DOCSLIB.ORG

To View a Pdf Version of This Issue, Please Click Here

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
To View a Pdf Version of This Issue, Please Click Here Volume IV, Issue 2 • Summer 2018 Bridges provides information and support to people with disabilities, their families, and the community to connect with the HOPE and the HOW. Congratulations to Jeiri for winning a Starbridge 2018 What’s Inside... Community Award for her advocacy! This issue of Bridges highlights Ableism Voices A View from Where I Sit What is Ableism? Ableism is Merriam-Webster defines ableism as discrimination or prejudice defined as the practices and against individuals with disabilities. I define it as an everyday dominant attitudes in society that adversary who can and may defeat me multiple times a day. As a devalue and limit the potential of person with a physical disability, I recognize ableism is everywhere. persons with disabilities. It assigns It’s in every business, every school, in every movie where the inferior value to people who have casting director chooses to hire a non-disabled actor to play a developmental, emotional, physical disabled character, and it’s even in church. or intellectual disabilities. In our society, there is no stone untouched by ableism and once you see it, Ableism may be invisible to those you can’t unsee it. Hopefully you don’t ignore it; you point it out, and educate those around about it. who do not have disabilities. It is sometimes not intentional, but in As advocates, it is our job to educate people about the struggles people with certain circumstances, it is very disabilities face; specifically we should all be discussing ableism as it is one of intentional. the most prominent struggles. Below you will find interviews of advocates in different positions discussing An ableist society is said to be one their experiences with ableism. that treats non-disabled individuals as the standard of ‘normal living’, which results in public and private places and services, education, Voices Conversations about Ableism and social work that are built to serve ‘standard’ people, thereby inherently excluding those with various disabilities Adapted from Stop Ableism, www.stopableism.org/p/what-is-ableism.html Ableism Pages 4-7 Dear Advocate Stacy Schuyler (SS) Luticha Doucette (LD) Steven LaDue (SL) Page 8 One-on-One Aide Self-Advocate Self-Advocate and Special Ed Teacher New York State Partners Q: Tell me about yourself. Where injury which makes me neurodivergent. in Policymaking® are you from? What do you do? Woohoo neurodivergent, awesome. Page 8 SS: My name is Stacy Schuyler. I SL: My name is Steve LaDue. I am a am from Rochester. I work for the teacher/advocate coach for students From the Editor city school district and also SWAN with disabilities and their teachers in Page 9 (Southwest Area Neighborhood the Rochester City School District. My Association) community center. title is Behavior Support Specialist, which means I’m primarily working LD: I am Luticha Doucette. I work for with students with very intense social the Mayor’s Office of Innovation. I have emotional behaviors that aren’t been an incomplete quadriplegic for typically dealt with in most academic actually 33 years this Memorial Day settings. and at the time I also acquired a brain continued on page 2 *This interview is a transcription and some answers are edited for brevity and clarity* 1 Bridges • Summer 2018 Q: How do you define ableism? SS: I think that I am so trained to constantly look for ableism because even when I go in a place I think, “Oh I couldn’t bring this person here or that person here.” So it’s hard for me to define other than to say, it’s just something I am looking for… I’m always planning three steps ahead. LD: So ableism is not just something that’s structural; everything that’s built is built for those who are not disabled. So any building, anything in this world that we interface with has a standpoint of someone who’s not disabled, but it’s also attitudinal. So how we talk about those who are disabled, how we write about those who are disabled, “confined to a I grew up having a disability from exacerbates the pain that I am in on a wheelchair” and their “suffering.” the time I was born until probably daily basis. SL: I think it’s just people making 12 or 13; I was legally blind with very assumptions about the people minimal corrective lens working. I SL: Having a disability helped me around them. That’s the bottom line, couldn’t participate in life typically understand how a person internalizes especially if those assumptions affect like everybody else. After puberty, my their own value and their worth in people in a negative way. vision changed dramatically to the reaction or relationship to the people point where now I can drive. around them. And what does that do Q: How do you combat or for them psychologically and socially Q: Why are you passionate about emotionally? I never felt as though I experience ableism? disabilities or advocacy? was a part of anything until, well after SS: There’s a lot of depression among college, just feeling like an outcast. my teenage kids; none of them have SS: I have a cousin that has Cerebral As of recently, working with the friends. On a couple of my school Palsy and I was always around him. students and families that I worked assignments you would see all these When I first got my assignment with with a number of years, understanding little