Hearing on Assistive Devices for Americans with Disabilities
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 307 766 EC 220 275 TITLE Hearing or. Assistive Devices for Americans with Disabilities. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Select Education of the Committee on Education and Laboc. 'louse of Representatives, One HundLediii Congress, Second Session. INSTITUTION Congress of the U.S., Washington, D.C. House Committee on Education and Labor. PUB DATE 10 May 86 NOTE 137p.; Serial No. 100-102. Some pages contaar small print. AVAILABLE FROM Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. PUB TYPE Legal/Legislative/Regulatory Materials (090) EDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS *Assistive Devices (for Disabled); Communication Aids (for Disabled); Costs; *Disabilities; Hearings; *Normalization (Handicapped); Sensory Aids; *Technology ABSTRACT Some forms of assistive device technology are not available to many disabled children or adults because there is not a centralized system to link the technology with those who need it. This hearing explores ways to promote widespread availability of assistive devices. Examined are types of devices, the costs of such devices, methods of disseminating information about the devices, and the role of the states in coordinating distribution. Included are statements., letters, and supplemental materials front:(1) Congres.l.onal Representative Major Owens;(2) government agency representatives from General Services Administration, Office of Technology Assessment, Vermont Rehabilitation Engineering Center, and Central Pennsylvania Special Education Regional Resource Center;(3) private organizations, including Deafpride Interpreting Service, United Cerebral Palsy, Association for Retarded Citizens, American Foundation for the Blind, Electronics Industry Foundation, Self-Help for Hard of Hearing, Council for Exceptional Children, Association for the Advancement of Rehabilitation Technology, and National Easter Seal Society; and (4) private citizens, including a woman with deafness, a young boy with cerebral palsy, and his mother. (JDD) ******************************************************x*ft********** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ......*.......*..........*...........*.......*...................*****. HEARING ON ASSISTI,VE DEVIL:Es FOR AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES er) HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON SELECT EDUCATION OF THE COMMITTEE ON A EDUCATION AND LABOR HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDREDTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION HEARING HELD IN WASHING YON, DC, NIAY to I!I, Serial No. 100-102 Punted toi the use ot the Committee on Education and Labor S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ' ,1 , Nt.Ill ',01,11,1`, INF OPMATION I NTE I;ERIC-, tld as j 1 tttt1,111, , I' r, ``c, 0,1 t,11 t1 ,rproy, 1 ,11 t Inty t10( , 11 tt ,a) 1 S (1)1,11211111hT PRINTING OF1.1(1' 40 II? WASIIING1ON 1984 - _ .1,salt. 11% 1111',I'mrifitencient 01 Do, urnont, ( ot,res,o1,11 GO% err.nwnt Pr tntInv, OfficeV,,I,timkto,, IH2'41°2 BEST COPYAVAILABLE 2 1.01111ITTEI. EDU('A l'ION\ \I) LABoij 11. ht I \\KIN shin Vs II LI AM I) FORD MI, hipzari JAMES \1 JEFF ORD, \ernwnt JO:ATI{ \1 B \\'IX)S I, GOI>D1 IN); Perm,s1s,ila Vs'ILLIA:1 tRILL, ( 1111,,,i2r1 F' I ilONI 1;" COLFM \\ \11....oun 1:121() BIAGGI Ness York niom PErin AlS FIN J N11'121111Pi,n, is +m,+ MAW Hol'KEM \ Ness Jet DALE E hivan :.-FF:\ F. ot NDERSON VS 1,11.111 I' \T WILLIA)IS. \lout aim 11 ,Rri,Eri MATT--E\$, G N1,112TINEZ( stilt,rn rifom \S 1.11.'hE lovut MAJOR 12 ENS Ness ER if \ \ ME \Tes,o. CHARLES A HAYES ii\RRI-' l'Av, EI Illmq. CARL PERKINS henttakks \II B !WNW, \Ilthwan TIIOM SAV* "I ER Ohm FRI. \\D)loud STEPHEN J SOL.112t Ness \ 1:-S ItLI\ G[ \ ar,1,11,1 ROBERT E \VISE JR , st\ 'TI:1111 rimortpc J PENNY Mtant,o,, 13111 RICIL\RDSON Nt.,,\It vol TOIMY E ROBINSON PETER 1 V1SCLOSK IrdLin.1 rl JESTER TKI`'S 't 1,11ES JOYII Inds u),1 St 050 1)5151111,1 O\ St 11(1 Eln l V) P) \ M 'OOP, 12 PI k ILI 1111 "II \ IB \RUA I") 1, A,1- \1 MO III w(,1\ se\ h 1\ \1)' \IIrfl ORD', \I I \Vs LI \ OW, IA Of tit CONTENTS Page Hearing held in Washington, DC, on May 10, 1988 1 Statement of Adams, Jan -:e 10 Bibum, Margaret, deputy director, Deafpride Interpreting Sere ice 11 Boardman, Dr Barbara, senior analyst, Health Program, Office of Teeh- nology Assessment .. 58 Carrol, Mary Ann, United Cerebral Palsy, New York Cite 95 Cavalier, Dr Alan, Association for Retarded Citizens, Arlington, TX 73 DeWitt, John, evaluations coordinator, National Technology Center, American Foundation for the Blind. New York City 81 Dormer, Tommy, assisted by Kathleen Abrams, speech pathologist 6 Enders. Alexandra, project manager, rehabilitation engineering delivery program, Electronics Industry. Foundation 40 Hahn, Roland, director. Central Pennsylvania Special Education Re- source Center . 