Airline iPad Policy Sparks Disability Dispute

American Airlines is taking heat for requiring a teen who is nonverbal to stow the iPad she relies on to communicate during a recent flight.

Carly Fleischmann, a 17-year-old with autism from Toronto, lambasted American Airlines on her Facebook page earlier this week for limiting access to the iPad she uses to speak. On her way home from Los Angeles last Friday, Fleischmann said that a flight attendant told her to put away the tablet for take-off and landing and was unwilling to bend even after Fleischmann’s aide explained that it was a communication device. “She stated to me that it was the policy of the airlines that I couldn’t have my iPad and that with all her years of flying that she’s never seen or heard anybody using an iPad to communicate before,” wrote Fleischmann, who said that her communication needs have always been accommodated by the crew on previous flights.

“My iPad to me is like a voice. Can you imagine being on the airplane and (being) asked not to talk for over 25 minutes,” she wrote, adding that she was ultimately allowed to keep her iPad out after the captain of the plane intervened but the device had to be placed “in front of my seat out of my reach.” Fleischmann, whose intellectual capabilities went unknown until age 11 when she began to type, is well-known with her story having been featured on ABC News, CNN and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” among others. She has a strong social media presence with over 42,000 fans on Facebook and some 26,000 Twitter followers and they were quick to respond, flooding American Airlines’ Facebook page to demand answers. Airline officials responded directly to many of the postings indicating that they have reached out to Fleischmann privately, but that the flight attendant acted in compliance with the airline’s policy and federal rules.

“Our flight attendants are responsible for following U.S. Department of Transportation regulations on the accommodation of customers with disabilities,” airline spokesman Ed Martelle said in a statement to Disability Scoop. “American’s electronic device policy is designed to be in full compliance with the DOT. Likewise, federal safety rules require the stowage of personal items during take-off and landing and prohibit the use of electronic devices at the same periods. We regret any discomfort Carly felt or difficulty this may cause customers.” Federal rules and American Airlines’ policy on the use of electronics make exceptions for certain medical devices including hearing aids and pacemakers but do not specifically mention assistive and augmentative communication devices.

Late Wednesday, Fleischmann said she was working to get a meeting with representatives of American Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration to discuss the matter.

By Michelle Diament
August 16, 2012

Disability Scoop

Linux accessibility – what is it and why does it matter

Feature Story (by Robert Cole)

A note to readers. This article focuses on accessibility from the standpoint of a blind user. There are other assistive technologies available for users with other disabilities in the Linux world, but due to my lack of experience with these technologies I do not feel comfortable writing about them. I offer a sincere apology for this.  We live in a society today that is laden with many different terms which have multiple meanings, and sometimes one simply looks at a specific term but not its underlying definition. One of the terms which we will look at today is that of “accessibility”, not to be confused with “usability”. Although both of these terms often go  hand-in-hand, they are two separate areas when it comes to technology.  Before we get into this mysterious word, “accessibility”, let me first introduce myself. My name is Robert Cole. I have been a Linux user now for nearly seven years, five years of which I have been an exclusive user of this excellent and open platform. So, what makes me any more “different” than other users? Well, I am not trying to be boastful of the fact, but I am a blind user. For the record, however, I am not totally blind, but I am pretty close. I suffer from an eye disorder known as microphthalmia, which basically means “small eyes”. I have no sight in my left eye, and a very small amount (literally 20/2000) in my right eye. And yes, I love using Linux.

I will not completely go into detail about why I use Linux. Suffice it to say that if you are a blind Windows user, you are, for the most part, a target of big name companies who make extremely pricey software products (namely screen readers and screen magnifiers as well as other technologies) which allow you the “privilege” of using your computer system. You literally would have to pay for two or more additional computer systems just to be able to use the one you already have, not including the upgrade costs for said software. Not very nice, is it? But that’s life if you are blind and you are “into” computers. Well, it used to be for me.

What is this “accessibility”?

I am certain that those of you who are reading this have seen the term “accessibility” thrown around somewhere. Maybe you happened to stumble across an article like this and you wondered, what exactly is going on here? I will for the record, being blind myself, say that I do not agree with everything which these “accessibility advocates” say and do. However, I do feel that accessibility in this day and age is very possible and very important.

“Accessibility” basically means “to provide access”. In the case of technologies such as computers and operating systems, it means to provide access to as many different types of users — blind, deaf, physically disabled, etc — as possible either through hardware modifications or through software which assists these users to use their systems – called “assistive technologies”.

Accessibility in Linux

I stopped using Windows because I could no longer afford to use it. At the time when I completely switched to Linux (approximately June of 2007) the price for a popular screen magnifier was US$600 to US$700, not including the price of upgrades to new versions when they were made available. Even to this day, the price for a standard version of a very popular screen reader among blind users starts at US$895. Oh, the software does its job, but you have to go into debt to use your computer. That’s tough if you are a student or if you need your computer for work related activities. Believe me, I’ve been there.

In 2007 I realized that the Compiz Enhanced Zoom Desktop (or simply Ezoom) plugin did everything I needed a screen magnifier to do – it did it well, and it did it for free! I was sold on Linux from that point on.

Compiz’s eZoom is not the only screen magnifier available, however. If you run KDE along with its KWin window manager, there is a Zoom feature built right in, as well as other accessibility related features (for info on KDE Accessibility, visit the KDE Accessibility project page). Though it has been controversial in the eyes of many, GNOME 3 is loaded with plenty of accessibility features for disabled users (see the GNOME Accessibility page). GNOME Shell uses its own window manager, named “mutter,” which, like KDE, has its own Zoom feature.

No sight? No problem! Really!