kids with disabilities and you’d the city school district, a few of my that anybody who has something in see the other kids and they’d all have students had behavior issues and then their life that makes it so they can’t friends and they’d go to each other’s little by little I was transferred over to interact with the world in a way that houses. But it becomes so hard for students with various disabilities. the world wants them to interact families with kids that have various with them, puts them in a deficit needs. What’s so hard about calling I kinda looked and saw how kids were and automatically puts them into a and saying, “Hey, can this kid come treated, and a lot of kids were very, situation where they have to start over?” You know, even if the family very hopeless, and that bothered me. planning things differently. needed a ramp for the kid, just call The kids were very dependent on and ask if the other kid can come me as an adult, and they didn’t seem Having these experiences has over instead. Ask if we can meet you to have a lot of friends. That really benefited me so much, not only as somewhere. You know, nobody ever bugged me. A lot of kids without an advocate, but also as a special does that. There’s almost no such thing disabilities would ask me questions, education teacher. as playdates for kids with disabilities. and I would say, “Don’t ask me, ask the kid with a wheelchair.” I would run The children with disabilities don’t away and the kid would look at me I’ve really learned know that they could live in their like, “Oh no, come back” and I would own house, that they can take a bus say, “No, no you go talk to them; how to understand somewhere, they can go sit in the have a friend, be a friend, make a movies by themselves, they could friend for life.” people as people have a boyfriend or a girlfriend, they could have a job. A lot of kids don’t LD: I’m really passionate about this and listen to them understand that there’s a future, and because it impacts my everyday life they don’t see active adults within the and now that I also have chronic and their needs when disabled community doing anything, pain on top of being in a wheelchair, and the pictures they are getting accessibility and ableism really developing plans. aren’t positive images. impact me even more and it really – Steve LaDue continued on page 3 2 Bridges • Summer 2018 My job and my goal is waiting for me. Where are they?” And like the secretary’s eyes got really big to allow kids to grow. and she’s like, “She’s right there.” And he did a double take. And you know, – Stacy Schuyler you have to be professional, you can’t LD: So for me, I think I’m in a unique go wild on people. I wanted to curse position than other people because that person out because I dress on I work for the system. So therefore, point, you know, I’m dressed when I in my office I have the ability to Ieave this house and that’s because really influence those who are the I have to be presented just as the decision makers to think about same as others without disabilities things in a different way.Our mayor or perfect. And even when I’m at is literally the first mayor to really my most on point, like Rihanna level, address accessibility and to talk right? I’m not even seen, like, “You Q: What piece of advice would about disabled people if you actually don’t see this Fenty (make-up) on you pass down to someone who go back and listen to her inaugural me? What’s your problem?” speech. Like those were my words may be dealing with the effects of that she was using.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Guide to Quality Individualized Education Program (IEP) Development and Implementation
    The University of the State of New York The State Education Department Guide to Quality Individualized Education Program (IEP) Development and Implementation February 2010 (Revised December 2010) THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Regents of The University MERRYL H. TISCH, Chancellor, B.A., M.A., Ed.D. .................................................. New York MILTON L. COFIELD, Vice Chancellor, B.S., M.B.A., Ph.D. .................................... Rochester ROBERT M. BENNETT, Chancellor Emeritus, B.A., M.S. ........................................ Tonawanda SAUL B. COHEN, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.......................................................................... Larchmont JAMES C. DAWSON, A.A., B.A., M.S., Ph.D. .......................................................... Plattsburgh ANTHONY S. BOTTAR, B.A., J.D. ............................................................................ Syracuse GERALDINE D. CHAPEY, B.A., M.A., Ed.D. ............................................................. Belle Harbor HARRY PHILLIPS, 3rd, B.A., M.S.F.S. .................................................................... Hartsdale JOSEPH E. BOWMAN, JR., B.A., M.L.S., M.A., M.Ed., Ed.D..................................... Albany JAMES R. TALLON, JR., B.A., M.A. ......................................................................... Binghamton ROGER TILLES, B.A., J.D. ....................................................................................... Great Neck KAREN BROOKS HOPKINS, B.A., M.F.A..................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Lower Extremity Orthoses in Children with Spastic Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy Implications for Nurses, Parents, and Caregivers