102 Stone, Howard, director, Self-Help for Ilard of Hearing 18 Suchanek, Hon Leonard, Board of Contract Appeals, General Services Administration 14 Weisman, Jerry, Rehabilitation Technology Services, Burlington, Ver- mont 31 Prepared statements, letters, supplemental materials, et cetera Bibum, Margaret. deputy director, Deafpride, Inc, prepared statement of 13 Boardman, Dr Barbara, Office of Technology Assessment, prepared state- ment of 61 Carrol, Mary Ann, prepared statement on behalf of the United Cerebral Palsy Associations, Inc 97 Cavalier, DrAl, prepared statement on behalf of the Association for Retarded Citizens of the United States 76 Council for Exceptional Children, prepared statement of 121 DeWitt, John C, evaluations coordinator, National Technology ('enter, prepared state.nent of 8 Dormer, Tommy, student, prepared statement of 7 Enders, Alexandra, prepared statement with attaohnient, on ',chaff ut the Association for the Advancement of Rehabilitation Technology 44 Hahn, Roland T, II, director, Pen 11* 1% ania Special Education Regional Resource Center, prepared statement of National Easter Seal Society-, prepared statement of l?l Owens, /Ion Major R, a Representative in Congress from the State of New York, prepared statement of . 2 Stone, Howard E, Sr ,prepared statement on behalf of Self Help for Hard of hearing People, Inc 20 Suchanek, /Ion Leonard J, Board of Contract Appeals, General Services Administration, prepared statement of 15 Weisman, Gerald, Rehabilitation Technolog', Services, prepared state went of 31 ' HEARING ON ASSISTIVE DEVICES FOR A3IERICAN5 WITH DISABILITIES E,1) 11 . 11to. hiss I lot sl Or 14.11{P'Si, NTATI St II( ONIN1117EF ON SEI,Frr Ent CATION. CoNIN111"1 EP ON EDI ('A nON AND 1\ BOR. WashirOon. DC The t-ubcommittl`c nut, put,,uant to not ICCIt 1D 1(1 a in ,Irt1 tom 227,7, Ea\ burn House Office Building, Hun Niajoi E Owens ,chair- man of the subcommittee) presiding Members present Rept esentatR O\\ 13.11t let t, ,111(1 Jeffinds Staff presentLaurence Peters, Bob Tate,l'atLand, *Milan Evans, and Gary Granofshy Mr 0A EN:, The heating of the Subcommittee on Select Educa- tion \\ill come to order Toda VP are considering (lc\ Ito "h disabilities Modern technolog has leaped ahead of notional policy and legis- lation for people \\Ith dIsabll It There is an urgent need for the Congress and the Go ernment to tun fast and cat C h up \' ith tech- nology Ver practical and piofitable di Ricnkk \\ill tesult hum this long overdue effort to maximize the utilization of technolog b Ameri- cans In tiddition to creating a hemt life totmillions of indR the national ecenom \' ill benefitf t turn the patticipatof of a new cadre ofhighl moti ated and talented \stoLetsThe national treasut \\ ill benefit b the taxes pant b this new wink force And the Nation', taxpaers will benefit hum the millions of dollais of' Social Seem itA payment, that will h, This healing ital to the process of deliSet ing the people with disabilities in this Nation flout the Stone Age neglect of the bene- fits of technology The Nation that plated a man on the moon has an obligation to put the state of the art lot disabled people within the reach of ever,, citiien who needs it The technolog of today has heed man disabled people hum a re of d pc n den C by enabling ev en those h the most ,evert phi sical impairments to pat ticipate fulls in education. emploment and communit actis tiesPatticulalllimo\ atm: ate electronic communications des ices which aid those unable to speak in ex- preS4111g, 111(11:W1\ CS I.n\u'onnuental COM! OI CR' pet I,it mobilit impaired pet suns to opemate telephone,. kitchen and ()then household appliances Sp,- t) 9 cially adapted writing aids allow those with limited hand function to control the use of pencils, paint brushes or crayons However. mans such assistRe deices used in educational, recre- ational and emplo,ment settings ar,.. not aNailable to most disabled children of adults because there is nut a central system to link the technology to those who need itToday's hearing will explore ways to promote widespread mailability of assistiNe devices We'll look at how and whether the cost of such devices are pro- hibitiNe, and how to go about soling that problem. We'll look at what deices exist, what companies make such devices, how to dis- seminate information about these deN, at..., and what rule the States have in coordinating such sun, ices leading to the distribution of these products There is legislation pending in Cungr.'ss which addresses many of these concerns by calling for a cumpahensiNc approach that NA, (Add allow States to deNelop the capacity to proNide technology and re- lated assistance, create a national information referral network, and promote applied research declopment and training. This kind of approach would ensure that existing technology and future ad- vances would be more accessible to people with disabilities.