I read a tech article in Barron’s earlier this week in which some folks, recognized for their ability to see current trends and how they might evolve to meet future needs, made a list of their
Top 10 tech trends for the future.
In that list, there seems to be a general acknowledgement that the cell phone will continue to evolve into something much more complex and useful than its current incarnation. However, one possible application of the cell phone that wasn’t mentioned was a potential for it to act as the translator for a
Glove that converts sign language into sound.
The glove will allow somebody who communicates using sign language the ability to communicate with almost anybody and do so without the need for an interpreter. When it is completely developed, somebody who uses sign language will be able to wear this glove and sign as usual. Then, the programmed glove will recognize the fingers and hand positions and will then send the associated word or phrase to the user’s cell phone. The cell phone, running an off-the-shelf text-to-speech program, will then speak out the word or phrase.
The glove, a product of a team of graduate students at Carnegie Mellon University, is still undergoing refinement and is working on the learning curve. It knows only 32 words so far. Additionally, it seems like the team has taken some liberties and created some signs to work through the process, instead of using strictly ASL. However, of the 26 letters of the American Language alphabet, the glove has learned 15 of them.
Granted, it is not perfect, nor is it a completed, working model yet, but that latter outcome certainly seems like a given.
I believe the students’ hearts are definitely in the right place, integrating existing text messaging and text-to-speech applications with their vision. I hope they don’t catch any flak from deaf/hearing impaired purists for inventing a basic primitive language instead of striving to make it work with existing ASL. If they arise, I hope the critics aren’t too harsh, though, as innovation is where great projects begin.
This is just another embodiment of people thinking outside the conventional limitations to imagine what is possible, instead of resigning themselves to what is not.
Showing posts with label Trends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trends. Show all posts
Friday, May 16, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Assistive technology continues to evolve, becoming more mainstream
Most often, the steps that assistive technology uses to make computers accessible to people with disabilities is to allow them an alternative method of inputting information into the computer. This is true for screen readers, which allow the operator to use keyboard commands to perform mouse executions; speech input, which allows hands-free computer operation; thought-actuated computer programs, which can execute computer functions by mere thought; head pointers that let people without arm functionality point to the screen to execute commands; and, the various alternative mice that are on the market, which use footpads and other methods to allow input and do not require hand or fingers to operate them.
I’ve recently written posts highlighting advances that demonstrate how
Assistive technology has become more mainstream,
and, more recently, how
Man and machine are integrating much more than ever before.
In that last post, I was struck by the words of the reporter who was chronicling those events on a morning news program. He said that the way technology often works is that it is developed to meet a medical need first, and is very expensive. Then, later it evolves into something more affordable when it becomes more mainstream and applications are developed for the general public.
Immediately, I thought of botox. It was used first here in the U.S. to relieve spasticity in people who have various forms of dystonia. I was actually a little floored when a friend who got botox treatments for her cerebral palsy first told me about the medication and that it was derived from the toxin in botulism cells. That was several years ago, prior to botox becoming legalized for cosmetic applications. Today, you can’t turn on any television celebrity gossip show that doesn’t discuss the latest star getting botox treatments as cosmetic surgery.
Then, I looked at the marvels of assistive technology, just as the reporter was intending. And, here today, I offer proof of the reporter’s assessment.
First, The BBC reports about how
headset controllers using thought and emotion actuation
are the coming trends for gamers. And, as the reporter predicted, the unit is refined from the older versions, which were assistive technology of a unique sort. It no longer requires electrode arrays with gel on the scalp. And the cost is projected to be only $399, not the tens of thousands of dollars previous versions have cost to provide alternative computer input.
Do I think the technology in the gamer’s headset is comparable to that of somebody who would use thought input to operate a computer? Not at all, at least not yet. We all know that technology evolves, and this is equally true for assistive technology. Give it time and the gamer’s unit in just a few years will outperform the current assistive technology devices of today by leaps and bounds. And, I predict this will be mutually beneficial, providing greater accessibility and lowering costs for all.
Additionally, good old Microsoft is looking to its next big thing, called Windows 7 (for now,) which will incorporate input via
speech and touch.
Here again, if Microsoft is putting something into its system, eventually we will all have it. If not from Microsoft, then it will be from other computer companies that will offer their version just to stay competitive.
And, while robots aren’t exactly mainstream yet, understanding how a robot learns and
applying that to the ultimate robotic hand
definitely has broad implications for the future of prosthetics and assistive technology.
Perhaps that reporter was correct.
Note: Thanks to the editors of
Axistive.com
For the original information about the robotic hand.)
I’ve recently written posts highlighting advances that demonstrate how
Assistive technology has become more mainstream,
and, more recently, how
Man and machine are integrating much more than ever before.
In that last post, I was struck by the words of the reporter who was chronicling those events on a morning news program. He said that the way technology often works is that it is developed to meet a medical need first, and is very expensive. Then, later it evolves into something more affordable when it becomes more mainstream and applications are developed for the general public.
Immediately, I thought of botox. It was used first here in the U.S. to relieve spasticity in people who have various forms of dystonia. I was actually a little floored when a friend who got botox treatments for her cerebral palsy first told me about the medication and that it was derived from the toxin in botulism cells. That was several years ago, prior to botox becoming legalized for cosmetic applications. Today, you can’t turn on any television celebrity gossip show that doesn’t discuss the latest star getting botox treatments as cosmetic surgery.
Then, I looked at the marvels of assistive technology, just as the reporter was intending. And, here today, I offer proof of the reporter’s assessment.