    NOR200210.qxd 5/5/11 5:53 PM Page 155 Lower Extremity Orthoses in Children With Spastic Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy Implications for Nurses, Parents, and Caregivers Kathleen Cervasio Understanding trends in the prevalence of children with cerebral prevalence for cerebral palsy in the United States is palsy is vital to evaluating and estimating supportive services for 2.4 per 1,000 children, an increase over previously re- children, families, and caregivers. The majority of children with ported data (Hirtz, Thurman, Gwinn-Hardy, Mohammad, cerebral palsy require lower extremity orthoses to stabilize their Chaudhuri, & Zalusky, 2007). Cerebral palsy is primar- muscles. The pediatric nurse needs a special body of knowledge ily a disorder of movement and posture originating in to accurately assess, apply, manage, teach, and evaluate the use the central nervous system with an incidence of 2.5 per 1,000 live births with spastic quadriplegia being the of lower extremity orthoses typically prescribed for this vulnera- common type of cerebral palsy (Blair & Watson, 2006). ble population. Inherent in caring for these children is the need This nonprogressive neurological disorder is defined as to teach the child, the family, and significant others the proper a variation in movement, coordination, posture, and application and care of the orthoses used in hospital and com- gait resulting from brain injury around birth (Blair & munity settings. Nursing literature review does not provide a Watson, 2006). Numerous associated comorbidities are basis for evidence in designing and teaching orthopaedic care usually present with cerebral palsy requiring various for children with orthoses. A protocol for orthoses management interventions.
    [Show full text]
  • STEP 10: Promote and Market Your Accessibility
    STEP 10: Promote and Market Your Accessibility Guidance on Public Information and Marketing How to Write and Speak about People with Disabilities and Older Adults Suggestions for Creating a Public Information and Outreach Checklist Tools for Effective Communication in Promotional and Marketing Materials Best Practices — Marketing and Publicity Guidance on Public Information and Marketing For patrons and visitors with disabilities the option to participate in a cultural event should be based on choice and not limited by lack of access. Evaluate your organizations marketing plan to see that it promotes your accessibility. Central to your outreach, public information, and marketing is communicating to the public about the accessibility of your facility, program and services. Informing the public about the accessibility of your facility and programs is one way to communicate to people with disabilities that they are welcome. The use of appropriate terminology and disability etiquette communicates respect and a positive attitude that is welcoming to people with disabilities. In addition to physical access to programs, auxiliary aids and services provides effective communication and makes programs accessible and enjoyable to everyone. Plan to provide an opportunity for a patron or visitor with a disability to request the auxiliary aid or service that suits their needs. For example, not all persons who are blind use Braille as their primary form of communication. Whereas one person who is blind might request a Braille program, someone else may prefer an audiotape. 217 Ensure that your staff is trained as to the location, usage and maintenance of auxiliary aids such as assistive listening devices in order that they are available and in good working order when requested.
    [Show full text]
  • Challenges of Children with Physical Disabilities
    InSight: RIVIER ACADEMIC JOURNAL, VOLUME 4, NUMBER 1, SPRING 2008 CHALLENGES OF CHILDREN WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES Jillian Pizzi* Undergraduate Student, B.A. in Psychology Program, Rivier College Take yourself back to a time when you had no real academic worries, recess was the most important part of the day, and you could not wait for snack time. Can you imagine never being able to play on the monkey bars or tire swing at recess? Or always being picked last in gym class because you weren’t “good enough”? Or maybe even never being able to participate in gym class at all? These are just a few issues for children with disabilities. Being a child with a disability is the hardest thing in the whole world because they do not understand why everyone else is “normal” and they aren’t. They know that their physical disability limits them to certain activities, but the exact reasoning for that, in their young minds, is unclear, as well. All they know is that they are different and those differences limit them greatly in their everyday lives and activities. Children with physical disabilities are limited in almost all aspects of their lives in one way or another. This creates tremendous confusion and frustration for those children. The question that I wish to further explore is “What challenges do individuals with physical disabilities encounter in childhood?” My interest in this topic stems from personal experience with my own physical disability that I have suffered with throughout my life. I was born with bilateral club feet, which means that both feet, at birth, were turned completely outwards, and arthrogryposis, which is a stiffening and permanent locking of all the joints in one’s body.
