Fundamentals Course Offered in Alaska

[Nell Bailey]

Fundamentals in Assistive Technology Course Offered in Alaska

The RESNA Fundamentals in Assistive Technology course will be offered at the Midnight Sun Assistive Technology Conference in Anchorage, Alaska on August 3-4, 2009.  This two-day course will provide participants with knowledge in the application of clinical fundamentals, assessment, issues in service delivery, and methods for accessing the technology.

The course will be taught by Michelle Lange, OTR, ABDA, ATP and Greg McGrew, BSME, MEBME.

The Midnight Sun Assistive Technology Conference begins August 5-7 at the Dena'ina Convention Center.  This conference will present sessions of Assistive Technology for Education, Employment, Community Living and Accessible Information Technology and Telecommunications.

For more information about the Fundamentals Course and the Midnight Sun AT Conference, visit www.msatc.org.  You will find information about registering for the Fundamentals Course at this site as well.





M. Nell Bailey
Executive Director
RESNA
1700 North Moore Street
Suite 1540
Arlington, VA  22209-1903
[phone] ext. 305
[phone] (FAX)
nbailey@...
www.resna.org/
 

[Paul Schwartz-4]

Hi, ATers,

I am interested in attendant call switch ideas for a person with a C3 spinal
cord injury while in bed.  He has very little range of motion in his neck.
He uses the Tongue Touch Keypad to run his chair and computer during the
day. He would like to remove the retainer at night, so he needs a different
way to activate a switch.  He is at home, so it doesn't have to tap into an
official hospital call system.  

I am guessing that this switch issue comes up frequently for ATers that are
hospital based, and would like to hear what switch options are preferred by
you and the consumer.    I'm not sure that he could hit a pillow switch, so
I am thinking of having a sip or bite switch hang over him at night.  I am
wondering if people find that annoying to have something dangle over them at
night.  Perhaps this is not as annoying as not being able to get in touch
with anyone.  

Anyway, I typically don't work with folks lying in bed with limited
function, so I'd appreciate any thoughts from the field.

Thanks!

Paul
 
Paul J. Schwartz, MSIE, ATP, RET, CPE
Assistive Technology Manager
Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute
University of Wisconsin-Stout
221 10th Ave/102 VRB
Menomonie, WI 54751
schwartzpa@...
voice [phone]
fax [phone]
http://www.svri.uwstout.edu/ 

[Donn Hilker]

Paul:
 
We typically use sip-puff systems in these cases.
Some of our clients with C3 have enough neck, jaw, and or mouth control to pull-push the straw when in close proximity.
Then we consider the best means for summoning help;
typically (not in any order):
- alert sound (usually via modified X-10 remote with chime or universal module; or wireless doorbell if short distance);
- phone (if home has 2 phone lines, or cell-to-home) - this is nice as it gives more universal access to help as well as being able to talk just to talk;
- pager (look at PrivatePage from Command Communications - it is switch-ready via terminals in the back for hearing-impaired detector interfaces)
http://www.command-comm.com/private_paging.php 
this has great range (2 miles) and pager can vibrate or beep to wake the sleeping recipient
 
Donn

>>> Paul Schwartz <schwartzpa@...> 11/3/2009 11:39 AM >>>
Hi, ATers,

I am interested in attendant call switch ideas for a person with a C3 spinal
cord injury while in bed.  He has very little range of motion in his neck.
He uses the Tongue Touch Keypad to run his chair and computer during the
day. He would like to remove the retainer at night, so he needs a different
way to activate a switch.  He is at home, so it doesn't have to tap into an
official hospital call system.  

I am guessing that this switch issue comes up frequently for ATers that are
hospital based, and would like to hear what switch options are preferred by
you and the consumer.    I'm not sure that he could hit a pillow switch, so
I am thinking of having a sip or bite switch hang over him at night.  I am
wondering if people find that annoying to have something dangle over them at
night.  Perhaps this is not as annoying as not being able to get in touch
with anyone.  

Anyway, I typically don't work with folks lying in bed with limited
function, so I'd appreciate any thoughts from the field.

Thanks!

