...United States, as well as different countries globally. Many states offer specialized programs, provide educational resources, and information on local and domestic organizations that provide specialized equipment to meet the various needs of people. The target population types range from children with disabilities in an educational setting to the elderly who may need a wheelchair or other technological device to assist them with daily routine functionality. People with different disabilities require specialized technology to meet some of their needs. Assistive Technology devices help individuals meet these needs. The U.S. Department of Health defines assistive technology as “any piece of equipment, item, or product system purchased off the shelf, was modified or customized, and is used to maintain, increase, or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with a disability.” They do not include medical devices surgically implanted, nor are they a replacement for surgically implanted devices ("U.S. Department of Education", 2015). The states of Virginia, Alabama, California, Washington, and other states provide assistive technology in many different forms to meet the needs of people with disabilities. The American Disability Act (ADA) and Section 504 federal requirements are in place, obligating states to follow these standards. These laws are carefully followed by each of the States reviewed. Therefore, no room for improvement in the area of enhancing assistive technology...
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...parts: assistive technology devices and assistive technology services. Assistive technology devices means any item, equipment or system that can be used to increase, maintain or improve the functions of a child with a disability. It is important to note that there is an exception to the term, that being it does not include medical devices used by the student that are surgically implanted. These devices can then be further categorized into low-tech, mid-tech, and high-tech tools. Assistive technology services is an service that directly assists a child with a disability in the selection, acquisition or use of a assistive technology device. These services may include...
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...September 30, 2012 Michael Horn Throughout this six week course, Meeting Individual Needs with Technology, we have researched the spectrums of Assistive Technology available for the individual and the classroom, and researched the different types of disabilities and how the Assistive Technology can aid students in navigating life and succeeding as individuals. Case Study #1 Emily is a five-year-old female student who is visually impaired. Emily has low vision and has some independence. She is able to see letters and numbers with amplification. In the past, Emily has been enrolled in a Head Start class with typical peers. Emily experienced great success in her preschool classroom. She had access to assistive technology that assisted her in participating in most activities within the class. Emily will be starting kindergarten in the fall. She will be in a general education class with typical peers. Emily’s parents, and her IEP team, expect her to be fully included in most activities. Please describe assistive technologies that will allow Emily to have access to grade level content and to participate with her peers in the classroom. For Emily’s case, with her weak vision she would be considered to have a sensory disability, or visual impairment which would affect her academics, and keep her from the average experience of a typical student in a day of the average life. Fortunately, for both visual and auditory sensory impairments, Assistive Technology and the innovations...
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...technology that had or just makes things simpler. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was put into law and now resources are to be made available for employees and clients. Resources are available for the disabled in every state including Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania. In every one of these states resources could be found for the disabled with help finding technology that is available and helpful information about conditions or support for those who may want it. Each of these states had certain things that were different about where to find the resources one big difference would be where to go to find them. One thing that is the same about all these states is that there is still more work to be done in this area. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 “The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities and requires that businesses with more than 15 employees provide “reasonable accommodation” to allow the disabled to perform their jobs” (Burke & Weill, 2013,). For Health and Human Service workers, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is crucial to their jobs, the services they offer, and the manner in which they offer the services. Since more disabilities are added to the lists on a regular basis, it is important for Human Service workers to keep up with trainings on the new services and updated disability lists. Most states offer many of the same or similar services,...
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...On June 23, 1988, Congressman Jim Jeffords of Vermont and Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa introduced the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988. On August 19, 1988, President Reagan signed the Act and it became law, Public Law 100-407. The support for the legislation was very strong. People with disabilities, their families and advocates and those who direct or provide services to those with disabilities emphasized to Congress the importance of technology and support services in technology for people with disabilities.Access to information technology is critical in employment and education for people who are blind. The Telecommunications Act of 1996, a comprehensive law overhauling regulation of the telecommunications industry, recognizes the importance of access to telecommunications for people with disabilities in the Information Age. Section 255 of the Act requires telecommunications products and services to be accessible to people with disabilities. This must be easily accomplishable, without much difficulty or expense. If manufacturers cannot make their products accessible then they must design products to be compatible with adaptive equipment used by people with disabilities, where readily achievable. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released Sept. 29 new rules that are designed to give greater access to telecommunications technologies to the disabled. The rules and policies, serving to implement the Telecommunications Act of...
