TECHNOS

February 9, 2012

TECHNOS QUARTERLY Summer 1994 Vol. 3 No. 2

Assistive, Adaptive, Amazing Technologies

By John Pesta

Talking calculators, braille printers, breath-operated switches, voice-activated workstations, eye-controlled computers—these are just a few of the high-tech systems that are helping persons with severe disabilities lead richer, more productive lives. Thousands of assistive-technology devices are available for persons who are blind or deaf or cannot speak, for those who are unable to move their arms or legs, and for those with learning or cognitive disabilities. This technological revolution is liberating millions of physically impaired Americans by helping them to function independently and to become better educated, thereby reaching their full potential.

What Is It?
Assistive (or adaptive) technology includes any equipment, software, service, or specialized instructional material that helps disabled persons improve their quality of life and increase their access to education, the workplace, and the community. These devices help people function more independently in nearly all aspects of life, but especially in communication, mobility, learning, and personal care. Many things qualify as assistive technology. Some devices—canes, walkers, braille signs, and wheelchair ramps—are low-tech, whereas others are extremely sophisticated—myoelectrically powered prostheses and computer programs that convert print to speech. Assistive technology can be as complex as a voice-recognition system or as simple as a stick—the walking stick of a blind man or the headstick that physicist Stephen Hawking uses to operate his computer keyboard.

Its broad definition notwithstanding, assistive technology has become something of a buzz during the past 12 years because of revolutionary developments at the high-tech end of the scale. In fact, new products are coming on the market so fast that it's nearly impossible for anyone to keep up with them. Even when a person who has a disability learns about the latest technological development, it is often difficult to determine whether a particular device is suited to his or her special needs. There are other problems, too. Because the equipment is often custom-designed for a single individual, it can be highly expensive. Finding a local dealer who sells and repairs a particular device may also be difficult. Finally, once purchased, the device may prove too hard to operate and end up being abandoned. To overcome such barriers, in 1988 Congress passed the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act, also known as the Tech Act. This law provides funds to the states to establish programs that make assistive devices and services more available to all disabled persons (see It's the Law Sidebar).

Who Needs It?
Many people can benefit from these programs. According to the National Health Interview Survey on Assistive Devices, in 1990 more than 13.1 million Americans were using assistive devices of some kind, and the number of users was growing at a faster rate than the general population. The survey also found 2.5 million Americans saying they needed devices that they did not have, and the principal reason they did not have the devices was their inability to pay for them. Lack of money is no excuse, however, when it comes to education. Students who need assistive devices can take advantage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which requires public schools to provide assistive technology free of charge. If the United States wishes to educate all citizens, assistive devices will play an increasingly important role in schools in coming years.

A vast array of assistive technology exists, so much in fact that extensive databases, such as ABLEDATA, have been created to provide information about the burgeoning supply of products, both low- and high-tech. These databases are contained on compact discs that are available at assistive-technology centers or can be purchased from Macro International, a vendor under contract to the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. For modem users, an electronic bulletin board, ABLE INFORM, provides access to ABLEDATA and other databases at no charge, except for the phone call.

Many of the latest developments in assistive technology are based on computers. It's ironic that a machine so often depicted as an emotionless monster threatening to enslave humanity is helping so many people lead more independent lives. Here is a brief survey of major technologies that are enriching the lives of physically impaired individuals at home, at work, and at school.

Straw Puffs and Eye Beams

Voice recognition. One of the most helpful technologies for a person with severe motor disabilities is voice or speech recognition. By programming a computer to recognize the person's voice and to accept spoken commands, a voice-recognition system can perform many functions, including everyday tasks such as answering the phone and turning off the lights, as well as more complex activities like running office machines, entering data into a computer, and writing papers for class.