My good eye gets tired quite easily nowadays. I honestly believe that what little vision I have may not last as long as I will. Years ago this could have been a problem, but not now. GNOME has a screen reader named Orca which is in active development and is maintained by Joanmarie (Joanie) Diggs. Joanie is one busy developer, but she always is there to listen to the concerns of Orca users. Unlike the big name commercial assistive technology companies, Joanie (as well as many other developers of open source assistive technologies) has a true and sincere desire to present to disabled users a free and open system which they can use, regardless of their disability. If you don’t believe me, just go on over and read through the countless threads in the Orca mailing list archives. One of the big reasons why I switched to Linux, beside all of the great free and open source technologies available, is that the Linux community cares. Developers like Joanie and many others are not out to empty your wallet and put you in debt for a lifetime, but rather they are there to help folks with disabilities find freedom so that they can literally own their systems and the technologies which are on them. 

Just because you use Orca does not mean you have to use GNOME! Joanie and others are working diligently together to make other desktop environments (including Unity, KDE, Xfce, and LXDE) accessible via Orca as well. I know that there are many disputes about which desktop is the greatest, but behind the scenes (at least as far as accessibility is concerned) the groups behind these different environments are working together so that those who are disabled can use whichever environment they prefer, just as everyone else does.

No GUI? No problem!

If you like to strictly use the command line (as in no GUI whatsoever), but if you are no longer able to see your screen, no worries. There’s a screen reader for that. Take a look at Speakup. While I personally feel that Orca and Speakup do a wonderful job, there are other Linux screen readers available such as Emacspeak and YASR.   Ever installed a system with your eyes closed, literally?  As many of you reading this know, Ubuntu 12.04 was released not too long ago. I actually had the joy of installing it with my eyes closed, literally. Don’t believe me? When you boot up an Ubuntu live CD or USB drive, press CTRL+S when you hear a drum sound. This will start the Orca screen reader, and you can either try Ubuntu using Orca or install Ubuntu with your eyes closed; it’s entirely your choice. I was able to do a complete installation (including partitioning my drives) without having to look at my screen!

This is one area in Linux accessibility, however, that does need some work. I am referring to accessible installers. As of right now, at least to my knowledge, one can completely install Debian (see the Debian accessibility page), Ubuntu, Vinux (an Ubuntu derivative designed for blind and visually impaired users), Trisquel and Arch Linux (via Chris Brannon’s TalkingArch ISO image). There may be other distributions which have fully accessible installers, but I do not know of them personally. I have worked with other distributions such as openSUSE and Fedora, and I think that they have a lot to offer, but they are not fully installable by a blind user at this time. However, according to a response from Joanie to an Orca Mailing List thread which I was involved in, a fully accessible Fedora installer is in the works.

Conclusion

Although much more could be to be said about Linux accessibility, I believe that I have covered a good amount of ground in this article. Linux accessibility is very important. I want to present to you a scenario to demonstrate just how important accessibility is, not just in Linux but in other technologies as well:

Imagine that you are locked in a cage. You are only allowed to ask for certain things and you only receive what the key holder wants you to have. And, for the most part, what you are given is given at your expense, and the price is steep. You are locked up and going in debt, and even if you do not like what you are given you are simply stuck with it.

This is what life is like for many disabled computer users. They have to rely on technologies which are produced by commercial companies in order to utilize already existing technology. They do not have too much say in the product, but they are required to pay an extremely high price for it, even though their disability is not their own fault. They literally go into debt so that they can use something which they already own. In my opinion, this is very unfair.

This is why open source is important to me. Even if you use Windows, you can get a free and open source screen reader called NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA). How is all of this possible? Because there are people out there who see a cause and fight for it. There are people out there who feel that everyone should have access to technology, and that they should not have to worry about how they will ever be able to afford it.

With this article having Linux as its primary focus, I want to end this by pleading with distribution maintainers and developers. Please, try to make your distribution accessible. Please fight for the cause. Not everyone will want to be an Ubuntu, Arch, or Debian user. Make your distribution count even more than it already does. Help in the fight to free those locked in the cage of commercial technologies so that they can find freedom.

Is Linux accessibility important to me? You’d better believe it is!

Thank you for reading!

* * * * *

About the author: Robert Cole holds an Associate degree in Computer Information Systems from Modesto Junior College. He lives in Modesto, USA, with his wife Gloria and two sons, R.J. and Adam.  Go Up

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The 40 Best iPad Apps for Young Learners

by Staff Writers

January 16, 2012

The best way to get your parents to buy you expensive gadgets has always been to really sell the educational value. “But Mom, if you buy me a Nintendo, think about how much my spelling will improve playing Wheel of Fortune.” Of course, these days it’s all about the iPad. For every Angry Birds there’s an educational game out there to improve your child’s mind. Here are 40 of the best apps for your young Einstein. Most of them are paid apps, but if you’ve got $500 to drop on an iPad, we’re thinking you won’t mind.

Math

1. Math Evolve: Nominated for “Best Educational Game of 2011,” Math Evolve teaches the math basics through gameplay involving a dolphin shooting lasers at sea creatures.
2. MathBoard: MathBoard works because of its highly-customizable features, like creating timed math quizzes or making quizzes out of questions answered incorrectly.
3. Motion Math: “Putting the action in fraction,” Motion Math has players put fractions in order to help a fallen star move back into the sky.
4. PopMath Basic Math: Match pairs of balloons that have the same value, using one of the four basic math skills to deduce the answer, and be treated to a very satisfying “pop.”
5. Math Ninja HD: You know you’ve interested the boys with just the word “ninja.” You must protect your treehouse from an evil tomato by using math. OK then!
6. Math Bingo Games — A Racing Game: Fun app for such a clunky title. Solve the math problems to keep your race car from crashing.
7. Numbers League: Combining super heroes and comic book graphics with math was a stroke of genius. Kids and adults love this game.
8. Bugs and Buttons: B&B helps pre-schoolers practice counting, but there’s also a bunch of fun, silly games paired with great graphics to keep them entertained.