    [Show full text]
  • Caring for Children with Disabilities and Other Special Needs Important?
    Children with Disabilities and Other Special Needs First Edition, 2006 California Childcare Health Program Administered by the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing, Department of Family Health Care Nursing (510) 839-1195 • (800) 333-3212 Healthline www.ucsfchildcarehealth.org Funded by First 5 California with additional support from the California Department of Education Child Development Division and Federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau. This module is part of the California Training Institute’s curriculum for Child Care Health Consultants. Acknowledgements Th e California Childcare Health Program is administered by the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing, Department of Family Health Care Nursing. We wish to credit the following people for their contributions of time and expertise to the development and review of this curriculum since 2000. Th e names are listed in alphabetical order: Main Contributors Abbey Alkon, RN, PhD Jane Bernzweig, PhD Lynda Boyer-Chu, RN, MPH Judy Calder, RN, MS Lyn Dailey, RN, PHN Robert Frank, MS Lauren Heim Goldstein, PhD Gail D. Gonzalez, RN Susan Jensen, RN, MSN, PNP Judith Kunitz, MA Mardi Lucich, MA Cheryl Oku, BA Pamm Shaw, MS, EdD Marsha Sherman, MA, MFCC Eileen Walsh, RN, MPH Sharon Douglass Ware, RN, EdD Rahman Zamani, MD, MPH Additional Contributors Robert Bates, Vella Black-Roberts, Judy Blanding, Terry Holybee, Karen Sokal-Gutierrez Outside Reviewers, 2003 Edition Jan Gross, RN, BSN, Greenbank, WA Jacqueline Quirk, RN, BSN, Chapel Hill, NC Angelique M. White, RNc, MA, MN, CNS, New Orleans, LA CCHP Staff Ellen Bepp, Robin Calo, Catherine Cao, Sara Evinger, Joanna Farrer, Krishna Gopalan, Maleya Joseph, Cathy Miller, Dara Nelson, Bobbie Rose, Griselda Th omas, Kim To, Mimi Wolff Graphic Designers Edi Berton (2006), Eva Guralnick (2001-2005) We also want to thank the staff and Advisory Committee members of the California Childcare Health Program for their support and contributions.
    [Show full text]
  • Lysostories™ a Publication from Your Healthcare Advocates
    This newsletter is sponsored by Genzyme Corporation. Genzyme by sponsored is newsletter This September 2007 LysoStories™ A Publication from your Healthcare Advocates What’s New Welcome Take a look at the updated MPSI website at We hope that you enjoy reading this issue of LysoStories, a newsletter designed by Health Care Advocates for patients www.mpsIdisease.com and families with lysosomal storage disease (LSDs). If you have a suggestion for an article or would like to tell your story, please contact a member of the Publications Committee. Don’t miss the National Gaucher Foundation • Karen Grinzaid, MS, CGC • Erin O’Rourke, MS, CGC • Lisa Sniderman King, M.Sc, CGC Conference in Atlanta on October 14 and 15, Emory University School of Medicine Genzyme Liaison University of Washington 2007. This year’s conference, “Science Evolv- (404) 778-8516 (412) 734-1534 (206) 987-1406 ing - Where It’s Taking Us - A Look into the Future [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] for Gaucher Disease” will be held at the Westin Peachtree Plaza, 210 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, • Nadene Henderson, MS, GCG • Nita Patel, RNC, BSN Georgia. To register, visit the NGF website University of Pittsburgh Saint Peter’s University Hospital at www.gaucherdisease.org or email: (800) 334-7980 (732) 745-6681 [email protected]. [email protected] [email protected] Center News Having invisible disabilities also has affected how A Publication from your Healthcare Advocates Healthcare your from Publication A Patient Story I relate to others. I know that I should not make Lysosomal Storage Disease Center Stories Lyso judgments based only on what I see.
