility

9:00am–11:00am

Location: Conference Center, Richland Medical Park 2, 2 Medical Park Road, Columbia, SC

Instructors: Wesley Farnum and Michael Reed with MyHome Builders, LLC; Catherine Leigh Graham with the University of South Carolina’s Interagency Office of Disability and Health.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

“AMPLIFY ! LIFE” – Grab Life by the Phone. How to get specialized phone equipment FREE.

9:00am – 12:30pm

Location: Assistive Technology Resource Center, Midlands Center, 8301 Farrow Road, Columbia (you can find more information on our directions page)

Presenter: Anne G. Bader, Outreach Coordinator for the South Carolina Equipment Distribution Program (SCEDP)

Thursday, November 12, 2009

AAC Assessment

8:30am – 11:30am

Presenters: Dr. Carol Page, Speech-Language Pathologist, SCATP and Val Gioia, Assistive Technology Specialist, SC Department of Education

Location: Lower Level Lecture Hall, 2 Medical Park, 2 Medical Park Road, Columbia, SC

Thursday, December 10, 2009

AAC Implementation

8:30am – 11:30am

Presenters: Dr. Carol Page, Speech-Language Pathologist, SCATP and Val Gioia, Assistive Technology Specialist, SC Department of Education

Location: Lower Level Lecture Hall, 2 Medical Park, 2 Medical Park Road, Columbia, SC

For the complete schedule, please click on the link above.

FRCDSN Conference September 19 - Charleston

The Family Resource Center for Disabilities and Special Needs presents our 12th annual conference:

Assistive Technology - Why aren't you using it?

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Mark Clark Hall on the Citadel Campus

$10 registration fee (includes lunch)

The agenda will start with a brief panel of individuals with disabilities discussing how assitive technology has helped them and in what way.

Then there will be two presentations by Dr. Carol Page and Stacy Springer, defining assitive technology, discussing the different types, and providing information regarding which types might be useful to individuals with a variety of mild to severe disabilites. There will be breaks between sessions and participants will have the opportunity to view and try out different types of assistive technology.

During lunch there will awards prestations and time to browse the silent auction items and vendors with a variety of AT devices (high and low tech) available to explore.

We welcome exhibitors! Please call our office 843-266-1318, to be sure we have room.

To view the FRCDSN website, please click on the link above.

Watching Stem Cells Repair The Human Brain

ScienceDaily (Aug. 21, 2009) — There is no known cure for neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. But new hope, in the form of stem cells created from the patient's own bone marrow, can be found — and literally seen — in laboratories at Tel Aviv University.

Dr. Yoram Cohen of TAU's School of Chemistry has recently proven the viability of these innovative stem cells, called mesenchymal stem cells, using in-vivo MRI. Dr. Cohen has been able to track their progress within the brain, and initial studies indicate they can identify unhealthy or damaged tissues, migrate to them, and potentially repair or halt cell degeneration. His findings have been reported in the journal Stem Cells.

To view the entire article, please click on the link above.