Most of us know about the landmark law that is the
Americans with Disabilities Act, but do you know what's in it?
What about the Fair Housing Act?
Or the Rehabilitation Act?
All these laws protect your rights as a person with a disability.
Knowing your rights helps you to empower
yourselves and others, and our movements!
Join us online on Monday, May 10, 2021, from 3-4 PM to learn about:
Registration will close on Sunday, May 9.
We will email you the Zoom link and materials
on the morning of May 10.
For questions, contact Dori at dtempio@able-sc.org.
The Emergency Broadband Benefit to be offered soon through the FCC will provide a discount of up to $50 per month toward broadband service for eligible families and households who are struggling to stay connected during the COVID19 pandemic.
Eligible households can also receive a discount of up to $100 for the purchase of a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers.
Applications can be submitted beginning on May 12th. Households can apply in three ways:
To learn more about the program and see if you qualify,
visit FCC - Broadband Benefit.
Date: Thursday, May 6, 2021
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Cost: FREE
Speaker: Kenneth P Whitley
Target Audience: SLP’s and OT’s serving veterans, veterans and their families, others interested in AAC for adults.
Veterans needing augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) are as varied as the general population plus having been exposed to environments and experiences most others have not. Higher instances of ALS, PLS, Multiple Systems Atrophy, Parkinson’s Disease, stroke, cancer, etc. are present. This presentation will be an introduction to serving veterans in need of augmentative communication technology.
Participants will learn:
Ken Whitley is co-founder and President of AT4Vets (established 2020) and Key Technologies, Inc. (established 1986). He is a Speech-Language Pathologist and consultant in assistive technology and rehab/special needs materials and has extensive experience in serving both adults and children with disabilities. Mr. Whitley has worked in both the public schools and a residential facility for persons with developmental disabilities. He has provided over 336 workshops and presentations on the use of assistive technology covering AAC, computer access, environmental control, and mounting systems. For the last decade, his focus has been on serving veterans and VAMCs with assistive technology needs.
SC Assistive Technology Program’s
Open Forum is a great way to discuss using products,
learning about new products, asking questions, etc.
in an informal atmosphere.
We look forward to talking with you!
Date: Tuesday, May 4th, 2021
Time: 2:00 PM ET
Cost: Free!
Zoom Link:
https://zoom.us/j/92103276080?
pwd=ZHJ1bi80c0hyUkw3a3hDTkd0WGlOZz09
Contact Alli Upchurch at alli.upchurch@uscmed.sc.edu
or 803-935-5273 to make an appointment to pick up an item.
Also, don’t forget to check out the Assistive Technology Exchange
at https://scatpexchange.net/.
There are lots of items listed and new ones added every day!
The Accessible Technology Coalition
compiles this listing of free webinars from around the Web!
Follow the ATC Facebook page for late additions.
AT Webinars - Adults, Web, and General
The Hardware to the Software: Everything you need to know to make an iPad Switch Accessible, Part 1 from AbleNet
May 4, 2021 at 8am Pacific, 11am Eastern
May 11, Part II, same time.
Low-Tech Assistive Technology at Home and Abroad from AgrAbility
May 11, 2021 at 10am Pacific, 1pm Eastern
Seeing AI App to Support Those with Visual Impairment and also Those with Literacy Difficulties from CallScotland
May 12, at 4pm Pacific, 7pm Eastern (30 min.)
Wired Wednesday: AT Bits & Bytes (Translate Live's Instant Language Assistant demo) with TFL and WATAP
May 12, 2021 at 10am Pacific, 1pm Eastern (90 min.)
Web Accessibility for Developers from inData
May 12,2021 at 8am Pacific, 11am Eastern (5 hours)
Dementia-friendly design: expert tips for inclusive websites from AbilityNetUK
May 18, 2021 at 1pm Pacific, 4pm Eastern
Automated Accessibility Testing from AT3Center
May 19, 2021 at 10:30am Pacific, 1:30pm Eastern
Basic Accessibility Fundamentals Bootcamp from deque
May 20, 2021 at 9am Pacific, 12pm Eastern (3 hrs.)