Persons who have motor disabilities and who are also unable to speak can use various other devices, including switches, pointers, and communication boards, to control their surroundings and help them communicate.
Switches. Special microswitches that operate other devices can be adapted for any individual who can control at least one slight movement of the body—for example, flexing a finger, tapping a pedal, blinking an eye, sipping and puffing on a straw, moving the tongue, or simply bumping against the side of a wheelchair. Like voice-recognition devices, switches can perform both simple and complicated tasks.
Communication boards. A severely disabled person can use a communication board, which is similar to a keyboard but has pictures, words, or symbols that can be pressed or pointed to as a way of expressing needs and desires. In the classroom it is a useful way for a student to respond to a teacher's questions.
Headsticks and mouthsticks. These sticks or wands are simple tools that can be used for varied tasks such as pointing, turning the pages of a book, and using a computer or communication board. They differ from a standard pointer, which fits on a person's chin. A beam of light can also be used for pointing: A device similar to a small flashlight can be attached to the head or a pair of eyeglasses, allowing the wearer to point the beam at a communication board or other nearby object. The light may also be held in the hand.
Point-and-shoot devices. More elaborate pointing devices make use of computer programs that display a virtual keyboard or a menu of choices. A person wears a pointer or manipulates a mouse to pick out a selection on the screen, then an adapted switch is used to click the mouse button. A person who cannot talk might use this system to express synthetic voice messages stored in the computer. One point-and-shoot device is Head-Master. Wearing a head-mounted pointer or mouse, the user moves the cursor to keys on a keyboard display, then, by puffing into a straw attached to the headset, the key is selected and typed on the screen.
Vision control. On an even more sophisticated level is the Eye-gaze Computer System, manufactured by LC Technologies. This vision-controlled device allows people with motor disabilities to do many things with their eyes that they cannot do with their hands. Simply by looking at keys on a computer screen, the user can perform tasks such as speaking synthetically, controlling household appliances, playing games, studying lessons, using the phone, or writing papers. Nothing is attached to the person using the system. An infrared light-emitting diode (LED) illuminates the eye, and the LED generates a small, bright reflection off the surface of the cornea. This “bright-pupil effect” enables a camera to locate the center of the pupil, and, based on the relative positions of the center of the pupil and the corneal reflection, a computer predicts the “gazepoint,” the spot where the user's gaze is striking the display screen.
Adaptive keyboards. Persons who have some control of their hands can use special keyboards instead of pointing or switching devices. These keyboards range in size from miniature models, which can be operated with one hand, to oversized units. Their purpose is the same as that of a standard keyboard—to let the user enter data into a personal computer.
Sticky keys. For a person who can do some typing but cannot press more than one key at a time, keylock or “sticky-key” adaptations are possible. For example, the Shift key can be programmed to lock the first time it is pressed, so that the next key pressed will be in shifted position (this is similar to the “caps lock” function on most keyboards). Another device that can help someone operate a computer is a joystick, a gearshift-like switch that emulates the functions of a keyboard.
Word-prediction software. As individual letters are typed, the predictor speeds up the typing process by making several “guesses” at what the word might be—for instance, if the letter “T” is entered, the predictor would offer a menu including “the,” “that,” “there,” and other choices. The user can then either select one of these words or type additional letters to narrow the field of possibilities.
Touch-sensitive displays. Replacing the keyboard altogether, a touch-sensitive display allows a person to operate a computer merely by touching the screen.
Auditory scanning. Choosing words from a list of options is a common way for severely impaired persons to express themselves, but in an extreme case where someone has visual, speech, and motor disabilities, “auditory scanning” can make communication possible. In this method, lists of words are recited by another person or a mechanical device, and the disabled individual indicates his selection by some action, perhaps by raising an eyebrow or bumping a switch.

Braille and Beyond

Electronic readers. Until recent advances in technology, when blind persons wished to have access to printed materials, they had to rely on other people to read to them or on braille or talking books. As a result, they often had to wait some time before the latest published information was available to them. Electronic reading devices have changed all that. These machines read aloud in a synthetic, humanlike voice. They use optical-character-recognition (OCR) technology to scan the information on a page and transform it into audible words.
Speech synthesizers. Speech synthesizers have dramatically expanded the world of blind persons at home, school, and work. For example, a computer equipped with a synthesizer can recite menus, status functions, and edit modes. On a more advanced level, electronic screen readers can send all keyboard entries and on-screen text directly to a synthesizer, whose voice keeps the user informed as operations proceed. Another device is the talking calculator, which uses synthetic speech to report the mathematical functions it is performing.
Braille adapters. Although speech may be the most convenient way for a visually impaired person to use a computer, other methods are also available. Keyboards, computer access terminals, and even printers have been adapted to the braille alphabet.
Oversized displays. For persons with limited use of their eyes, various devices that enlarge words and images are available. Some make use of closed-circuit television technology, whereas others rely on oversized computer screens or on software that enlarges words on standard-size screens. All of these devices are valuable in educational settings, especially when students with restricted vision are intermingled with other students.

Now Read This

Closed-captioning. Deaf and hard-of-hearing people have greatly benefited from developments in the field of telecommunications. Closed-captioning, which converts a television program's dialogue into readable text on the TV screen, is probably the most familiar of these developments, especially since all TV sets with screens 13 inches or larger are now required to contain circuitry to decode closed-captioned broadcasts.
Adapted computers. People with hearing limitations do not face a major problem when it comes to using personal computers, for the keyboard and screen are easily accessible. But the sounds that a computer makes—for instance, the beep it emits to indicate a mistake—will obviously go unheard. Special software can change these sounds to video signals, such as a flashing screen.

The Challenge for Schools
Technology marches on, and people with disabilities can look forward to such exciting developments as voice-controlled robots, TV cameras that boost low vision, and computers that keep getting more friendly. But high-tech research and development do not come cheap, and school officials face the dilemma of having to provide the tools that all students need to acquire the education they deserve, while at the same time husbanding tax dollars that are all too often much too scarce.

But that's another story.

John Pesta, was an assistant editor of TECHNOS and a writer/editor for the Agency for Instructional Technology at the time that he wrote this article..

Click here to access It's The Law Sidebar that accompanied this article.