Spelling and Reading

1. Monkey Preschool Lunchbox: Teach your preschooler to spell with this colorful game where kids help primates prepare packaged provisions.
2. Dr. Seuss’s ABC: Who better to teach your kids to spell than the legend himself? This award-winning app is a hit with parents and kids.
3. Bookworm: This addicting word-search game is great for students who know how to spell and want to expand their vocabularies.
4. Toy Story 3 Read-Along: Record your own voice for playback reading to your toddler, or let him or her fingerpaint or sing along with songs from the film.
5. Shakespeare in Bits: Romeo & Juliet iPad Edition: It’s never too early to expose your kids to the Bard. Well, 8 might be too early, but 9 and up is fine.
6. SUPER WHY! for iPad: From PBS Kids, this app lets you play as any of the four characters from the TV show as they write, rhyme, read, and spell.
7. iWriteWords: iWW lets youngin’s practice handwriting and have completed words read back to them. The colors are bright and the graphics are fun.
8. Textropolis: Best for more-advanced spellers, players build up their own Textropolis by beating word-search games. Whole families play this one together.

Science

1. Star Walk: The amazing app comes to the iPad, enabling kids to tilt the screen to the night sky and learn what constellations they’re looking at.
2. NASA App HD: For all the future astronauts out there, this app lets them keep track of space stations, launch progress, and agency news.
3. Elements Quiz: If you’ve got a chemist in the making, download this cheap app with clean navigation of the periodic table.
4. Discover Dinosaurs: What kid doesn’t love dinosaurs? Tikes collect gold stars by beating quizzes on their way to becoming a T-Rexpert.
5. Discover Your Body HD: Fun sound effects and bright graphics help kids figure out all those fun organs and body parts. Don’t worry, the reproductive system is not featured.
6. I Learn with Poko: Seasons and Weather! HD: Poko is here to teach kids 3 to 7 about weather, seasons, and the calendar.
7. Ultimate Dinopedia: Because kids love dinosaurs so much, here’s another great app with info and terrific artwork on 700+ dinos.

Special Education

1. soundAMP R: If your child is hard of hearing, download this app for him or her that will amplify every sound coming out of the iPad with crystal-clear quality.
2. My First AAC: This app is designed to assist toddlers with speech disorders by letting them point to icons to produce words. Twenty-five bucks is a small price to pay to let your child express himself.
3. Read2Go: People with difficulty reading traditional media are already familiar with Daisy e-reader books. This is the best app for reading them.
4. Model Me Going Places 2: The “Model Me” series are designed for kids with autism or Asperger’s. This app teaches them appropriate behavior in various public settings.
5. Speech with Milo: Verbs: A speech-language pathologist created this helpful app where Milo the mouse performs 100 actions, speaking the word upon completion of each.
6. iReward: iReward is a tool to help parents motivate and reinforce the positive behavior of kids of all abilities, but especially developmentally challenged ones.

Various Subjects

1. The Moron Test: This app wouldn’t be worth introducing that word to your kids if it wasn’t so great. It’s part IQ test, part reflex test, and all fun.
2. WeetWoo!: For $4 you get access to an extensive library of kid-friendly fun and educational videos collected by parents. Parents rave about this app.
3. Fish School: Little synchronized swimming fish hold your kids’ attention while teaching them colors, letters, numbers, and shapes.
4. Tangram XL: Here’s a free app that reproduces the simple joy of tangram puzzles. It’ll strengthen your child’s ability to determine spatial relationships.
5. Nota for iPad: Kids as young as 4 can use this app to learn about musical notes, scales, octaves, chords, and more musicology.
6. My PlayHome: In the 90s, we had Home Ec; today, kids have My PlayHome. It’s a great way for kids to explore and learn about the world of the home.
7. Geo Walk HD — 3D World Fact Book: Hold the world in the palm of your hand with this app that lets you touch 500 places on the globe to bring up amazing facts about our planet and its inhabitants.
8. Toontastic: Bring out your child’s creative side with this app that lets kids create their own cartoons about pirates, princes and princesses, and more.
9. gFlash+ Flashcards & Tests: Great for any age of student, gFlash+ lets you create your own cards, share them across the web, and even quiz yourself from either side of the cards.
10. iStart Spanish: Kids’ brains are like sponges; childhood is the easiest time to learn a language. iStart is the best app to help them do it.
11. Brain Trainer by Lumosity.com: For kids of all ages, this app offers brain teasers to improve your memory and problem-solving skills.

Online Colleges

Finally, a year free of polio

The dream of a polio-free nation has just crossed its biggest ever hurdle. India, which kicked off a mammoth drive in 1995 to make country polio free, will on Friday complete a full year without any polio incident being reported in the country.

The country reported its last case of polio on January 13 last year, from Kolkata in West Bengal. Polio endemic states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar too have recorded a constant drop in the polio cases from 2008 — with no case recorded in the two states in 2011.

“UN officials tell me that hopefully by early next year we shall be able to announce that India is finally free of polio,” wrote UNICEF brand ambassador Amitabh Bachhan last month. The milestone has been greeted with a round of applause. Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, congratulated Indian government for its efforts in protecting the children against this debilitating disease. But the celebration might have to be muted in view of the long road ahead for declaring India a fully polio free country.

“To be totally polio free, the WHO stipulates that there should be no case of paralytic poliomyelitis by wild polio virus in last three calendar years. So, if there are no polio cases by wild polio virus in 2012 and subsequent years we can call India has eradicated poliomyelitis in 2015,” explains Dr AK Dutta, head of the department of paediatrics at Kalawati SC Hospital, Delhi.

Polio is usually caused by wild polio virus — the virus that is circulating in the environment. And the polio vaccine is prepared by passing the same virus through various culture mediums. In some patients whose immunity is very poor, this vaccine virus passes through their gut and enters the environment. Once in open environment, it transforms into wild virus and infects other people. This is called vaccine derived paralytic poliomyelitis. And this poses a big challenge.