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...Describe health and safety considerations in the use of technologies in health and social care. 4 2.2 Analyze ethical considerations in the use of assistive technologies. 5 2.3 Explain the impact of recent and emerging technological developments on health and social care services. 6 3.1 Identify Maggie’s specific needs and recommend appropriate devices in order to support her to continue living independently. 7 3.2 Influence of assistive technology in role workers in health and social care 8 Bibliography 9 1.1 Discuss how technology can be used to support users of health and social care services in living independently. For those people who have trouble getting around places, in making communication with others or in handling the everyday tasks, there are many assistive types of equipment available to help them in such tasks. An assistive technology is the one that is capable of helping the disabled or the elder people in handling the activities they were always capable of doing, but in their present medical condition, they just cannot. In other terms, these devices or tools are also known as “adaptive devices”. These devices adapt to the needs of the patient using them and provide assistance in doing certain tasks. Such type of technology tools are sometimes as simple as a walker to make the walking practice of the person easier or a hearing aid that helps the hearing impairment of a person and allows them to listen properly. This list may also involve the magnifying...
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...The necessity for long-term care is increasing which will require additional training and education for health care personnel, family members, and patients. Family members can have peace of mind knowing their family member will gain confidence in learning how to become accustomed to his or her new life while maintaining a quality continuum of care during and after treatment for physical, mental, or age associated illnesses. Long-term care is also known as personal assistant services and is defined as an individual who requires health care assistance for more than 90 days. Personal assistants provided to a patient help them with the activities of daily living (ADL) as well as instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). These activities may include personal care services like bathing, doing household chores, and other activities to help the patient remain independent while still residing in or near his or her home while maintaining the quality of care the person is accustomed to if there are no medical hindrances preventing it. Long-term care also includes community services, such as meals, adult day service programs, and transportation services (Austin & Wetle, "The long term care continuum, Who needs long-term care?," 2012). Residential facilities, such as skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities, also provide long-term care services along with housing ("National Clearinghouse For Long Term Care Information,” n.d.). Continuum of care services are...
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...Critique of ADA and Affirmative Action To critique the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) and Affirmative Action, it is imperative that one knows that the Americans with Disabilities Act is a law and Affirmative Action is a policy. The Americans with Disability Act is a law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, public transportation, public accommodation, communication, and in governmental activities. Affirmative Action is a policy (regulation depends on the state) that is designed to provide equal opportunity (such as employment, education, and other endeavors) to groups that are discriminated and/or minorities (race/color, religion/beliefs/creed, gender, sexual orientation, and/or national origin). Within the ADA and Affirmative Action, there are pros and cons that exist. Pros of the American Disability Act The Americans with Disability Act has helped protect the civil rights of persons with disabilities. The passing of this law has helped many disabled individuals receive recompense for the discrimination that they faced. In 1997, Wal-Mart was found guilty of discrimination by refusing to hire an individual based on the fact that he was in a wheelchair. As part of its evidence, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission introduced a videotape showing the charging party performing many physically challenging activities during his daily life (EEOC, 2012). As a result, he was granted $225,000 which consisted of back pay, compensatory...
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...Americans Disability Act of 1990 The main reason for the American Disability Act (ADA) is to is to give equal opportunity for the disabled Americans living in the United States. In May of 1990, the Congress approved the Americans with Disabilities Act, that provides disabled Americans with increased access to jobs and services. The history of the ADA did not begin on July 26, 1990 at the signing ceremony at the White House. It did not begin in 1988 when the first ADA was introduced in Congress. The National Council on Disability had drafted a bill which was later introduced to the House and Senate 1988 when they recommended enactment of a Americans with Disabilities Act. President George H. W. Bush signed it into a law on July 26,1990. With changes made by President George W. Bush which went into effect on January 1, 2009. The ADA is now a wide ranging rights law that prevents any discriminating actions against anyone with a disability. It has similar protection as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That act made race, national origin, sex, or any other characteristic illegal. However, unlike the Civil Rights Act, the ADA requires accommodations and accessibility requirements on public accommodations from employers for any employee with disabilities. The American Disability Act also protects disabled employees from being discriminated from employers. Under the ADA employers may not limit advancement opportunities for disabled employees. Secondly, employers cannot use test...
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...Techniques Senior Seminar in Computer Information Systems December 7, 2011 Abstract An ever increasing population of persons with learning disabilities are continually in need of better ways to overcome the unique challenges they face in today's modern, high communication world. While Assistive Technology is making strides to close the learning gap between persons with and without learning disabilities there is still a long way to go before technology provides a level playing field for these challenged individuals. Many of the issues with existing assistive technology revolves around clumsy, inefficient interfaces that struggle to find a balance between ease of use and sufficient complexity to ensure that the proper sequence of instructions is implemented. Machine learning is on the cutting edge of programming practices and presents some significant improvement possibilities in the areas of natural language processing, pattern recognition, and interface design. Machine learning has the potential to play a significant role in allowing assistive technologies to be more adaptive to persons with diverse sets of needs. This paper will attempt to define some specific areas of assistive technology that could benefit most from the application of machine learning. We will frame the definitions by aligning specific learning disabilities with current and future assistive technologies and then examining how the implementation of machine learning could improve upon them. Introduction ...