First, The BBC reports about how
headset controllers using thought and emotion actuation
are the coming trends for gamers. And, as the reporter predicted, the unit is refined from the older versions, which were assistive technology of a unique sort. It no longer requires electrode arrays with gel on the scalp. And the cost is projected to be only $399, not the tens of thousands of dollars previous versions have cost to provide alternative computer input.
Do I think the technology in the gamer’s headset is comparable to that of somebody who would use thought input to operate a computer? Not at all, at least not yet. We all know that technology evolves, and this is equally true for assistive technology. Give it time and the gamer’s unit in just a few years will outperform the current assistive technology devices of today by leaps and bounds. And, I predict this will be mutually beneficial, providing greater accessibility and lowering costs for all.
Additionally, good old Microsoft is looking to its next big thing, called Windows 7 (for now,) which will incorporate input via
speech and touch.
Here again, if Microsoft is putting something into its system, eventually we will all have it. If not from Microsoft, then it will be from other computer companies that will offer their version just to stay competitive.
And, while robots aren’t exactly mainstream yet, understanding how a robot learns and
applying that to the ultimate robotic hand
definitely has broad implications for the future of prosthetics and assistive technology.
Perhaps that reporter was correct.
Note: Thanks to the editors of
Axistive.com
For the original information about the robotic hand.)
Monday, February 18, 2008
Technological advances are bringing man and machine much closer together
There seems to be a recent convergence of information about man and machines coming together.
I first read this interesting BBC article about Ray Kurzweil, the grandfather of optical character recognition as well as oft-cited inventor and futurist, predicting that
machines will match man by 2029.
In the article, Kurzweil predicts that machines will reach artificial intelligence on the same level as humans just over 20 years from now. He believes that humans will have tiny robots implanted into their brains to achieve higher levels of intelligence.
From the article:
“The engineer believes machines and humans will eventually merge through devices implanted in the body to boost intelligence and health.”
Kurzweil stated, "We're already a human machine civilisation; we use our technology to expand our physical and mental horizons and this will be a further extension of that."
That was interesting enough, but then this morning, I was watching one of the morning news programs and they had an expert discuss how the innovations that Kurzweil spoke of might come about. He cited three specific projects that are not new, but are definitely continuing, and showing great promise to fulfill Kurzweil’s predictions.
* The bionic eye project at Stanford University.
In this meeting of the minds,
Ophthalmologists and physicists teamed up to create artificial vision.
The work appears promising, using cameras to send visual images to the brain with clarity that was Sufficient enough so that patients have the potential to see with a visual acuity of 20/80.
* Matt Nagel, a man who is quadraplegic and had an electronic array implanted into his brain so that he could
execute motor functions by thought process alone.
* Duke researchers who had a
monkey move a robot 7,000 miles away,
purely by mental commands.
Then, to complete my convergence trifecta of news about man and machines, I found a news alert this morning telling how the
Duke project has a future application in war situations.
Bob Dylan sang so many years ago, “The times, they are a-changing.” With the advances scientists are making in technology, it appears that so are we.
I first read this interesting BBC article about Ray Kurzweil, the grandfather of optical character recognition as well as oft-cited inventor and futurist, predicting that
machines will match man by 2029.
In the article, Kurzweil predicts that machines will reach artificial intelligence on the same level as humans just over 20 years from now. He believes that humans will have tiny robots implanted into their brains to achieve higher levels of intelligence.
From the article:
“The engineer believes machines and humans will eventually merge through devices implanted in the body to boost intelligence and health.”
Kurzweil stated, "We're already a human machine civilisation; we use our technology to expand our physical and mental horizons and this will be a further extension of that."
That was interesting enough, but then this morning, I was watching one of the morning news programs and they had an expert discuss how the innovations that Kurzweil spoke of might come about. He cited three specific projects that are not new, but are definitely continuing, and showing great promise to fulfill Kurzweil’s predictions.
* The bionic eye project at Stanford University.
In this meeting of the minds,
Ophthalmologists and physicists teamed up to create artificial vision.
The work appears promising, using cameras to send visual images to the brain with clarity that was Sufficient enough so that patients have the potential to see with a visual acuity of 20/80.
* Matt Nagel, a man who is quadraplegic and had an electronic array implanted into his brain so that he could
execute motor functions by thought process alone.
* Duke researchers who had a
monkey move a robot 7,000 miles away,
purely by mental commands.
Then, to complete my convergence trifecta of news about man and machines, I found a news alert this morning telling how the
Duke project has a future application in war situations.
Bob Dylan sang so many years ago, “The times, they are a-changing.” With the advances scientists are making in technology, it appears that so are we.
Monday, April 02, 2007
New bar codes could offer assistive technology promise
An interesting advent in cell phone technology looms promisingly on the horizon for people with disabilities.
In this New York Times news article , read how
New bar codes can talk with your cell phone.
(The article includes a link for watching a demonstration of this software.)
According to the Times article:
“It sounds like something straight out of a futuristic film: House hunters, driving past a for-sale sign, stop and point their cellphone at the sign. With a click, their cellphone screen displays the asking price, the number of bedrooms and baths and lots of other details about the house. “
“Media experts say that cellphones, the Swiss Army knives of technology, are quickly heading in this direction. New technology, already in use in parts of Asia but still in development in the United States, allows the phones to connect everyday objects with the Internet.”
“In their new incarnation, cellphones become a sort of digital remote control, as one CBS executive put it. With a wave, the phone can read encoded information on everyday objects and translate that into videos, pictures or text files on its screen.”
So you wonder what this has to do with Access Ability and providing disability support services. Read on and allow me to explain.
The trick for making this venture work on a broad scope, of course, will be companies seeing value in incorporating this technology into their products. If enough companies do this, then the use of these new bar codes will spread. I’m predicting that this is a foregone conclusion and we will soon be seeing more and more of these bar codes. Remember, you read that here first!