    [Show full text]
  • The Effects of Service Dogs on Psychosocial Health and Wellbeing for Individuals with Physical Disabilities Or Chronic Conditions
    Disability and Rehabilitation ISSN: 0963-8288 (Print) 1464-5165 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/idre20 The effects of service dogs on psychosocial health and wellbeing for individuals with physical disabilities or chronic conditions Kerri E. Rodriguez, Jessica Bibbo & Marguerite E. O’Haire To cite this article: Kerri E. Rodriguez, Jessica Bibbo & Marguerite E. O’Haire (2019): The effects of service dogs on psychosocial health and wellbeing for individuals with physical disabilities or chronic conditions, Disability and Rehabilitation, DOI: 10.1080/09638288.2018.1524520 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2018.1524520 Published online: 11 Jan 2019. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 1 View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=idre20 DISABILITY AND REHABILITATION https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2018.1524520 ORIGINAL ARTICLE The effects of service dogs on psychosocial health and wellbeing for individuals with physical disabilities or chronic conditions Kerri E. Rodrigueza, Jessica Bibboa,b and Marguerite E. O’Hairea aCenter for the Human-Animal Bond, Department of Comparative Pathobiology, Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, West Lafayette, IN, USA; bCenter for Research and Education, Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging, Cleveland, OH, USA ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Purpose: To evaluate the effects of service dogs on psychosocial health and indicators of wellbeing Received 21 May 2018 among individuals with physical disabilities or chronic conditions. Revised 11 September 2018 Materials and methods: A total of 154 individuals participated in a cross-sectional survey including 97 Accepted 12 September 2018 placed with a mobility or medical service dog and 57 on the waitlist to receive one.
    [Show full text]
  • Disability, Livelihood and Poverty in Asia and the Pacific
    Disability, Livelihood and Poverty in Asia and the Pacific AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF RESEARCH FINDINGS The cover design is reflective of the varied data landscape and multifaceted nature of disability data. Many parameters interplay in the process of data collection thereby creating a wide-spectrum of estimates. This book acknowledges the diversity in definitions, purposes and methodologies, as embodied in the strong contrasts in detail and colour. Disability, Livelihood and Poverty in Asia and the Pacific AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF RESEARCH FINDINGS Acknowledgements This publication was prepared by the ESCAP Social Development Division, under the overall direction of Nanda Krairiksh. The research team was led by Donovan Storey and Marco Roncarati, and comprised the following members: Aiko Akiyama, Patrik Andersson, Rebecca Carter, Ksenia Glebova, Beverly Lynn Jones, Natalie Meyer, Andres Montes and Ermina Sokou. Inputs to the report were provided by Jorge Carrillo, Christian Österlind, Fiona Wells and Alastair Wilkinson. The following organizations of, and for, person with disabilities were partners in the participatory research at the national level: Commitments, India; Pacific Disability Forum and the Fiji Disabled Peoples’ Federation, Fiji; Japan Disability Forum (JDF), Japan; Association of Women with Disabilities ‘SHYRAK’, Kazakhstan; Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI), Philippines; Korea Disabled People’s Development Institute (KODDI), Republic of Korea; Special Talent Exchange Programme (STEP), Pakistan; Universal Foundation for
    [Show full text]
  • INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM (IEP)-Annotated
    IEP (ANNOTATED) Student's Name INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM (IEP) (ANNOTATED) ********************************************* School Age Student's Name: IEP Team Meeting Date: IEP Implementation Date (Projected Date When Services and Programs Will Begin): Anticipated Duration of Services and Programs: ANNOTATION: IEP Team Meeting Date: Write the date that the IEP team meeting is held. An IEP team meeting is to occur no less than once per calendar year and is conducted within 30 calendar days of a determination that the student needs special education and related services (30 calendar days following the completion of the Evaluation and Reevaluation Reports). IEP Implementation Date (Projected Date when Services and Programs Will Begin): Write the first day the student will begin to receive the supports and services described in this IEP. IEPs must be implemented as soon as possible but no later than 10 SCHOOL days after the final IEP is presented to the parent. However, when a NOREP/PWN must be issued to the parent, the LEA must wait until the 11th calendar day after presenting the NOREP/PWN to the parent. The LEA must have an IEP in effect for each student with a disability at the beginning of each school year. If the IEP annual review is due sometime in the summer, the school may not wait until the new school year to write the IEP. The IEP must be in effect at the beginning of each school year. Anticipated Duration of Services and Programs: Write the last day that the student will receive the services and programs of this IEP. This date must be one day less than a year from the team meeting date.