Section 508 Compliance and Assistive Technology: Providing Accessibility to ICT for Federal Employees under the Rehabilitation Act (Sections 504 and 508) from Great Lakes ADA
May 25, 2021 at 10am Pacific, 1pm Eastern (90 min.)
Technology and Dementia: a creative approach from AbilityNetUK
May 25, 2021 at 1pm Pacific, 4pm Eastern
AT Webinars - K-12
Providing Access to the Curriculum on the House that Google Built from Don Johnston
May 6, 2021 at 10am Pacific, 1pm Eastern
Using PowerPoint Creatively to Support Learners with Additional Support Needs from CallScotland
May 26, 2021 at 4pm Pacific, 7pm Eastern (30 min.)
Needing Augmentative Communication
Date: Tuesday, May 6, 2021
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Cost: Free
Speaker: Kenneth P Whitley
Target Audience: SLP’s and OT’s serving veterans, veterans and their families, others interested in AAC for adults.
Veterans needing augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) are as varied as the general population plus having been exposed to environments and experiences most others have not. Higher instances of ALS, PLS, Multiple Systems Atrophy, Parkinson’s Disease, stroke, cancer, etc. are present. This presentation will be an introduction to serving veterans in need of augmentative communication technology.
Participants will learn:
There will be a question-and-answer session at the end of the webinar.
Ken Whitley is co-founder and President of AT4Vets (established 2020) and Key Technologies, Inc. (established 1986). He is a Speech-Language Pathologist and consultant in assistive technology and rehab/special needs materials and has extensive experience in serving both adults and children with disabilities. Mr. Whitley has worked in both the public schools and a residential facility for persons with developmental disabilities. He has provided over 336 workshops and presentations on the use of assistive technology covering AAC, computer access, environmental control, and mounting systems. For the last decade, his focus has been on serving veterans and VAMCs with assistive technology needs.
TECHIE TUESDAY
Tuesday, April 27th, 2021
Join SC Assistive Technology Program staff for a free, informative demonstration of the assistive technology you are most interested in.
To sign up for a time for your personal, 1:1 demonstration for April 27th, contact Carol Page at carol.page@uscmed.sc.edu or 803-935-5301. We can meet by Zoom or phone. Let me know what works best for you!
Check out our free archived trainings
and upcoming trainings here:
https://scatp.med.sc.edu/services/at-trainings/
The terrible toll of COVID-19
on people with intellectual disabilities
Wendy Ross, MD
April 20, 2021
Patients with intellectual disabilities are six times more likely to die from COVID-19 than other people. An expert weighs in on how we must improve their care both during the pandemic and down the road.
Sara*, 22, was doing well until COVID-19 hit. She was working at a café where most of the employees, like her, have an intellectual disability. She’d gotten good at making lattes and had just created a video resume for a Starbucks job. She enjoyed living with her parents in a suburb of Philadelphia and participating in a local program designed to boost independence.
But COVID-19 has created particular obstacles for Sara, who has difficulty communicating, processing information, and adapting to new situations. Some of her therapists have stopped coming to her house, and those who come wear masks that make her feel disconnected from them. She also dislikes how hot her mask feels and how often people remind her to fix it when it slips below her nose.
Then matters got worse. Even though she was careful, Sara contracted COVID-19 and spiked a fever of 104 degrees. Once hospitalized, she struggled to explain how sick she felt. Her doctors spoke very quickly, and by the time she sorted out the questions, they had stopped waiting for her answers. She was confused about why she got moved from one room to another, and she desperately missed her parents, who could not visit her because of COVID-19 precautions.
Sara’s is a dismaying story and, unfortunately, it is not an outlier. I know this well from my experience as director of the Center for Autism and Neurodiversity at Jefferson Health in Philadelphia and from decades working to help create accessible care for all people.