“Once wild polio virus is eradicated from the country, the major issue of concern is that of acute poliomyelitis. The cases are occurring even now and outnumbering wild poliomyelitis cases even in India. Once polio is eradicated there will be a need for injectable polio vaccine in the programme along with Diphtheria Pertussis and Tetanus (DPT) vaccine so that we can control vaccine associated and vaccine derived poliomyelitis,” says Dr Dutta.

Dr AP Dubey, head of the department of paediatrics, Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC), Delhi, says, “The pulse polio programme has been very effective in minimising the polio cases. We have been able to curtail this menace only because of constant and excellent efforts of the government of India.”

Sounding a caution for young parents, Dr Vandana Kent, senior paediatrician at Rockland Hospital, says, “Once couples become parents, they should be aware about the vaccination schedules and they should get their children immunized on time against this deadly disease.”

Ankita Chakrabarty/ Zee Research Group
New Delhi DNA, Bombay : Jan 13, 2012

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives license.

Online library opened to address shortage of Braille books

On the occasion of Louie Braille’s 203rd birthday, also known as World Braille Day, a special function was organised by the National Institute of the Visually Handicapped (NIVH) and Xavier’s Research Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC) at the Ali Yaver Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped in Bandra Reclamation.

A major initiative designed to boost the education of the visually challenged, in the form of the Online Braille Library was launched. Union minister for social justice and empowerment, Mukul Wasnik was the chief guest.

K Ramkrishna, general secretary of the National Association for the Blind, said, “There are 2,82,800 visually challenged people seeking education in the country. Out of that, only about 29,000 get a regular supply of Braille books,” he said. He added that even though India has a Braille printing capacity of 13 crore pages annually, only about 2 crore Braille pages get printed every year.

The reason for this disparity, said Ramkrishna, was the extra cost of printing in Braille. “Because of the extra pages, special paper and cost of editing a page in Braille is six and a half times more expensive to print than a normal page.”

After this sobering perspective, the website was formally launched. Dipendra Manocha, director of the NGO Sakham, spent some time going through the various features of the website which would alleviate some of the problems outlined by Ramkrishna. The website would grow to have 12,000 books in 13 different languages.

Wasnik said that his own ministry had made its website accessible to the visually challenged and that the finance ministry had followed suit. “I’ve asked all other ministries to do the same, but it will take some time,” he said.

 DNA Published Date:  Jan 05, 2012

Post Script:

The link for Online Braille Library National Institute for the Visually Handicapped  (Under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt. of India is http://www.oblindia.org/en/login

ATM devised for sightless customers

Bella Jaisinghani TNN

Mumbai: A group of organizations working to make the city disabled-friendly would have made Louis Braille proud on his birth anniversary Wednesday. Having devised a range of software programmes and gadgets that could be used by visually handicapped people, they unveiled the collection at a special function in Bandra, held to mark his birthday. Among them was an automatic teller machine (ATM) that blind people can use to withdraw money.

“We inaugurated an online Braille library that allows students to download files and print them to read. There is a full display of access technology like low-vision aids and teaching aids,” said Sam Taraporevala, head of sociology at the Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC). The institute partnered the National Association of Visually Handicapped (NIVH), Dehradun, in this exhibition.

NCR Corporation, which manufactures ATMs, demonstrated a machine that can be used by sightless customers. “It is a regular ATM fitted with auto-guidance software,” said Nagesh Nayak, professional services practice manager of NCR. “One can use a regular headphone and plug it into the jack to receive instructions and operate the numeric keypad on the machine.” Operative buttons like ‘Enter’ and ‘Cancel’ are embossed and codified.

It would help to have Braille stickers affixed to the numeric keypad, though Nayak says that just about 10% sightless people read the script. “The raised dot on the number 5, which is a feature of most keypads, comes in handy to detect the rest of the numbers. People who go blind later in life are scarcely familiar with Braille, it is mostly the young who read it,” he said. As for security, should a sighted person catch a glimpse of the screen while a visually-challeged person is operating the machine, all he would see is a blank screen.

Unfortunately, banks have been slow to take to this technology primarily for the initial investment it would entail. “However, the Reserve Bank of India has issued guidelines to say that one-third of all the new ATMs must be accessible to the blind,” says Taraporevala.

Times Of India

Sound Sense

It was not easy for 25-year-old Garima Goyal to get three post-graduate degrees. But the coursework, deadlines and submissions were not the deterrent. The biggest challenge she faced was the lack of easy access to the prescribed texts in a format she could study after she started to lose her sight at 15. “Most of my books were not available in audio formats due to copyright issues,” she reveals. “Moreover, college notes are often hand-written or photo-copied. So often, I had to get someone to type them out in a legible format,” she adds.

The investment in her education was immense. Books, notes and prescribed texts had to be scanned before putting them through a software that would convert them into audio. While many visually-impaired students like Goyal have struggled over the years to keep pace with their sighted classmates, the launch of an online library dedicated to higher education might make things easier.

On January 4, the birthday of Louis Braille, who invented the six-dot language for the blind, the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped (NIVH) will launch the Online Braille Library at the Ali Yawar Jung Institute for the Hearing Handicapped in Bandra. With over 12,000 titles in 14 different languages, it is dedicated to help visually-impaired post-graduate students with prescribed texts from numerous colleges across India without any charge. By offering reading formats in Braille as well as audio, the library will cater to students in subjects ranging from mathematics and IT to history and literature.

“We launched the initiative on this very day in 2009,” smiles Anuradha Mohit, director of NIVH. “It took close to 18 months to convert all the texts into a Unicode font, which can be read in Braille as well as audio.” The Online Braille Library will thus be a resource that allows students to read in Braille using an add-on computer equipment called Refreshable Braille Display, and in audio using voice software such as JAWS.