That same thought about manufacturers finding value to make it worth their while goes for incorporating this feature into the field of assistive technology. They have to see the practical value in it.
Right off the top of my head, I can think of one aspect where a student buys the hard copy of a text book, uses her cell phone to gather the new bar code, and is instantly given the authorization for downloading the electronic version of the text. The accessible version can then be downloaded onto the phone and, with further innovation in cell phone technology, the book might also be read right there on the phone.
To ensure that it is actually a student with a disability who is accessing this material, this might be incorporated into a two-step process where, after entering the bar code from the book, the user is required to do the same with a publisher-issued identification card given to users of their accessible material.
This entire process can save much time for the publishers and, as time is money, the company can see profit by expediting the whole process of obtaining accessible material from a publisher. The student can also save time and have instant access to the material, an almost incomprehensible thought in many previous situations. Granted, it is a little pipe dreamy as we all know how tight the publishers hang onto their copyrighted material.
However, that proposed scenario is not too far off from being able to be realized today. There are a growing number of software applications that will run on cell phones, which already allow users to play audio files. The audio version of text material is great for some students with learning disabilities and the phone makes an ideal utilitarian tool. Additionally, two software models of screen readers already exist that allow blind people to access many features that appear on the visual display of many phones.
What is to prevent the actualization of making the cell phone progress even further, grabbing the informational leaps enabled by the new bar codes, complementing them with additional features that the assistive technology can make accessible to students with disabilities, and allowing a never before seen level of usability of information on a cell phone?
The only answer to that question may be limited thinking on behalf of the companies that have the technology and materials. If they do not think of the innovations like the one I proposed with the e-text authorization, then it is up to DSS professionals to share these ideas. If the tech companies won’t think outside of the mainstream box, we may have to pull them out.
In this New York Times news article , read how
New bar codes can talk with your cell phone.
(The article includes a link for watching a demonstration of this software.)
According to the Times article:
“It sounds like something straight out of a futuristic film: House hunters, driving past a for-sale sign, stop and point their cellphone at the sign. With a click, their cellphone screen displays the asking price, the number of bedrooms and baths and lots of other details about the house. “
“Media experts say that cellphones, the Swiss Army knives of technology, are quickly heading in this direction. New technology, already in use in parts of Asia but still in development in the United States, allows the phones to connect everyday objects with the Internet.”
“In their new incarnation, cellphones become a sort of digital remote control, as one CBS executive put it. With a wave, the phone can read encoded information on everyday objects and translate that into videos, pictures or text files on its screen.”
So you wonder what this has to do with Access Ability and providing disability support services. Read on and allow me to explain.
The trick for making this venture work on a broad scope, of course, will be companies seeing value in incorporating this technology into their products. If enough companies do this, then the use of these new bar codes will spread. I’m predicting that this is a foregone conclusion and we will soon be seeing more and more of these bar codes. Remember, you read that here first!
That same thought about manufacturers finding value to make it worth their while goes for incorporating this feature into the field of assistive technology. They have to see the practical value in it.
Right off the top of my head, I can think of one aspect where a student buys the hard copy of a text book, uses her cell phone to gather the new bar code, and is instantly given the authorization for downloading the electronic version of the text. The accessible version can then be downloaded onto the phone and, with further innovation in cell phone technology, the book might also be read right there on the phone.
To ensure that it is actually a student with a disability who is accessing this material, this might be incorporated into a two-step process where, after entering the bar code from the book, the user is required to do the same with a publisher-issued identification card given to users of their accessible material.
This entire process can save much time for the publishers and, as time is money, the company can see profit by expediting the whole process of obtaining accessible material from a publisher. The student can also save time and have instant access to the material, an almost incomprehensible thought in many previous situations. Granted, it is a little pipe dreamy as we all know how tight the publishers hang onto their copyrighted material.
However, that proposed scenario is not too far off from being able to be realized today. There are a growing number of software applications that will run on cell phones, which already allow users to play audio files. The audio version of text material is great for some students with learning disabilities and the phone makes an ideal utilitarian tool. Additionally, two software models of screen readers already exist that allow blind people to access many features that appear on the visual display of many phones.
What is to prevent the actualization of making the cell phone progress even further, grabbing the informational leaps enabled by the new bar codes, complementing them with additional features that the assistive technology can make accessible to students with disabilities, and allowing a never before seen level of usability of information on a cell phone?
The only answer to that question may be limited thinking on behalf of the companies that have the technology and materials. If they do not think of the innovations like the one I proposed with the e-text authorization, then it is up to DSS professionals to share these ideas. If the tech companies won’t think outside of the mainstream box, we may have to pull them out.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Breast cancer drug trial results appear biased
In research and statistics classes, one idea is often repeated—be skeptical of statistics. It is not meant to degrade the value of statistical information, but more as a guide to pursue the purpose of the provided statistical information. The professors want students to evaluate the source of the research, usually by examining who provided the funding for the research. To be objective, research should be free of bias.
Unfortunately, bias seems to be the case being reflected in a world where advances and growing awareness are regularly reported—breast cancer research. In a Mcclatchy Newspapers article, it is noted that
Funding seems to affect breast cancer drug trial results.
According to the article:
“Some 84 percent of company-supported drug studies published in 10 major medical journals in 2003 reported positive results about the breast cancer drugs they investigated, according to an analysis by Dr. Jeffrey Peppercorn, a cancer physician and researcher at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's School of Medicine, and colleagues at Harvard's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.”
“Non-industry supported studies were far less likely to be upbeat, publishing favorable results just 54 percent of the time.”
Compare and digest those numbers: 84% favorable when it is company funded research versus 54% favorable when studies were independent.
