AAC Open House Dec. 5th!

Learn how communication devices can benefit people with disabilities from those who are aging to people with autism and other disorders at the AAC (Augmentative & Alternative Communication) Open House on Dec. 5!

All are welcome! This is an informal event, and you can come as you please. It will be at the Assistive Technology Lab on the Utah State University campus in Logan from 1 to 5 p.m.

Various vendors of communication devices will be there to demonstrate their technology, as well as knowledgeable professional staff to answer questions. See you there!

Click image to see a larger
view of the event flier.

Click the campus map to view it larger.

Utah Public Radio features mobility reuse program, CReATE

There's no hiding it, UATP was pretty darn excited when Utah Public Radio featured our assistive technology reutilization program on the air yesterday.

Hear what Vicki Long had to say
about getting her wheelchair this week.

In case you missed it, here's the link to the archived version. Division of Services for People with Disabilities employee, Vicki Long, also talked to UPR about getting a wheelchair from CReATE this week. 

Thank you to all those who support CReATE! Learn more about the program at www.createutah.org.  

Help get the CRPD ratified!

Use this avatar on your social
media profiles to promote the CRPD!

The Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow, Nov. 21st, on the CRPD (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities).

The CRPD recognizes the rights of people with disabilities as an international treaty. Write an email, Tweet, or call your Senator to tell them to pass the CRPD. Here are some great blog posts on current CRPD concerns:

• Sovereignty: http://wecandothisifwetry.blogspot.com/2013/08/0-false-18-pt-18-pt-0-0-false-false_22.html
• The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: http://wecandothisifwetry.blogspot.com/2013/09/0-false-18-pt-18-pt-0-0-false-false.html
• Reservations, Understandings, and Declarations (RUDs): http://wecandothisifwetry.blogspot.com/2013/10/do-reservations-understandings-and.html
• The Business Case for the CRPD: http://wecandothisifwetry.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-business-case-for-ratification-of.html

CReATE is on the air!

Tomorrow, Nov. 19th, Utah Public Radio will feature a story about CReATE (Citizen's Reutilizing Assistive Technology Equipment) at 4:30 p.m. MDT. 

Hear some fun soundbites of wheelchairs being refurbished, and what it is like to work at CReATE. Find a Utah station near you or listen online at www.upr.org. 

CReATE technician, Tom Boman, sorting out chairs.

The work table where Tom makes the chair magic happen.

Program coordinator, Alma Burgess, helps Tom put up a ramp.

Power wheelchairs are heavier than they look.....

Alma and Tom load wheelchairs to take to Logan.

Tom the Wheelchair Transformer Man.

New tech for low-vision computer users

Computer use for people with low-vision is getting better and better with new assistive technology. 

Last week, Digital Apex representative Anna Jeffery showcased such products in the Assistive Technology Lab like the ZoomText with image reader as well as ZoomText for Mac and magnilink student.

Trainees try out the software
for low-vision in the AT Lab.

Digital apex recently announced its newest featured product MagniLink S, from Low Vision International, (LVI). This video magnifier allows a visually impaired student to be equal to their peers in the classroom. 

Digital Apex rep Anna Jeffery shows
students how to use ZoomText.

The new MagniLink Student is easily carried between home, school or work, and is deployed in seconds. The MagniLink Student comes with the latest technology for superior image quality and is easy and fast to connect to a computer – or directly to a monitor. It can even read text aloud.  

Learn more about Digital Apex products at mydigitalapex.com.

Free online webinar: Affordable Care: The Health Insurance Marketplace Enrollment Process

The Utah Assistive Technology Program (UATP) will present a FREE online interactive training, “Affordable Care: The Health Insurance Marketplace Enrollment Process,” on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013 from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. MST.

This free training will be presented by Chase Merrill, Health Insurance Marketplace Outreach and Enrollment Navigator for the Cache Valley Community Health Centers. Chase will cover the Individual Insurance Mandate, Marketplace insurance plan classification, ways to complete the marketplace application, basic marketplace qualifications, tax subsidies, and FAQs. 

Chase is a Utah State University graduate in business administration and marketing. He helps guide the uninsured and under-insured through the application process with the goal of obtaining health insurance for themselves and their families. The Health Insurance Marketplace was established by the Affordable Care Act, and open enrollment goes until March 31st, 2014. Chase is a Federally Certified Applications Counselor (CAC), and also speaks Spanish. You may send him an e-mail at cmerrill@cvchc.org.

In order to participate, you will need a computer with high-speed Internet access. If you are interested in participating please RSVP by Monday, Nov. 11, to Storee Powell via email storee.powell@usu.edu, or call 435-797-7412. Participant instructions will be emailed to you.

If you are a screen reader user please contact Sachin Pavithran at 435-797-6572 or sachin.pavithran@usu.edu, no later than Friday, Nov. 8, to make arrangements to participate via phone. If you need any other accommodations in order to participate in the training please let Sachin know by this date also.

Please feel free to pass on this information to anyone that you think might be interested.

Assistive Technology Fact Sheet

The Disability Law Center of Utah has made this assistive technology fact sheet available to the public. Click on the images to view them in a larger version.