verbal communications difficulties and assistive technology update

I had written a blog about assistive technology for verbal communications difficulties. Here is an update on my project as well as some real world experience I have gotten with my devices.

As I said in my previous post on the subject, I started playing around with text to speech software on my PDA. I recently upgraded my PDA to the palm zire 72. It has a better speaker than my old PDA. The sound is louder, unfortunately the volume isn't high enough for some situations. So I ended up getting these(the ones on the right) small battery powered speakers to use. I picked them up at biglots for $10. The sound quality and volume on the speakers is wonderful. The only real downside is the size and configuration of the speakers. I ended up putting a strip of velcro on the back of the speakers and the back of my leather PDA case. The setup works, but is a little cumbersome. I am tempted to take the speakers apart and repackage them with only one speaker rather than 2. This shouldn't be to hard to do since I know my way around a soldering iron and such. But, one of my goals with this project is to come up with a configuration that is reasonably cheap and easy to implement. Many people may not feel comfortable (or have the knowledge/skill) taking apart electronic gizmos.

So my next task is to find speakers that work well right out of the package. So far I have a few in mind to try out. The speakers on the left on the above linked photo, seem worth a shot. They have them at wallgreens for $10. I also, found this mini speaker. I am not sure how good the sound output is on it, but the size and configuration is right on, and at $10 the price is right. I have also seen some cheap cylindrical speakers that plug right into the headphone jack. I will probably give those a try too.

I have gotten some real world experience using my PDA as a communications device. The main problem is imputing text on the fly. It's a bit slow. For this reason I have some bits of text pre-written and ready to go. I have one blurb of text that explains that I have autism and am having difficulties with verbal speech. This way the person knows that I will be communicating with my PDA. Although I can't input text as fast as I can by typing, the portability of the setup makes up for it. I always carry my PDA with me, so I now always have a way to communicate when I have difficulties with verbal speech.

In addition to my PDA I have also been playing around with text to speech on my laptop. I downloaded ReadPlease free text to speech software. The software works quite well. The voice is clear and you can adjust the speed at which it speaks. I also like the fact that you can download voices in other languages. I am bilingual (English/Spanish), so I downloaded some voices in Spanish. For free software it is quite good and worth checking out. It might also be useful for people with reading difficulties.

I recently had a chance to use the text to speech software in the real world. I had an appointment at the social security office to apply for social security disability. I figured that my anxiety would be elevated and I tend to have speech problems when under anxiety, so I took my laptop with me. First thing I did when I sat down to talk with the person, was to ask if it was ok if I turned on my laptop. The speakers on my laptop suck, so I used my portable speakers that I mentioned above. I am so glad I had my laptop with me. Initially I was able to answer the questions just fine using verbal speech. But at one point I was asked a question that made my anxiety rise. As I started to answer I began to have great difficulties getting the words out, so I started typing. Everything worked smoothly. The only real annoyance was early on before I started using my laptop, the social security person made some comment about how I was able to speak just fine. Well, yea I can speak just fine most of the time. But I can't do that all of the time, other wise I wouldn't have had my laptop with me! GRRR. Stupid people! This makes me think of a YouTube video I saw. It was a video by a woman with bad arthritis in both knees. She was talking about how she uses a wheelchair. She doesn't need it all the time, just mainly for longer distances. In the video she talked about how she was going to go to her brothers graduation. The even would be in 2 different buildings about 2 blocks away. So she would need her chair. But, she was embarrassed about having to bring her chair because people give her looks when they see her get out of the chair and start walking. People need to realize that some of us who use assistance devices don't need them all the time. It just irritates me how ignorant people can be regarding disabilities. People need to be better educated on the subject so we wont have to deal with stupid crap.

unconventional assistive devices

When most people think of assistance devices for people with disabilities they tend to think of things like wheelchairs and blind canes. There are however devices that can be useful to people with disabilities which aren't generally associated with disabilities.

A great example in my life is my PDA (personal digital assistant, palm pilot). These are very handy gadgets for people with Asperger's. We have a tendency to have difficulties with self structuring and dealing with time. The appointment book feature is quite handy for these things. I can put in my appointments along with an alarm to remind me. This can be taken a step further and used to structure your whole day. You can be sitting around playing on the computer when your PDA alarm goes off telling you it's time to do X. Unfortunately I am not to good about this last part. I aought to have alarms for things like brushing my teeth, taking out the garbage, doing my laundry ETC.

Another quite handy feature is the list feature. Sometimes tasks can be overwhelming for people with Asperger's. The solution is to break the task down into it's parts and pieces and do each one individually in sequence. With the list function I can have all the steps of a task and check them off as I do them. This way I can be sure not to forget anything. I use this when I am packing a suitcase to make sure I have packed everything.

Another device I use is my ipod. It didn't really occur to me until recently that I have been using my ipod as a disability aid. Although my social anxiety has improved quite a bit, I still have to deal with it sometimes. Particularly on a long bus rid when the bus is packed. Listening to music helps out with the anxiety. Another issue I have is auditory sensitivities. Using my ipod helps cancel out the all the background noise that bothers me.

Another device which could be useful for autistics and other people with disabilities is the XO laptop http://www.laptop.org/ This is the laptop that is being given to children in 3rd world countries. A friend of mine has one. Seeing his XO and thinking of getting one for my self got me thinking about possible disability uses for it.

Text to speech (TTS) software could allow it to function like the keyboard used by people with verbal communications difficulties. TTS can also be useful for people with a reading disability. Instead of having to struggle through some article online, you could simply have the computer read it to you.

The XO also has a chat feature where you can chat with other people using an XO. It's basically the same as instant messaging or a chat room. That could be quite useful to autistic people. I know for me interacting with text on a screen can be easier at times than face to face.

It's use as a laptop can also be quite useful. I have some fine motor control difficulties, so handwriting for me is a chore and my handwriting is sloppy as a result. A couple years back I took a writing class where we did writing assignments in class. I explained my situation to the teacher and asked if I could use my laptop and email her the assignments. She said that was fine. Had I not had a laptop I would have struggled though that class.

I am sure there are other disability application for the XO, but these are the ones that came to mind

Unconventional disability aids like those above have some advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is that since they aren't sold as disability aids they are widely available, one exception being the XO. Additionally you wont have to worry about having to pay way to much at a medical supply house. The downside is that because they aren't intended as disability aids, it would be very had to get insurance to pay for the. A friend of mine had to go through hell and high water to get medicaid to pay for his wheelchair. I can only imagine how hard it would be to get medicaid to pay for a PDA or ipod.