It doesn’t take a statistics major to figure that this equals a 30% differential when the drug companies are not funding the research.
If the statistical research being submitted is as skewed as this article reports, then This is truly sad. Breast cancer is a dangerous killer and honest research needs to be conducted to maintain a vigilant battle to defeat this beast.
We are taught that statistics are just numbers. We are also taught that just because the difference exists, this does not infer any causal relationship. However, recognizing this difference does make my eyebrows raise, oh, about 100% of the time.
Unfortunately, bias seems to be the case being reflected in a world where advances and growing awareness are regularly reported—breast cancer research. In a Mcclatchy Newspapers article, it is noted that
Funding seems to affect breast cancer drug trial results.
According to the article:
“Some 84 percent of company-supported drug studies published in 10 major medical journals in 2003 reported positive results about the breast cancer drugs they investigated, according to an analysis by Dr. Jeffrey Peppercorn, a cancer physician and researcher at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's School of Medicine, and colleagues at Harvard's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.”
“Non-industry supported studies were far less likely to be upbeat, publishing favorable results just 54 percent of the time.”
Compare and digest those numbers: 84% favorable when it is company funded research versus 54% favorable when studies were independent.
It doesn’t take a statistics major to figure that this equals a 30% differential when the drug companies are not funding the research.
If the statistical research being submitted is as skewed as this article reports, then This is truly sad. Breast cancer is a dangerous killer and honest research needs to be conducted to maintain a vigilant battle to defeat this beast.
We are taught that statistics are just numbers. We are also taught that just because the difference exists, this does not infer any causal relationship. However, recognizing this difference does make my eyebrows raise, oh, about 100% of the time.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Employers and what students' GPAs mean to them
There is an interesting article in today’s New York Times about
employers and what a student’s GPA means to them.
(Note: To read this article, readers need to register with the Times’s site.)
Some noted passages from that article:
“you ask Johnny C. Taylor Jr., senior vice president of human resources for the IAC/InterActiveCorp, the factor that matters most to him is a graduate’s grade-point average.”
“’Companies want the smartest people, and the best indicator for new employees competing in a knowledge-based economy are grades,’ said Mr. Taylor, whose company has 33,000 employees worldwide and owns 60 businesses including Ticketmaster, Match.com and the Home Shopping Network. ‘G.P.A. is the best indicator an individual is likely to succeed,” Mr. Taylor said. “It demonstrates a strong work ethic and smarts.’”
“Not every company puts as much emphasis on college grades as IAC, but many use it as an important factor in weeding out lower-achieving students from the interview process. Often companies will advise college admissions officers and recruiters that they will not see anyone with less than a B (3.0) average.”
“In its Job Outlook 2007 survey, the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that 66 percent of employers screen candidates by G.P.A., and 58 percent of those surveyed said they would be much less likely to hire graduates with grades averaging less than a 3.0. This cutoff makes it even more critical for average or below average students to take advantage of college internships and leadership positions in extracurricular activities, job experts say.”
On the surface, this article may not appear to be about students with disabilities. However, I challenge that it is especially about students with disabilities. Let me explain.
First, the job market is fiercely competitive. If you doubt this, I would venture that you’ve been sitting in your present position for some time now and haven’t tried to seek employment for a number of years. Get out there and see just how tough the scramble for employment can be.
Secondly, students with disabilities must work fiercely to overcome the demands of their accommodative needs in addition to the time and work loads placed on every other student. This compounds the workload placed on students with disabilities in issues such as finding accessible textbooks or scanning printed material. This also includes other encumberances such as the additional time it takes to write their numerous papers by formulating the sentences and paragraphs mentally—a Herculean task in itself—and dictating the final paper using software such as Dragon Naturally Speaking.
Finally, when interviewing for a job, the student must be able to show potential employers that despite their disability, they are the most qualified, fully confident and competent, individual for the vacancy. This may be easier for those who have invisible disabilities, but for those who enter the interview room using a wheelchair or a guide dog, the reaction of the interviewer is often a glass wal that bars access. When it comes down to standing out, the GPA may be the cutting edge that grabs the interviewer’s attention, the one thing that screams out what the student is capable of achieving, despite the obvious.
This article, while it does not address students with disabilities directly, does a great job highlighting that in today’s job market, students’ GPAs are being strutinized as much as, if not more than, any other potential factors for hirability. It is imperative to stress to students that they need to be tenacious about achieving the highest grades possible and not being satisfied with just getting by. When seeking employment, having just gotten by with your grades may very well translate into just getting passed over for the job.
employers and what a student’s GPA means to them.
(Note: To read this article, readers need to register with the Times’s site.)
Some noted passages from that article:
“you ask Johnny C. Taylor Jr., senior vice president of human resources for the IAC/InterActiveCorp, the factor that matters most to him is a graduate’s grade-point average.”
“’Companies want the smartest people, and the best indicator for new employees competing in a knowledge-based economy are grades,’ said Mr. Taylor, whose company has 33,000 employees worldwide and owns 60 businesses including Ticketmaster, Match.com and the Home Shopping Network. ‘G.P.A. is the best indicator an individual is likely to succeed,” Mr. Taylor said. “It demonstrates a strong work ethic and smarts.’”
“Not every company puts as much emphasis on college grades as IAC, but many use it as an important factor in weeding out lower-achieving students from the interview process. Often companies will advise college admissions officers and recruiters that they will not see anyone with less than a B (3.0) average.”
“In its Job Outlook 2007 survey, the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that 66 percent of employers screen candidates by G.P.A., and 58 percent of those surveyed said they would be much less likely to hire graduates with grades averaging less than a 3.0. This cutoff makes it even more critical for average or below average students to take advantage of college internships and leadership positions in extracurricular activities, job experts say.”