    [Show full text]
  • Performing the Fractured Puppet Self
    Performing the Fractured Puppet Self Employing auto-ethnopuppetry to portray and challenge cultural and personal constructions of the disabled body by Emma C. Fisher Supervisor: Doctor Michael Finneran A thesis submitted for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Drama and Theatre Studies Mary Immaculate College (Coláiste Mhuire Gan Smál) University of Limerick Ph.D. ABSTRACT This research project examines personal and cultural constructs of the disabled body, with the creation of the puppet play Pupa as its practical culmination. The testimonials of six participants (including my own), all from artists with a disability or deaf artists, are the inspiration for Pupa. The qualitative research methodology used within this research combines ethnographic methods, auto-ethnography, practice-based research and narrative enquiry. I have adapted auto-ethnography by combining it with puppetry to coin new methodologies; ‘ethnopuppetry’ and ‘auto-ethnopuppetry’. Inspired by fairytales, Pupa creates a fantastical world where the narratives of the participants find expression through a range of puppet characters. These testimonies examine what it is to identify with a disabled identity, and to ‘come out’ as disabled. It looks at how we perceive ourselves as disabled, and how we feel others perceive us. Creating a piece of theatre based around disabled identity led me to investigate the history of disabled performers, and historical depictions of disabled characters within theatre, fairytales and freak-shows, in order to see how they influence societal beliefs around disability today. Within the practice element of this research, I experimented with unconventionally constructed puppets, as well as puppeteering my own disabled limb with an exo-skeleton, in order to question how I view disability in my own body.
    [Show full text]
  • Making a Makerspace? Guidelines for Accessibility and Universal Design
    Making a Makerspace? Guidelines for Accessibility and Universal Design Many engineering departments, libraries, and Student Voices universities are launching new initiatives to create Why are accessible makerspaces important, makerspaces, physical spaces where students, and how do we involve more students with faculty, and the broader community can gather disabilities? and share resources and knowledge, work on projects, network, and build. In creating these • “Makerspaces are about community. innovative spaces we should apply principles of We need to ensure everyone from the universal design to ensure the spaces, tools, and community can participate.” community are accessible to as many individuals as possible. • “Makerspaces are often used to help build new assistive technology and increase Universal design encourages the design of space, accessibility; however, many of these spaces products, and processes not just for the average and tools remain inaccessible. We need to user, but for people with a broad range of abilities, make sure disabled people can access these ages, reading levels, learning styles, languages, spaces and create the products and designs cultures, and other characteristics. Makerspaces that they actually want.” foster innovation, and we want to ensure that individuals of all backgrounds and abilities can actively contribute to the design process. We Planning and Policies advocate for participatory design (interactions. Create a culture of inclusion and universal design acm.org/archive/view/march-april-2015/design-for- as early as possible. During your planning process user-empowerment) where individuals from diverse consider the following questions: backgrounds bring their unique experiences and • Are people with a variety of disabilities in- perspectives to the design process.
    [Show full text]
  • Assistive Technology That's Free
    AT That’s Free By Andrew Leibs Before the digital age, assistive technology was hard to miss, and hard to buy. Classmates would see a sight-impaired student’s boxy video magnifier or hear her computer talk. These were costly, clunky solutions usually acquired through special education. Today, we have the inverse: sleek laptops, tablets, and smartphones now have so much processing power, manufacturers can enfold functionality – e.g., screen reading, magnification, audio playback – that once necessitated separate software or machines. All Windows and iOS devices have more built-in accessibility than most users will ever need or know they have. And what’s not built into the operating system is usually available as a free mobile app, web service, or downloadable application. Here’s a quick look at some of the assistive applications you either have or can quickly snag to make reading, writing, online research, and information sharing more accessible or efficient. Accessibility Built Into Microsoft Windows & Office The Microsoft Windows operating system provides three main accessibility applications: Narrator, a screen reader; Magnifier, a text and image enlarger; and On-Screen Keyboard, an input option for persons who are unable to type on a standard keyboard. The programs are located in the system’s Ease of Access Center. To get there, click Start, Control Panel, and then Ease of Access Center. The Center lets you change accessibility settings, activate built-in command tools, and fill out a questionnaire to receive personalized recommendations. • Narrator is a screen reader that lets users operate their PC without a display. Narrator reads all onscreen text aloud, provides verbal cues to navigate programs, and has keyboard shortcuts for choosing what's read, e.g., “Insert + F8” will read the current document.
    [Show full text]