Approximately 6.5 million people in the United States have an intellectual disability. That means they have an IQ score below 70 and other cognitive limitations that affect their communication, social, and self-care skills. COVID-19 has certainly complicated their existence — but it also has ended their lives at tragic rates.
Consider this disturbing statistic: Having an intellectual disability was the highest independent risk factor for contracting COVID-19, controlling for race, ethnicity, and other variables. It was higher even than age or heart or lung problems, according to a recent paper I co-authored. Also, having an intellectual disability was second only to age for COVID-19-related deaths. The paper — which reported on more than 64 million patients at hundreds of U.S. medical centers — found that those with intellectual disabilities were six times more likely to die from COVID-19 than other members of the population.
Some of the increased illness and death may be related to the nature of intellectual disabilities and the supports they entail. For example, people with intellectual disabilities more often live in group homes; use shared transportation; are exposed to people outside their households, including therapists and other providers; and struggle with precautions like mask-wearing.
But there are aspects of these uneven outcomes that raise serious questions about us as a medical community and as a society.
Prentke Romich Company and Saltillo Corporation.
(Not all offer ASHA CEUs.)
ALL Write ALL Ready
Mon, May 3, 2021
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET
Cost: FREE
Instructional Level: Intermediate
ASHA CEUs: 0.1
Explore ChatEditor: Saltillo's Companion Software
Tue, May 4, 2021
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET
Cost: FREE
Introductory Level
ASHA CEUs: 0.1
AAC: Fostering Emergent Literacy
Wed, May 5, 2021
1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
Cost: FREE
Introductory Level
ASHA CEUs: 0.2
Getting Beyond Basic Requesting
Mon, May 10, 2021
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET
Cost: FREE
Instructional Level: Introductory
ASHA CEUs: 0.1
New to TouchChat? Let Us Help! Part 1
Wed, May 12, 2021
4:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET
Cost: FREE
No CEUs
New to TouchChat? Let Us Help! Part 2
Thu, May 13, 2021
4:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET
Cost: FREE
No CEUs
New to TouchChat? Let Us Help! Part 3
Fri, May 14, 2021
4:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET
Cost: FREE
No CEUs
Teaching Language in the Classroom: Speaking, Reading and Writing with AAC
Fri, May 14, 2021
2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
Cost: FREE
Instructional Level: Intermediate
ASHA CEUs: 0.1
LAMP Words for Life: Vocabulary Review and Practice
Wed, May 12, 2021
4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. ET
Cost: FREE
Instructional Level: Introductory
ASHA CEUs: 0.15
Stepping Up: Young Adult Content on the AAC Language Lab
Mon, May 17, 2021
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET
Cost: FREE
Instructional Level: Introductory
ASHA CEUs: 0.1
Customizing TouchChat: Part 1
Tue, May 18, 2021
1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET
Cost: FREE
Introductory Level
ASHA CEUs: 0.1
Customizing TouchChat: Part 2
Wed, May 19, 2021
1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET
Introductory Level
ASHA CEUs: 0.1
Building Communication with Aided Language Input
Wed, May 19, 2021
7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. ET
Cost: FREE
Instructional Level: Introductory
ASHA CEUs: 0.1
Diving Into the AAC Language Lab
Thu, May 20, 2021
3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET
Cost: FREE
Instructional Level: Introductory
ASHA CEUs: 0.15
What Are Core Words Anyway? Let Us Help You Get Started! Part 1
Tue, May 25, 2021
1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET
Cost: FREE
Introductory Level
ASHA CEUs: 0.1
Stepping Stones to AAC: Explore Baby Animals at the Zoo
Wed, May 26, 2021
8:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. ET
Cost: FREE
No CEUs
What Are Core Words Anyway? Let Us Help You Get Started! Part 2
Thu, May 27, 2021
1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET
Cost: FREE
Introductory Level
ASHA CEUs: 0.1