On the surface, this article may not appear to be about students with disabilities. However, I challenge that it is especially about students with disabilities. Let me explain.
First, the job market is fiercely competitive. If you doubt this, I would venture that you’ve been sitting in your present position for some time now and haven’t tried to seek employment for a number of years. Get out there and see just how tough the scramble for employment can be.
Secondly, students with disabilities must work fiercely to overcome the demands of their accommodative needs in addition to the time and work loads placed on every other student. This compounds the workload placed on students with disabilities in issues such as finding accessible textbooks or scanning printed material. This also includes other encumberances such as the additional time it takes to write their numerous papers by formulating the sentences and paragraphs mentally—a Herculean task in itself—and dictating the final paper using software such as Dragon Naturally Speaking.
Finally, when interviewing for a job, the student must be able to show potential employers that despite their disability, they are the most qualified, fully confident and competent, individual for the vacancy. This may be easier for those who have invisible disabilities, but for those who enter the interview room using a wheelchair or a guide dog, the reaction of the interviewer is often a glass wal that bars access. When it comes down to standing out, the GPA may be the cutting edge that grabs the interviewer’s attention, the one thing that screams out what the student is capable of achieving, despite the obvious.
This article, while it does not address students with disabilities directly, does a great job highlighting that in today’s job market, students’ GPAs are being strutinized as much as, if not more than, any other potential factors for hirability. It is imperative to stress to students that they need to be tenacious about achieving the highest grades possible and not being satisfied with just getting by. When seeking employment, having just gotten by with your grades may very well translate into just getting passed over for the job.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
On-line enrollment trends re-emphasize need for accessibility
It probably comes as no surprise that the
number of on-line students is increasing.
According to the ARS Technica news article linked above, there were approximately 3.2 million students who took at least one on-line class in the Fall 2005 semester. That is a jump of more than 1 million students compared to the same semester one year earlier.
With that fact in mind, it is imperative to make on-line learning accessible.
It takes a stronger sense of self discipline for students to achieve success in on-line classes. I would tend to think this sense can only be complicated when the students have a disability, much less when they encounter an inaccessible on-line class. If a student has a disability and the material is not in a format that provides access, he/she will spend valuable time attempting to resolve the technological dysfunction. The time to do this will take away from the already-tight time schedule the student has, trying to fix what should have already been fixed.
The increase is a trend that is very likely to continue for years to come. It re-emphasizes the points that noted ADA legal expert Salome Heyward made during her presentation at the AHEAD in Texas conference:
1. It is not just web access that needs to concern colleges and universities. The schools need to begin by looking closely at the contracts they are signing with vendors providing on-line material like WebCT and WebAssign.
2. Pay attention to the issue of access before signing the contract.
3. School administration needs to be aware of access concerns before they sign and commit the school.
4. If the administrators overseeing the contracts are not aware of access concerns, it is the duty of the ADA Coordinator/ DSS Coordinator to make them aware.
5. On-line programs such as WebCT and WebAssign are as accessible as they are designed to be. They can be made to be accessible.
6. Other items posted to these sites, such as lecture notes from individual professors, need to be put into an accessible format if they are not already in such.
As DSS cordinator, you can use your resources within AHEAD to help connect your school to experts to guide in this area. Like so many other things, it is all about knowing your resources.
number of on-line students is increasing.
According to the ARS Technica news article linked above, there were approximately 3.2 million students who took at least one on-line class in the Fall 2005 semester. That is a jump of more than 1 million students compared to the same semester one year earlier.
With that fact in mind, it is imperative to make on-line learning accessible.
It takes a stronger sense of self discipline for students to achieve success in on-line classes. I would tend to think this sense can only be complicated when the students have a disability, much less when they encounter an inaccessible on-line class. If a student has a disability and the material is not in a format that provides access, he/she will spend valuable time attempting to resolve the technological dysfunction. The time to do this will take away from the already-tight time schedule the student has, trying to fix what should have already been fixed.
The increase is a trend that is very likely to continue for years to come. It re-emphasizes the points that noted ADA legal expert Salome Heyward made during her presentation at the AHEAD in Texas conference:
1. It is not just web access that needs to concern colleges and universities. The schools need to begin by looking closely at the contracts they are signing with vendors providing on-line material like WebCT and WebAssign.
2. Pay attention to the issue of access before signing the contract.
3. School administration needs to be aware of access concerns before they sign and commit the school.
4. If the administrators overseeing the contracts are not aware of access concerns, it is the duty of the ADA Coordinator/ DSS Coordinator to make them aware.
5. On-line programs such as WebCT and WebAssign are as accessible as they are designed to be. They can be made to be accessible.
6. Other items posted to these sites, such as lecture notes from individual professors, need to be put into an accessible format if they are not already in such.
As DSS cordinator, you can use your resources within AHEAD to help connect your school to experts to guide in this area. Like so many other things, it is all about knowing your resources.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
JAMA study on rates of suicide attempts by blacks
There is a new study being published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association that is interesting as it is the first nationally representative study of the incident rate of
suicide attempts among blacks.
According to the report:
* Nearly 70,000 blacks attempt suicide annually
*Nearly 1.4 Million Blacks or 4% attempt suicide at least once in their lifetime
That 4% lifetime rate stands out, as previous surveys had shown that 2.8% of blacks had attempted suicide at least once in their lifetime. At 4%, this is similar to rates among whites.
This research flies in the face of other work that has shown lifetime rates among whites was nearly twice that of blacks.
Make what you want of these statistics. I offer them here for discussion and, hopefully, to stimulate thought.
suicide attempts among blacks.