Mohit, who is visually-challenged herself, explains the focus on texts for post-graduate studies. “A book in any language becomes twice as large when it is translated into Braille. The logistical complications and the time involved often discourages them from pursuing degrees in higher education,” she reveals. “Storing them becomes a problem for individuals and university libraries,” she adds.

NIVH will begin the programme by training the staff and visually-impaired students from over 100 universities and libraries to use the portal. The users can enroll through the local libraries that are affiliated with NIVH.

The online texts for the educated blind isn’t the library’s only unique selling point. Their section titled ‘Common Catalogue’ will have access to all the books — reference, study, fiction and children’s books — available with Braille publishers and libraries across the country. “This will make it easier for both students and parents to locate the required book and approach the right publisher for a copy,” says Mohit. “We want to make sure that every visually-impaired person in India has the opportunity to access Braille literature,” she adds.

According to Sushmeetha B Bubna, the founder-director of Voice Vision, an organisation that trains visually-impaired people to work on computers, this initiative will help people in cities as well as rural areas. “People in cities may have their smartphones and laptop software to read, but Braille is very important to people in rural areas. This initiative will help not just the visually-impaired, but also the hearing-impaired,” she says.

In iPad, autistic children find a rewarding, learning tool

Ten-year-old Deepak Ramesh loves a good puzzle. Having dragged a dozen jigsaw pieces — head, tail, neck, legs — into place, he squeals when a robotic voice spells out the name of the animal. “Giraffe,” he echoes, then starts to piece together an elephant on his latest gadget: the iPad.

For the last two months, Deepak and 14 other autistic children have been swiping, pinching and tapping their way to a better life. Five days a week, one-and-a-half hours each day, they come to Prayas, a computer and iPad training centre for such children on the campus of the Spastics Society of Karnataka in Bangalore. Parents and teachers associated with the project, launched in July 2011 by the Autism Society of India in collaboration with SAP Labs India, a software applications research company, say the iPad has already had a positive effect.

Kavita Sharma, herself the mother of an autistic child, manages Prayas and says such children have a penchant for technology. “There are dozens of visually striking and easy-to-follow iPad applications — ranging from voice-assisted writing for early learners to Wordsearch, which involves scanning a screen full of letters for words, to doodling apps — that help special children improve their cognitive skills while also enjoying the pleasure of a challenge,” says Sharma. “There is a free app called Talking Tom, for instance. It’s a cat that repeats whatever you say. A five-year-old here has learned to speak much better by exploring his voice through the app.”

The centre, with half a dozen computers and seven iPads loaded with handpicked applications, offers a five-month course.

“We have got requests for five or six more labs, but first, we want to see how this one goes,” says V R Ferose, MD, SAP Labs India. The idea began as a series of monthly iPad workshops for parents and teachers working with autistic children, conducted by SAP Labs volunteers from their Whitefield campus. “One out of every 250 children born in India is autistic. Technology can be an enabler in their learning and help make them independent. Since the points of action and reaction are the same in the iPad, unlike in a computer where you type on the keyboard and the output appears on the screen, it is a great platform for these children to learn,” says Ferose. SAP Labs plans to modify existing iPad apps and to build customised content for special educators and parents in India.

At Prayas, Preksha, 21, a cheerful woman who can sing all ABBA and Phil Collins numbers from memory, now has an iPad of her own. “We went to a SAP Labs workshop and I thought I should get her one. She loves reading epapers and abridged Shakespeare ebooks on her iPad and she has recently discovered photography,” says Vani Rajendran, her mother.

Shobha Ramesh, Deepak’s mother, says she is happy with his progress. “He draws better, his typing skills have improved. He doesn’t like it if I correct him. When he enters a wrong input on the iPad and it doesn’t accept it, he corrects himself,” she says. Deepak’s favourite apps are puzzles and Wordsearch, and he is good at both.

On a Monday morning, Sharma’s son, 15-year-old Ujjwal, is busy animating a butterfly on a desktop computer. The gadget-savvy teen prefers the PC for learning and uses his iPad to connect with friends on Facebook and to download music.

For some children, the iPad is like a walk in the garden — it destresses and entertains. Mayank Misra, a 10-year-old non-verbal child, counts strawberries and grapes on an iPad. “He is going through a low, he has been reticent of late,” says Sonal Joshi, staff member. Despite being good at typing, maths and pattern recognition, a moody Mayank refuses to go anywhere near a PC. “He likes to sit here on this bench and play games on the iPad,” Joshi says.  

Priya Shah, a special educator who homeschools her 10-year-old son Tarun, says autistic children tend to fixate on things. “They like gadgets, so they may fixate on the iPad too. The challenge is to channel this enthusiasm and help them get better at dealing with life.”

The Indian Express

In iPad, autistic children find a rewarding, learning tool

Ten-year-old Deepak Ramesh loves a good puzzle. Having dragged a dozen jigsaw pieces — head, tail, neck, legs — into place, he squeals when a robotic voice spells out the name of the animal. “Giraffe,” he echoes, then starts to piece together an elephant on his latest gadget: the iPad.

For the last two months, Deepak and 14 other autistic children have been swiping, pinching and tapping their way to a better life. Five days a week, one-and-a-half hours each day, they come to Prayas, a computer and iPad training centre for such children on the campus of the Spastics Society of Karnataka in Bangalore. Parents and teachers associated with the project, launched in July 2011 by the Autism Society of India in collaboration with SAP Labs India, a software applications research company, say the iPad has already had a positive effect.

Kavita Sharma, herself the mother of an autistic child, manages Prayas and says such children have a penchant for technology. “There are dozens of visually striking and easy-to-follow iPad applications — ranging from voice-assisted writing for early learners to Wordsearch, which involves scanning a screen full of letters for words, to doodling apps — that help special children improve their cognitive skills while also enjoying the pleasure of a challenge,” says Sharma. “There is a free app called Talking Tom, for instance. It’s a cat that repeats whatever you say. A five-year-old here has learned to speak much better by exploring his voice through the app.”

