Re: Raise the Jolly Roger!

["Sean Fahey" <a2fan@hotmail.com>]

<carbide@egine.com> wrote in message
1106878008.232167.86540@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com">news:1106878008.232167.86540@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...

> I have no specific knowledge of that, but it sounds VERY far-fetched to
> me. I'm in high tech. It just gets better and cheaper.

Yah, I'm a network engineer - better, cheaper... depends on what's becoming
a commodity, and if enough competition is driving prices down. We're not
just talking about cheap computers, cheap software. You don't just strap a
cheapo Dell Dimension or a laptop to a wheel chair and turn on the
accessbility options.

You probably don't get out and speak to very many people who are paralyzed,
blind or mentally retarded/developmentally disabled who choose to live at
home with family (instead of in a group home or an institution), or the
social workers who work with them. It might change your perspective if you
did.

Funding for programs that provide assistance for people with special needs
is always getting cut back, but the prices for adaptive tools (like speech
boards, switches, touch panels) has usually gone up. A good adaptive speech
board can go for over a thousand, some cost more - mounting them to a
wheelchair and interfacing them to a set of chin switches adds to the cost.

An example:

About a year ago, I replaced a //c for an older woman who was using it with
a cricket and a software package written back in 1988 - it was functioning
as her speech board that she uses to communicate - all of it was mounted on
her electric wheelchair. As I recall, she had about 8 chin/hand switches to
operate the computer, to emulate arrow keys, enter and reset, etc. The
program had over 900 preset english phrases. She'd had it for several years,
and aside from replacing the old 12" greyscale LCD with a 10" color one, she
hasn't upgraded anything else on it that I'm aware of. It works very well
and its a solution she's very comfortable with - that's really important
when you spend all of your life in one of two places - your wheelchair or
your bed.

It will cost her over $3000 to buy a new setup that has the same
functionality she has now - but, she boggles at the idea of spending that
much because she's on a limited income, and what she has works well. She's
always afraid she'll need what money she does have in case she gets sick.
She's independent - and although she needs her aide for many things, she
insists on doing every possible thing she can do for herself. It's her
choice to use the IIc - and when you're in the life situation she's in,
choice is a big deal.