Paul

Paul J. Schwartz, MSIE, ATP, RET, CPE
Assistive Technology Manager
Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute
University of Wisconsin-Stout
221 10th Ave/102 VRB
Menomonie, WI 54751
schwartzpa@...
voice [phone]
fax [phone]
http://www.svri.uwstout.edu/ 

**********************************************************
Electronic Mail is not secure, may not be read every day, and should not be used for urgent or sensitive issues

[Margaret Cotts]

Hi Paul-
I once used the following set up a person with ALS with very limited head
movement-

We had a microlight switch attached to a thin locline mount. It was mounted
onto the edge of her hospital bed.  (We actually had two of these mounts,
one mounted on either side of the bed.  That way her partner wouldn't have
to keep taking the mount off and on the bed depending on if she was laying
on her right or left side.(Hope that makes sense.)

Even though she had hardly any head movement, she had enough to activate the
microlight. (The switch was pretty much touching her head.)

I think she eventually transitioned to using a "baby monitor" (she could
vocalize), but this switch set up worked for a while.

Margaret Cotts

-----Original Message-----
From: RESNA's Assistive Technology Forum [mailto:AT-FORUM@...] On
Behalf Of Paul Schwartz
Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 8:39 AM
To: AT-FORUM@...
Subject: attendant call switch options.

Hi, ATers,

I am interested in attendant call switch ideas for a person with a C3 spinal
cord injury while in bed.  He has very little range of motion in his neck.
He uses the Tongue Touch Keypad to run his chair and computer during the
day. He would like to remove the retainer at night, so he needs a different
way to activate a switch.  He is at home, so it doesn't have to tap into an
official hospital call system.  

I am guessing that this switch issue comes up frequently for ATers that are
hospital based, and would like to hear what switch options are preferred by
you and the consumer.    I'm not sure that he could hit a pillow switch, so
I am thinking of having a sip or bite switch hang over him at night.  I am
wondering if people find that annoying to have something dangle over them at
night.  Perhaps this is not as annoying as not being able to get in touch
with anyone.  

Anyway, I typically don't work with folks lying in bed with limited
function, so I'd appreciate any thoughts from the field.

Thanks!

Paul
 
Paul J. Schwartz, MSIE, ATP, RET, CPE
Assistive Technology Manager
Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute
University of Wisconsin-Stout
221 10th Ave/102 VRB
Menomonie, WI 54751
schwartzpa@...
voice [phone]
fax [phone]
http://www.svri.uwstout.edu/ 

[Knowland, Daniel P. III, O.T.]

Hi Paul,
 We adapted an Enabling Devices eye blink switch so it would clip on a CPAP vent tube since the patient needed to use this at night, which prevented him from calling out to his wife.  This was set for double blink over his right eyebrow and then plugged into a TASH Call Bell.  This was sufficiently loud enough to awaken even a very sound sleeper.  This could also be connected to a wireless pager, also available form Enabling Devices.  Economical and very effective.

There are also breath switches, such as the BreathCall from Curbell, that can also be used.

Dan


Daniel P. Knowland, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist
Rehabilitation Unit/St. Marys Hospital
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Instructor, Mayo College of Medicine
Phone: [phone]
Pager: 127-09647
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: knowland.daniel@...

Mayo Clinic
200 SW First St.
Rochester, MN 55905
www.mayoclinic.org

 

-----Original Message-----
From: RESNA's Assistive Technology Forum [mailto:AT-FORUM@...] On Behalf Of Paul Schwartz
Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 10:39 AM
To: AT-FORUM@...
Subject: [AT-FORUM] attendant call switch options.

Hi, ATers,

I am interested in attendant call switch ideas for a person with a C3 spinal
cord injury while in bed.  He has very little range of motion in his neck.
He uses the Tongue Touch Keypad to run his chair and computer during the
day. He would like to remove the retainer at night, so he needs a different
way to activate a switch.  He is at home, so it doesn't have to tap into an
official hospital call system.  

I am guessing that this switch issue comes up frequently for ATers that are
hospital based, and would like to hear what switch options are preferred by
you and the consumer.    I'm not sure that he could hit a pillow switch, so
I am thinking of having a sip or bite switch hang over him at night.  I am
wondering if people find that annoying to have something dangle over them at
night.  Perhaps this is not as annoying as not being able to get in touch
with anyone.  

Anyway, I typically don't work with folks lying in bed with limited
function, so I'd appreciate any thoughts from the field.

Thanks!

Paul
 
Paul J. Schwartz, MSIE, ATP, RET, CPE
Assistive Technology Manager
Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute
University of Wisconsin-Stout
221 10th Ave/102 VRB
Menomonie, WI 54751
schwartzpa@...
voice [phone]
fax [phone]
http://www.svri.uwstout.edu/