The centre, with half a dozen computers and seven iPads loaded with handpicked applications, offers a five-month course.

“We have got requests for five or six more labs, but first, we want to see how this one goes,” says V R Ferose, MD, SAP Labs India. The idea began as a series of monthly iPad workshops for parents and teachers working with autistic children, conducted by SAP Labs volunteers from their Whitefield campus. “One out of every 250 children born in India is autistic. Technology can be an enabler in their learning and help make them independent. Since the points of action and reaction are the same in the iPad, unlike in a computer where you type on the keyboard and the output appears on the screen, it is a great platform for these children to learn,” says Ferose. SAP Labs plans to modify existing iPad apps and to build customised content for special educators and parents in India.

At Prayas, Preksha, 21, a cheerful woman who can sing all ABBA and Phil Collins numbers from memory, now has an iPad of her own. “We went to a SAP Labs workshop and I thought I should get her one. She loves reading epapers and abridged Shakespeare ebooks on her iPad and she has recently discovered photography,” says Vani Rajendran, her mother.

Shobha Ramesh, Deepak’s mother, says she is happy with his progress. “He draws better, his typing skills have improved. He doesn’t like it if I correct him. When he enters a wrong input on the iPad and it doesn’t accept it, he corrects himself,” she says. Deepak’s favourite apps are puzzles and Wordsearch, and he is good at both.

On a Monday morning, Sharma’s son, 15-year-old Ujjwal, is busy animating a butterfly on a desktop computer. The gadget-savvy teen prefers the PC for learning and uses his iPad to connect with friends on Facebook and to download music.

For some children, the iPad is like a walk in the garden — it destresses and entertains. Mayank Misra, a 10-year-old non-verbal child, counts strawberries and grapes on an iPad. “He is going through a low, he has been reticent of late,” says Sonal Joshi, staff member. Despite being good at typing, maths and pattern recognition, a moody Mayank refuses to go anywhere near a PC. “He likes to sit here on this bench and play games on the iPad,” Joshi says.  

Priya Shah, a special educator who homeschools her 10-year-old son Tarun, says autistic children tend to fixate on things. “They like gadgets, so they may fixate on the iPad too. The challenge is to channel this enthusiasm and help them get better at dealing with life.”

The Indian Express

4 Ways iPads Are Changing the Lives of People With Disabilities

Noah Rahman has moderate Cerebral Palsy affecting his communication, cognition and upper and lower body movement. When he turned two, his language, cognitive ability and fine motor skills were diagnosed by a developmental specialist as being at least 12 months behind. Then Noah got an iPad.

Four months later, his language and cognition were on par with his age level. His fine motor skills had made significant leaps.

Today, the three-year-old (pictured at right with his father) spends an hour or two on his iPad each day. He switches his apps between reading and writing in English, Arabic and Spanish. In the fall, he’ll enter a classroom of five-year-olds. “The iPad unlocked his motivation and his desire because it’s fun,” says his dad Sami Rahman, co-founder of SNApps4Kids, a community of parents, therapists and educators sharing their experiences using the iPad, iPod touch, iPhone and Android to help children with special needs.

SNApps4Kids taps into a burgeoning trend for people with disabilities. Touch devices — most notably the iPad — are revolutionizing the lives of children, adults and seniors with special needs. Rahman estimates some 40,000 apps have been developed for this demographic.

“Touch has made it exceptionally accessible — everyone has an iPad, everyone has an iPod,” says Michelle Diament, cofounder of Disability Scoop, a source for news relating to developmental disabilities. “If you’re someone with a disability, having something that other people are using makes you feel like part of the in-crowd.”

For people lacking motor skills, touch screens are more intuitive devices. There is no mouse, keyboard or pen intercepting their communication with the screen. Larger platforms, like iPads, are preferred over smaller iOSand Android devices for ease-of-use and, of course, the cool factor.

Here are four ways that touch devices are changing the lives of people with disabilities:

As a Communicator

Before the iPad and other similar devices, using touch-to-speak technology was incredibly expensive, costing around $8,000. Now, it only costs $499 for an iPad and $189.99 for a thorough touch-to-speak app likeProloquo2Go.  That relative affordability has made the technology more available for children and adults that can’t use their voice. With the simple touch of an iPad, a hungry non-verbal person can communicate exactly what he or she would like to eat. Those apps can then be customized with photos or features to suit an individual’s life and needs. Another option is Assistive Chat, which predicts several sentence completion options. For the most severely disabled people, Yes|No is a simple app that allows individuals to voice their preference in yes-or-no responses.

“It gives dignity back to people who are more disabled,” says Vicki Windham, a special education teacher in the Clarkstown Central School District who trains people of all ages to make the most of their iPads. Windhamreviews apps for people with a variety of special needs.

For hard-of-hearing iPad users, soundAmp R amplifies sound in a variety of situations. Users can also record lectures or presentations they want to listen to again later.

As a Therapeutic Device

SNApps4Kids co-founder Cristen Reat’s son Vincent was born with Down syndrome, which can also lead to low-muscle mass. While he can walk, Reat describes his son as a Buddha that prefers to sit still most of the time. Throughout his life, Vincent’s therapists and parents have tried to help him be more active. It was not until his physical therapist placed an iPad on a treadmill that Vincent was motivated to walk. He now stays on for nine and a half minutes, interacting with his iPad while he’s in motion.

In addition to increasing his gross motor ability to walk, Vincent’s iPad has helped his fine motor skills. For Vincent, computers and older technology required visual shifting — between a mouse or keyboard and the screen. On an iPad, Vincent can watch as one of his fingers writes directly on the screen to make selections.

