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News/Events
AT Key Newsletter
July, 2010
Vol. 15 No. 3
Home Modifications
Peggy S. Shireley, IPAT Coordinator
There is a movement afoot to make homes more flexible and supportive for the people living in them. It is the home modification movement, and it is all about making homes work for, rather than against a person who has experienced an injury, illness or disability. Making homes work better may involve remodeling, using assistive technology devices, or rearranging the environment to reduce barriers. The overall purpose of home modification is to make the home you have into the home you want as lifestyle and needs change.
According to the 2007 US Census, 1 in 6 people in North Dakota have a disability, and frequently people with a disability need home modifications. They are friends, family members and neighbors who; have sustained injury, are impacted by disease, are aging, and/or were born with a disability. We all need homes and they play a unique role in our lives by offering safety, comfort, and independence, plus access to amenities, services and activities. Unfortunately, during the process of living, our homes can become a barrier due to stairs, tiny bathrooms, and inadequate lighting.
The three spaces in the average home which create the most difficulties are the entrance, bathroom, and kitchen. To address entrance barriers, increase the width of the door to 36", create ample landing space both outside and inside the door, eliminate a raised threshold, and use locks that are easy to operate such as, keyless locks. In the bathroom, use non-glare lighting, an anti-scald faucet with a single on/off lever, an adjustable height, hand-held showerhead, and a shower seat or platform. Kitchen changes may include, enough clear counter space to set dishes down next to all appliances and cupboards, easy access to storage with pull-out shelves, lazy Susan's and reachers, appliance controls that are easy to read and easy to reach, and a sit-stand stool for task completion.
Home modifications have been identified as a viable means to remaining in our homes; surveys show people think they are a necessary and desirable change, and yet the majority of homes do not have them. This lack may be due to minimal awareness about the range and importance of home modifications, an unclear path to service provision, and/or limited access to funding to make modifications for individuals of low-income. To help North Dakotans learn more about home modifications, IPAT has developed two booklets "Home Design for Diverse Populations" and "Staying or Returning Home with Assistive Technology" which may serve as a starting point, call 800-365-4728 or email jswetland@ndipat.org to request copies. Remember, home modifications are simply changes made to living spaces that help the people living there; and research indicates that they can make care-giving easier, save money and eliminate or delay institutionalization.
AT Key Newsletter, July, 2010
Consumer Connection
See Greg Rose's unabridged letter below
Looking for an attendant? Looking for some help to stay in your own home and community? There is a new resource website that has gone statewide to connect people with disabilities and the elderly with in-home service providers.
www.homecarend.com is a free inter-active resource meant to link up people who need in-home help with people looking for work to provide the in-home help. You can sign up as a consumer, or as a provider (independent or agency) whichever the case may be. This resource is available to all, whether it be
private pay or subsidized through third parties.
Check it out today: www.homecarend.com
Fox News story on Rudy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWGjGu6czV8
Rudy calls for help: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP5YbVhypHk
Rudy at work: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT5sVsnGUxE
Learning to walk together: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtkSnpz7tVU
Rudy cleans up toys: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KadXYjuwj9Q
Rudy turns on light: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJFGV-xSe_I
Remote and cell phone retrieval: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-Bh78h_0IE
Tricks part 1: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYEcXowLWFw
Tricks part 2: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBHrqcNmZxA
Leash retrieval 1: www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-6I-QNSekk
Leash retrieval 2: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShxjhTKHAm4
Leash retrieval 3: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9UIdfCj0e4
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Consumer Connection - Greg Rose's unabridged letter
Independence, while still Dependent
January 12, 2010
This is a letter of my sincere thanks and appreciation from Greg Rose.
I have multiple sclerosis and only have use of my head. Family and friends fill part of my day and the great people that take care of me, who are all very much appreciated, also fill part of my day. Still there's a lot of day left that is unoccupied time, so I mostly watch TV as the world goes on outside and around me.
Then the idea came up in conversation that maybe a computer would be a useful item to occupy my time. Connections were made and Jeannie Krull at IPAT was contacted. I told her that having a computer would be impossible for me to use, and she said something like, "Don't say that! Wait until you see what IPAT has to offer!", and then she drove up to see me with a big load of equipment.