According to the report:
* Nearly 70,000 blacks attempt suicide annually
*Nearly 1.4 Million Blacks or 4% attempt suicide at least once in their lifetime
That 4% lifetime rate stands out, as previous surveys had shown that 2.8% of blacks had attempted suicide at least once in their lifetime. At 4%, this is similar to rates among whites.
This research flies in the face of other work that has shown lifetime rates among whites was nearly twice that of blacks.
Make what you want of these statistics. I offer them here for discussion and, hopefully, to stimulate thought.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Undiagnosed Traumatic Brain Injury in Veterans
Service members injured during wartime who return stateside with a medical discharge and work to further themselves by attending college is not anything new. The current battle situation, however, involves innovations in battle armor which are much improved over past military incursions and the result is the potential for undiagnosed traumatic brain injuries.
According to an Associated Press article,
Brain Injuries are the Signature Wound of Iraq War.
The article indicates the person’s other, more obvious injuries may mask the symptoms of the TBI and preclude proper treatment.
“Doctors say traumatic brain injuries are the signature wound of the Iraq war, a byproduct of improved armor that allows troops to survive once-deadly attacks but does not fully protect against roadside explosives and suicide bombers.
So far, about 1,000 patients have been treated for the symptoms, which include slowed thinking, severe memory loss and problems with coordination and impulse control. Some doctors fear there may be thousands more active duty and discharged troops who are suffering undiagnosed.”
A related news article describes the situation getting worse as,Defense Department funding for its ten brain injury facilities is
being cut in half.
The reason for posting this information here on AccessAbility is to hopefully serve as a conductor of enlightenment, especially at those schools where a strong number of your population might be returning service members.
DSS Coordinators might want to evaluate your caseload and check for any clients who might be veterans fitting this profile. A follow-up could include an interview with any noted clients to discuss their diagnosis and ensure that it is proper. The ethical thing to do is to ensure that your clients are receiving the correct service from your office. Our veterans deserve this much consideration and then some.
According to an Associated Press article,
Brain Injuries are the Signature Wound of Iraq War.
The article indicates the person’s other, more obvious injuries may mask the symptoms of the TBI and preclude proper treatment.
“Doctors say traumatic brain injuries are the signature wound of the Iraq war, a byproduct of improved armor that allows troops to survive once-deadly attacks but does not fully protect against roadside explosives and suicide bombers.
So far, about 1,000 patients have been treated for the symptoms, which include slowed thinking, severe memory loss and problems with coordination and impulse control. Some doctors fear there may be thousands more active duty and discharged troops who are suffering undiagnosed.”
A related news article describes the situation getting worse as,Defense Department funding for its ten brain injury facilities is
being cut in half.
The reason for posting this information here on AccessAbility is to hopefully serve as a conductor of enlightenment, especially at those schools where a strong number of your population might be returning service members.
DSS Coordinators might want to evaluate your caseload and check for any clients who might be veterans fitting this profile. A follow-up could include an interview with any noted clients to discuss their diagnosis and ensure that it is proper. The ethical thing to do is to ensure that your clients are receiving the correct service from your office. Our veterans deserve this much consideration and then some.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Managing suicide risks: What about your school?
Last week, I posted about 1 in 5 students self mutilating at two Ivy League schools. In that post I mentioned that I was doing research, but never said what I was researching.
The research topic was suicide at college. My line of thinking was trying to understand if those students who commit suicide are living with a diagnosis and possibly receiving services from their DSS office for Depression or Bipolar disorder. I’m still looking at information I have been gathering.
Directly related to this subject, just yesterday, I didn’t have to look far to find the latest news story about college suicides. The Associated Press had one plastered on the site of my local paper, announcing
Colleges Grapple with student suicides
for all the world to see.
The deeper issue at the heart of that story is that the female student profiled had attempted suicide and was kicked out of her dorm for violating the school’s policy against suicide. Pop quiz…isn’t it depressed people that attempt suicide? Isn’t depression covered under the ADA?
Apparently Hunter College finally saw the error in that line of thinking and settled with the student, allowing her to continue classes and paid her a financial settlement as well. Additionally, the college is abandoning its suicide policy, but may still temporarily remove troubled students from residence halls. However, a spokesperson said that evictions will not be automatic.
The supporting information in that article suggests that schools may be held liable if a student commits suicide in his or her dorm room. Two judges have ruled that a school may have a duty to act in a preventive capacity if the student’s risk of suicide was foreseeable. As a result, some schools have tried to act in a more aggressive manner and sent students home when this risk became apparent.
Interesting thought provokers here, don’t you think?
How about your school, does it have a policy banning suicide? If so, how does this impact your students with psychological disorders? Is this legal? Is this ethical? Is it the right thing to do?
The research topic was suicide at college. My line of thinking was trying to understand if those students who commit suicide are living with a diagnosis and possibly receiving services from their DSS office for Depression or Bipolar disorder. I’m still looking at information I have been gathering.
Directly related to this subject, just yesterday, I didn’t have to look far to find the latest news story about college suicides. The Associated Press had one plastered on the site of my local paper, announcing
Colleges Grapple with student suicides
for all the world to see.
The deeper issue at the heart of that story is that the female student profiled had attempted suicide and was kicked out of her dorm for violating the school’s policy against suicide. Pop quiz…isn’t it depressed people that attempt suicide? Isn’t depression covered under the ADA?
Apparently Hunter College finally saw the error in that line of thinking and settled with the student, allowing her to continue classes and paid her a financial settlement as well. Additionally, the college is abandoning its suicide policy, but may still temporarily remove troubled students from residence halls. However, a spokesperson said that evictions will not be automatic.