Similarly, Noah Rahman has shown motor improvement. After playing the Elmo Loves ABCs app on his iPad, he can write the entire alphabet, requiring sophisticated finger isolation. As a three-year-old, this puts him well above his grade level. “First it was ‘do it for me,’ then it was ‘do it with me,’ now he does it by himself,” says Noah’s father.

As an Educational Tool

Years ago, one of Jeremy Brown’s autistic elementary school students picked up his iPhone off his desk and began navigating the iOS with ease. “It’s like a fish to water,” says Brown, a teacher for autistic elementary school students, of his students’ interactions with touch technology.

Brown is immersed in online discussions of technology and special education, moderating the Facebook groupiTeach Special Education, collaborating on the podcast EdCeptional and coauthoring the blog Teaching All Students. While use of the iPad in classrooms is not yet approved in his school district, he believes the iPad is a great supplemental method of instruction, estimating 80% to 90% of his students with autism see great results when using iOS devices. Brown hopes his school district and others across the country will approve iPads in the classroom.

While no one advocates replacing traditional instruction, a number of apps do address academic subjects from math to language to reading and writing. In October 2010, Apple even featured an “Apps for Special Education” section in the App Store.

Brown encourages parents to separate their children’s recreational uses of the iPad from those in the classroom. Some students may watch YouTube videos on the school bus but while they’re at school they know Mr. Brown’s iPads are only for education.

As a Behavior Monitor

Behavior Tracker Pro is a popular app for parents, therapists and teachers to quantify the behavioural progress of children with special needs. In addition to taking notes, good and bad behaviours can be video recorded and later reviewed. The app automatically turns that input into visual graphs and charts.

High school teacher Vicki Windman notes that the iPad can also be a great way to strengthen and reinforce memory for seniors with Alzheimer’s or memory loss. Still, she warns that touch technology is not a miracle drug: “You’re not curing Alzheimer’s. Parents challenge me all the time — they want a cure. It’s no cure.”

That doesn’t mean it can’t help. Apps like Medication Reminder tell users when it’s time to take medication.Memory Practice, a memory strengthening app, was created for the developer’s mother shortly after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Windman’s father uses an app called Nudge, which gives him a persistent reminder every fifteen minutes to accomplish lapsed tasks on his to-do list.

Long-Roads Ahead

Despite these successes, SNApps4Kids cofounder Cristen Reat recommends a measured approach. “Just because you buy a device doesn’t mean it’s going to change anything,” she says.

Rahman agrees. He says that viewing the iPad as the solution is the backwards approach. “We are big advocates that the user needs to understand the objectives first before you pick the technology,” Rahman says. “We’re not just putting [our son] in front of an iPad and walking away. That’s the real key.”

ENABLE AND EMPOWER

The draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill breaks new ground in protecting the civil and political rights of the disabled, says Hemchhaya De

Syed Sallauddin Pasha feels that India needs an Anna Hazare to fight for disability rights. The art therapist-cum-classical dance trainer would know what an uphill task it is for persons with disabilities to make their mark. He has trained about 150 dancers with disabilities in his Delhi-based organisation, Ability Unlimited Foundation, known for its exquisite “Bharatanatyam on wheels” performed by dancers on wheelchairs.

“I have written several times to leading government organisations like Sangeet Natak Akademy to help differently-abled artistes in India participate in premier art festivals across the country,” says Pasha. “But unfortunately, unlike government-backed initiatives in the West, artistes with disabilities in this country are given short shrift.”

Pasha hopes the government will pass stronger laws to end such social inequalities. And he feels the recently drafted Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPD) Bill, 2010, might just be the answer to his prayers.

In April last year, the ministry of social justice and empowerment appointed a committee to prepare a draft RPD Bill that seeks to replace the existing Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act of 1995. After a year of exhaustive state and national-level discussions with various stakeholders, the committee — comprising disability rights activists, government representatives, legal scholars and medical professionals — has submitted the final draft of the bill to the ministry.

“We have received the final draft from the committee we appointed. We’ll now follow the usual legislative process, such as inviting suggestions from state governments and sending them to a parliamentary standing committee, before it’s tabled in Parliament,” says a senior official at the ministry who does not wish to be named.

“This is a standard practice with all bills,” says Sudha Kaul, head of the Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy, Calcutta, under whose chairpersonship the committee drafted the bill. “The proposed law seeks to put in place a charter of rights in accordance with the mandate of the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) to which India is a signatory.”

The UNCRPD — which was adopted on December 13, 2006, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York — speaks of a “paradigm shift” in attitudes towards persons with disabilities. It says that the disabled should be seen not as objects of charity but as “subjects” who are free to exercise their rights like any other individual in society. The legislation proposed is inspired by these UNCRPD principles.

In addition to the 1995 Act, India has other disability-specific laws like the National Trust Act, which is concerned with the welfare of people with autism, cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities, and the Rehabilitation Council of India Act that regulates the training of rehabilitation professionals in the disability sector. Nevertheless, experts say these laws are narrow in scope. They stress that the need of the hour is a more comprehensive, rights-based law for persons with disabilities who constitute about two per cent of the Indian population.

Says Amita Dhanda, professor and head, Centre for Disability Studies, Nalsar University of Law, Hyderabad, who was part of the team which drafted the RPD Bill, “Yes, we have laws, but they are welfare-oriented. We do not have a rights-based law in the country and consequently the present legislation is required.” She adds that the existing disability law makes room for some of the socio-economic rights recognised by the UNCRPD such as education and employment. “But the law is totally silent on the issue of equality and non-discrimination. It does not look at the practical implementation of civil-political rights,” she says.

The draft RPD Bill, on the other hand, seems to be breaking substantial new grounds. Take the provision for service animals — the first time that such a provision has been included in a law for disabled people. Section 82 of the draft bill says, “The appropriate governments and establishments shall permit and facilitate the use of service animals by persons with disabilities on roads, buildings, all transport systems, public facility or service.” Furthermore, a person with disability will have the right “to be accompanied by a service animal without being required to pay an extra charge”.