Once she arrived, she took inventory of all of my needs, and we discovered that I also needed help controlling my phone, TV, lights, and fan. She gave me an overview of assistive technology equipment to match those needs and demonstrated how some of the items worked. Well, the equipment she explained to me, amazed me and started me thinking this could actually work.
The next step was to try the different types of equipment via the IPAT Equipment Loan Library. The first item we tried was called Dragon Naturally Speaking, voice recognition software, which inputs the text as you talk to the computer and allows you to control the computer by voice. Although this is great technology, I could not make it work because you have to speak clearly and maintain the exact tone at all times, and I couldn't keep it even. Don't get me wrong, this is absolutely fantastic technology, I just personally didn't have the ability to make it function well.
So now what? She told me to not get discouraged that there was another technical marvel for me to try-The Jouse2.
Now this piece of equipment is practically NASA Tech. The Jouse2, simply amazing tech, is a mouth joystick with a sip or puff mouthpiece for the right/left clicks, and can be mounted on just about any surface and adjusted in multiple angles and directions to fit most applications. It's awesome, and I can attest to that because I just created this letter using the JOUSE2 and only my mouth!!! IT IS TRULY FREEING!!! You use the Jouse2, with an on-screen keyboard, moving the cursor over each letter, and sipping/puffing to select the letters, make them into words, sentences, paragraphs, and then Viola!! a letter.
While this may seem overwhelming, it's not! What it is is time consuming, and that's OK because I'm RICH in that department.
So with the JOUSE2, I can send e-mail, play games on and offline or go online read a newspaper or check out an endless amount of web sites for whatever you can think of from A to Z and beyond. There is no reason to be bored anymore. I can use my computer with the JOUSE2 system to take me away from this room to places I could never afford or physically go to; like I stated before its TOTAL FREEDOM!!!, and I LOVE IT!!!
IPAT hooked me up with another wonderful SIP/PUFF system that allows me to operate my telephone. I just sip or puff into the switch and it scans through my stored numbers in the phone. When I get to the number I want to call, I sip or puff again! It's so easy! The telephone has room to store important phone numbers into it, like doctors, pharmacists or police, but most of all loved ones, like nieces and nephews to say, "Happy Birthday" or "hey, I saw your basketball game on TV" and so on. Answering the phone is a snap too! All I have to do is say, "Hello" and the phone answers! To hang-up, simply sip or puff on the switch.
Now again this will take a little time to get used to, but once you have made a call by mouth without the hassle of asking someone to do it for you, you will never go back. I am now FREE to make calls anytime and as many as I want. It's such a great feeling to do it by myself, I just can't say enough.
There is still more fantastic news! IPAT also introduced me to the Relax2, an environmental control device that operates the TV, DVD player, stereo and various electrical appliances such as a fan or light. I can operate the device with the same sip-puff switch described above. I simply sip or puff on the switch and the Relax2 scans through the commands such as "channel up" or "DVD fast forward", and then I sip or puff to activate the command. It's that simple!
When I'm done going through channels, and I'm all frustrated and exhausted because nothing I want to watch is on and now I'm hot on top of it --- there's yet another wonderfully "FANtastic" (get the play on words)thing I can do with the Relax2. Yes, I can even turn on the fan to cool me down and turn it off when I decide I've had enough-no waiting for staff. How GREAT is that?!
In conclusion, I want people who are in my situation to know that even if one is limited to only the physical use of their mouth, you can still feel FREE!!! and VERY VERY INDEPENDENT! What a GREAT FEELING!!! With this new technology, I'm on cloud nine. I never dreamed I could be so Independent while being dependent. It's so FREEING; I LOVE IT!!!
Of course none of this would have been at all possible without the hard work and caring dedication of a multitude of wonderfully lovely folks who care an awfully lot about people and their lives: Rod Alme, Gail Roller, and all the staff of the Lutheran Sunset Home Nursing Facility; the Multiple Sclerosis Society; Don Olson, Alan Skalarsky, and staff at the Mobile Adaptive Equipment Services and Developmental Center; ND Department of Human Services, Aging Service Department; the Technology Access Foundation; Bonnie Setness & Sheila Hiney, occupational therapists; and Jeannie Krull and the staff from IPAT-Interagency Program for Assistive Technology; and anyone else who helped in anyway. I think you all should be commended for a job well done. I give each and everyone a HEARTFELT HUG & GOD BLESS!!!
Greg Rose & Family
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