The supporting information in that article suggests that schools may be held liable if a student commits suicide in his or her dorm room. Two judges have ruled that a school may have a duty to act in a preventive capacity if the student’s risk of suicide was foreseeable. As a result, some schools have tried to act in a more aggressive manner and sent students home when this risk became apparent.
Interesting thought provokers here, don’t you think?
How about your school, does it have a policy banning suicide? If so, how does this impact your students with psychological disorders? Is this legal? Is this ethical? Is it the right thing to do?
STEM subjects and blind students
As a DSS Coordinator, have you ever sat and wondered why rarely any blind students, not even the brightest of them, pursue STEM subjects?
If you’ve been in the DSS profession long enough, you already know the reason to that situation. While a myriad assortment of Assistive Technology (AT) does exist, it falls woefully short in providing full access. There is little that cracks the patina of what students in the STEM- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics- tracks would require. The burden to gather the proper resources to make the material in these courses accessible is monumental and will leave even the most veteran DSS Coordinator scrambling for help to find what tools exist to meet the student’s needs. For example, I know of one university that was recently saddled with getting a blind student’s graduate-level math book transcribed into braille. Due to the technical need for the nemeth code, the cost for translating just that one book was estimated near $10,000.
If you’re interested in a further informed and insightful discussion on STEM subjects and blind students, check out Chris Hofstader’s Blind Confidential blog at:
http://blindconfidential.blogspot.com/
Chris is a blind computer engineer and, thus, knows first-hand of the difficulty faced by students who pursue these academic tracks. He is also very well versed in the field of AT—he has previously worked as a software engineer at
Freedom Scientific
for six years.
Chris discusses two resources in the post, The Virtual Pencil and Gardner’s Accessible Graphing Calculator, which may not be common tools in many DSS Coordinator’s toolboxes. If interested in either of these, I offer the below information and links.
The Virtual Pencil is a software application which was originally designed for blind and low-vision students. However, the program has also been discovered to be of assistance to students with learning disabilities. If you want more information about this innovative product from the creative mind of Ted Henter, the original engineer who developed the JAWS screen reader, then go to the
Henter Math
homepage.
The official web site for theAccessible Graphing Calculator is:
http://www.tsbvi.edu/math/agc.htm/
The information on that web site describes the tool as follows:
“The Accessible Graphing Calculator (AGC) is a computer software program and was developed by the esteemed Science Access Project at Oregon State University, directed by Dr. John Gardner. This group is dedicated to the development of methods for making science, math, and engineering information accessible to people with print disabilities. "Print disabilities" include low vision, blindness, and dyslexia.”
Finally, going back to the Blind Confidential blog, if you continued scrolling after the discussion about STEM subjects and blind students, you also read Chris’ next post, offering a very brave and candid dialogue from the perspective of a blind person also dealing with severe depression and suicidal ideations. I applaud Chris for offering this frank understanding of what it was like for him to face the depths of hopelessness. While his language gets rough in some spots, he gives you a glimpse inside the mind of a person dealing with a major psychological event in his life. I believe it demonstrates very well how the perils of mental health can fall very hard on people with disabilities.
If you’ve been in the DSS profession long enough, you already know the reason to that situation. While a myriad assortment of Assistive Technology (AT) does exist, it falls woefully short in providing full access. There is little that cracks the patina of what students in the STEM- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics- tracks would require. The burden to gather the proper resources to make the material in these courses accessible is monumental and will leave even the most veteran DSS Coordinator scrambling for help to find what tools exist to meet the student’s needs. For example, I know of one university that was recently saddled with getting a blind student’s graduate-level math book transcribed into braille. Due to the technical need for the nemeth code, the cost for translating just that one book was estimated near $10,000.
If you’re interested in a further informed and insightful discussion on STEM subjects and blind students, check out Chris Hofstader’s Blind Confidential blog at:
http://blindconfidential.blogspot.com/
Chris is a blind computer engineer and, thus, knows first-hand of the difficulty faced by students who pursue these academic tracks. He is also very well versed in the field of AT—he has previously worked as a software engineer at
Freedom Scientific
for six years.
Chris discusses two resources in the post, The Virtual Pencil and Gardner’s Accessible Graphing Calculator, which may not be common tools in many DSS Coordinator’s toolboxes. If interested in either of these, I offer the below information and links.
The Virtual Pencil is a software application which was originally designed for blind and low-vision students. However, the program has also been discovered to be of assistance to students with learning disabilities. If you want more information about this innovative product from the creative mind of Ted Henter, the original engineer who developed the JAWS screen reader, then go to the
Henter Math
homepage.
The official web site for theAccessible Graphing Calculator is:
http://www.tsbvi.edu/math/agc.htm/
The information on that web site describes the tool as follows:
“The Accessible Graphing Calculator (AGC) is a computer software program and was developed by the esteemed Science Access Project at Oregon State University, directed by Dr. John Gardner. This group is dedicated to the development of methods for making science, math, and engineering information accessible to people with print disabilities. "Print disabilities" include low vision, blindness, and dyslexia.”
Finally, going back to the Blind Confidential blog, if you continued scrolling after the discussion about STEM subjects and blind students, you also read Chris’ next post, offering a very brave and candid dialogue from the perspective of a blind person also dealing with severe depression and suicidal ideations. I applaud Chris for offering this frank understanding of what it was like for him to face the depths of hopelessness. While his language gets rough in some spots, he gives you a glimpse inside the mind of a person dealing with a major psychological event in his life. I believe it demonstrates very well how the perils of mental health can fall very hard on people with disabilities.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
One out of five college students self mutilate
Can you imagine the number of students on your caseload if that figure were almost one fifth of your school’s entire population?