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...Around the world, there are a lot of people with ambulatory disabilities. For examples, over $20$ million people have ambulatory disabilities in the United State \cite{US}, and a report on disability and rehabilitation by World Health Organization indicates that about $65$ million people worldwide need wheelchairs in $2008$ \cite{WHO}. Wheelchair is one of the most commonly used supporting devices for people with ambulatory disabilities to improve their personal mobility, which can enhance their health and quality of life \cite{ManualW}. However, users are often constrained to the sitting posture, which can cause severe damage such as pressure sore. Standing is important to avoid such damage, and it also stretches out the muscles around the...
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...researchers pay little attention to the career experiences of persons with disabilities (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2002). Even scholars who call on the profession to engage in more advocacy often fail to identify the near silence that exists on behalf of persons with disabilities (Niles & Harris Bowlsbey, 2002). Clearly, this is an embarrassing, and inexcusable, gap in the career development literature (Niles & Harris Bowlsbey, 2002). Based on the Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS) of 2006, people with disabilities make up 16.5% of the adult population 15 years and older in Canada, or nearly 4.2 million people (Counsel of Canadians with Disabilities, 2013). People classified as having a disability in PALS are those who indicate any difficulty hearing, seeing, communicating, walking, climbing stairs, bending, learning or doing any similar activities or who have a physical condition or mental condition or health problem that reduces the amount or kind of activity they can do at home, work or school or in other activities such as transportation or leisure (Counsel of Canadians with Disabilities, 2013). The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the unique career considerations of the disabled in the career counseling process. Three career counseling services will be illustrated that will meet the needs of a specific type of disability. Legislation The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in Section...
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...learning disability is a condition that either prevents or significantly hinders somebody from learning basic skills or information at the same rate as most people of the same age. It is caused by a difference in the brain that affects information received, processed and communicated. A learning disability cannot be cured or fixed but it can be helped. Depending on the type of disability, interventions may be provided to help an individual learn strategies that will assist him/her for future success. Children with learning disabilities are usually diagnosed after they have started school around the age of eight or older. A child’s difficulties are usually noticed by educators such as teachers and parents. The earlier the child is diagnosed, the earlier an intervention program is implemented. Therefore, the better her/his future will be. Interventions significantly increase the possibility of a successful long term prognosis. Children and adults with learning disabilities have trouble processing sensory information because they see, hear, and understand things differently. Common types of learning disabilities are nonverbal learning disability (NLD), visual processing deficit and auditory processing deficit. Nonverbal learning disability (NLD) is a neurological condition that is considered to be a development disability. It affects every aspect of life and not just typical problems seen in classrooms. Nonverbal learning disability is considered a life learning disability. It affects...
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...establish rehabilitation centers in developing countries had taken hold in urban centers, but failed to provide support and assistance to disabled people in rural areas throughout the world. The response of world aid organizations was to shift funding from city-based hospitals to rural community programs. The first CBR pilot projects were launched in the 1970s, and their continuing success has led to CBR programs being adopted throughout Africa, Asia and South America. Locally Based on historical accounts the government's concern for the disabled persons began as early as 1917 and the national concern for rehabilitation was manifested by non-government organizations as well. On January 16–20, 1978, the country hosted the Second International Conference on Legislation Concerning the Disabled organized by the Rehabilitation International's national affiliate, the Philippine Foundation for the Rehabilitation for Disabled Persons (PFRD). During the said conference, President Ferdinand Marcos signed Presidential Decree No. 1509 creating the National Commission Concerning Disabled Persons (NCCDP). NCCDP was tasked to prepare and adopt an integrated and comprehensive long-term National Rehabilitation Plan (NRP). From the time of its inception in 1978, the Philippine Foundation for the Rehabilitation of Disabled, Inc. (PFRD) served as the Commission's Secretariat to assist the NCCDP Board in the implementation of its objectives and functions. This arrangement stayed in effect until P.D. 1509 was...
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...requirements in providing reasonable accommodations and leave requests by keeping up to date with the current laws and company regulations. As technology advances so does the need for higher productivity in the workplace. In the growing population and aging workforce, some people think that if they ask for a reasonable accommodation that there may be retaliation from fellow co-workers or management. Reasonable accommodation may include but not limited to: ergonomic equipment and leave options. Our body does not advance and change as technology does but there is equipment out there that can make it easier to function. These available resources do come at a price and to determine who pays for the equipment to help employees with their disabilities can be difficult. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) In the past several years, laws have changes vastly to adjust to the changing times. The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal civil rights law that has helped people with disabilities from being discriminated against (ADA-Guide for Small Business, 2012). According to Akin and Gump, Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) helps to protect qualified individuals with disabilities from discrimination...
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