Its possible.
It would be a reality if the number of students in a recent study of self mutilation rates among college students are accurate, and that entire group came to you with a proper diagnosis.
Let me explain.
I was doing some web research this morning when I came across an article from Fox News. The article actually ran in early June and is about
self mutilation rates among college students
at two Ivy League universities, Cornell and Princeton. The frequency rate at these two colleges is nearly twenty percent. That’s one out of every five students.
The scope of this study includes not only cutting, but also burning and other methods of self injurious behavior.
According to the article, the frequency rates are similar to those reported at colleges, high schools, and middle schools across the nationn. It also reported more than 400 web sites dedicated to the subject of self mutilation.
After the earlier post here about cutting rates among young people on the wholeI felt compelled to provide additional information on this subject, as it is particular to college students.
In this Fox article, not only was this survey conducted with actual college students, but at two of the supposedly more elite universities of our country. If it is happening at this frequency there, there is a strong likelihood that it is happening at your school at similar rates.
These students have a noticeable psychological condition due to the dysfunction their behavior is causing in their daily living. The same question that was raised in the previous post on cutting can be raised again. If a student self identifies about the underlying psychological condition at the root of their cutting, what accommodations do DSS professionals make?
Just food for thought.
Its possible.
It would be a reality if the number of students in a recent study of self mutilation rates among college students are accurate, and that entire group came to you with a proper diagnosis.
Let me explain.
I was doing some web research this morning when I came across an article from Fox News. The article actually ran in early June and is about
self mutilation rates among college students
at two Ivy League universities, Cornell and Princeton. The frequency rate at these two colleges is nearly twenty percent. That’s one out of every five students.
The scope of this study includes not only cutting, but also burning and other methods of self injurious behavior.
According to the article, the frequency rates are similar to those reported at colleges, high schools, and middle schools across the nationn. It also reported more than 400 web sites dedicated to the subject of self mutilation.
After the earlier post here about cutting rates among young people on the wholeI felt compelled to provide additional information on this subject, as it is particular to college students.
In this Fox article, not only was this survey conducted with actual college students, but at two of the supposedly more elite universities of our country. If it is happening at this frequency there, there is a strong likelihood that it is happening at your school at similar rates.
These students have a noticeable psychological condition due to the dysfunction their behavior is causing in their daily living. The same question that was raised in the previous post on cutting can be raised again. If a student self identifies about the underlying psychological condition at the root of their cutting, what accommodations do DSS professionals make?
Just food for thought.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Cutting on the rise among young people
For the first post here, aside from the introductory one below, I want to toss out some food for thought and, hopefully, create some discussion. Think about it, share it with your colleagues, then give your thoughts in the comments section.
According to an Aug. 6, 2006 article in the Houston Chronicle,
Cuttings are on the rise among young people.
The profile identified in the article as the “typical cutter” seems to parallel traditional college student demographics. (For non-Houstonians, the locales describe some diverse slices of social economic status.)
“There is no neat profile of a cutter. Typically they are younger, teens or 20-somethings, slightly more females than males. Their homes range from Katy to Clear Lake to Galveston, jobs from students to mall workers to mothers, personal issues from bulimia to rape to incurable sadness. Even their methods vary, from razors to crushed Coke cans to safety pins, hundreds of cuts daily to one every few months.”
Here’s the logical line of thinking I thought of when reading this article:
Being these are teens to 20-somethings, there would seem to be a high probability that most college campuses have some cutters in their student population. Self mutilation is a physical expression of some sort of psychological dysfunction. Being that this psychological problem would be addressed by a counselor or medical professional, this is, of course, covered as a psychological disability for DSS purposes.
And, here is the food for thought question:
Granted that a student who is a cutter would have to self disclose, and that the specific individual diagnosis will vary from case to case, what accommodations might be best implemented to address a student who cuts on him/herself?
If you find this blog post useful, interesting, or even if you think it is a complete off the mark indulgence, please share your thoughts in the comments section.
On a final note, if you think this blog is interesting and worthhwhile, please share it with your colleagues. There is a link below that will allow you to email this post. Or, just send them a link to the blog. It is an easy page to remember: accessability.blogspot.com
Thank you for your time and feedback.
According to an Aug. 6, 2006 article in the Houston Chronicle,
Cuttings are on the rise among young people.
The profile identified in the article as the “typical cutter” seems to parallel traditional college student demographics. (For non-Houstonians, the locales describe some diverse slices of social economic status.)
“There is no neat profile of a cutter. Typically they are younger, teens or 20-somethings, slightly more females than males. Their homes range from Katy to Clear Lake to Galveston, jobs from students to mall workers to mothers, personal issues from bulimia to rape to incurable sadness. Even their methods vary, from razors to crushed Coke cans to safety pins, hundreds of cuts daily to one every few months.”
Here’s the logical line of thinking I thought of when reading this article:
Being these are teens to 20-somethings, there would seem to be a high probability that most college campuses have some cutters in their student population. Self mutilation is a physical expression of some sort of psychological dysfunction. Being that this psychological problem would be addressed by a counselor or medical professional, this is, of course, covered as a psychological disability for DSS purposes.
And, here is the food for thought question:
Granted that a student who is a cutter would have to self disclose, and that the specific individual diagnosis will vary from case to case, what accommodations might be best implemented to address a student who cuts on him/herself?
If you find this blog post useful, interesting, or even if you think it is a complete off the mark indulgence, please share your thoughts in the comments section.
On a final note, if you think this blog is interesting and worthhwhile, please share it with your colleagues. There is a link below that will allow you to email this post. Or, just send them a link to the blog. It is an easy page to remember: accessability.blogspot.com
Thank you for your time and feedback.
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