The proposed law is also geared to the protection of the rights of women and children with disabilities. Experts say that women with disabilities are often forced to opt for sterilisation. Section 30 of the draft bill addresses this problem. It states, “Persons with disabilities, particularly women and children with disabilities, shall have the right to retain their fertility” and “no person with disability shall be subject to any medical procedure which leads to or could lead to infertility without their free and informed consent”.

Any violation of this will attract imprisonment and a fine. As Section 153 specifies, “whoever performs, conducts or directs any medical procedure to be performed on a woman with disability which leads to or is likely to lead to termination of pregnancy without her express consent” could face 10 years in jail along with a fine. And any caregiver, a parent or a guardian, who fails to prevent such wrongful medical procedure is also liable to be imprisoned and fined. Moreover, there is a provision for disabled persons to opt for postal ballot if they cannot vote in person, and for electoral booths to be made completely accessible to them. The bill also proposes 7 per cent reservation in higher education for the disabled, raising it from the current one per cent.

Most social activists who work with disabled persons are happy with the draft bill. Says Bhargavi Davar, director, Centre for Advocacy in Mental Health, Pune, “It is a very comprehensive legislation, and has covered vast new areas. We hope the sheer scope of the new legislation will lead to the immediate formation of a ministry for disability affairs, which the sector has been asking for, for a long time.”

However, one particular provision in the draft bill has come in for considerable criticism. This relates to “limited guardianship” or a joint decision-making process between a person with disability and his or her guardian. “The limitations on legal capacity compromises all the rights or freedoms promised in the draft,” insists Davar.

The drafting panel contends that the proposed bill, like the UNCRPD, recognises that all persons with disabilities can exercise legal capacity on an equal basis with others in all areas of life. “However, there is a duty on the part of appropriate governments to provide support. The choice to accept or refuse that support is with persons with disabilities,” says Dhanda. She adds that a number of persons with disabilities are in plenary guardianship today. A plenary guardian is one who takes decisions in the best interest of the person with disabilities but without consulting him or her. “The bill has replaced this system with limited guardianship,” says Dhanda. “Insofar as limited guardianship is required to operate on mutual understanding and trust, it is in consonance with the rights-based orientation of the law.”

On the whole, there is little doubt that the RPD Bill will usher a new era in disability rights in the country. For the differently abled, it may be the beginning of a better life.

The Telegraph

Disabling Disability

Exhibition highlights technology to aid people with impaired hearing and eyesight

Technology has come to the aid of people with disabilities, thanks to the ingenuity of university students whose gadgets, soon to go on view at i-CREATe 2011, could help bridge gaps in their communication with other people and enable them to do their daily chores on their own.  i-CREATe stands for International Convention for Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology, and it is being organised by the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec) with cooperation from the Singapore-based Therapeutic, Assistive & Rehabilitative Technology Centre.

The exhibition will feature cutting-edge technology and innovations that are the result of research projects focussing on people with disabilities, such as impaired hearing and eyesight, undertaken by students in Thailand and overseas. There will also be workshops and seminars.  One highlight is the Student Design Challenge forum that will showcase, among others, communication software, a sign-language translator, a brain-controlled wheelchair, and a universal standing wheelchair for children with cerebral palsy.  The communication software is called CPEeK-Up (pronounced "speak up") and was developed by Kasetsart University’s Faculty of Engineering. It combines automatic speech synthesis, Bluetooth technology and self-designed hardware to simulate communication assistance that serves as an intermediary between interlocutors. This software connects to a phone via Bluetooth and the designed hardware, and conveys speech signals to a PC. Handicapped people can engage in conversation using then text-based interface. The system then synthesises speech and sends it to the person the user is conversing with.

This hybrid EEG-HEG based neuro feedback device can help with disorders associated with hyperactivity.  Phiradet Bangcharoensap, part the team that developed the software, said it is an automatic telecommunications relay service program that helps people with speech disorders to be able to talk to others via the phone.  The program can synthesise both Thai and English, in male or female voices, and features spell-checking and auto vocabulary guessing. It also has a transliteration service supporting speech synthesis of mixed up Thai-English text. 

Phiradet said the existing telecommunications relay service (TRS) allows people with speech disorder to access telecommunication technologies, and they typically use operators, known as communication assistance (CA), to relay conversations between a handicapped person and an interlocutor. It thus may be discomforting in terms of privacy.

Phiradet explained that the program will improve the access of people with disabilities to today’s communication technologies and facilitate their ability to earn.  "Because this entire software is based on an automatic system, it can lower the cost of deploying TRS in Thailand and reduce privacy concerns," he said.   

This program, with text-to-speech technology, helps handicapped people communicate by connecting their phones via Bluetooth technology.  Mahidol University’s Brain Computer Interface Laboratory (BCIL) will showcase two gadgets. The first is Hybrid EEG-HEG, a neuro feedback device that helps in the treatment of hyperactivity disorder.  Supassorn Rodrak, one of the team that developed the device, explained that Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a brain disorder that affects 6.5% of children in Thailand. The current method for treatment is by drugs, but that generally leads to side effects such as vomiting, dizziness and headaches. Neuro feedback is an alternative treatment that can beat these side effects. 

She said the signals often employed in neuro feedback are electroencephalogram (EEG) and hemoencephagram (HEG).  EEG is brain wave that changes its frequency in conjunction with brain activities. HEG is the measurement of blood flow in the brain that changes with oxygenation of blood. Both signals have their advantages and drawbacks.  To eliminate the disadvantages of both signals, her team has proposed the Hybrid EEG-HEG neuro feedback device that employs both signals to achieve the highest accuracy. The hybrid system can efficiently eliminate artifact problems occurring when using only the EEG. Moreover, the system can improve the low changing rate when using only HEG. 

A brain-controlled wheelchair.  Besides ADHD, the device can also serve those suffering from autism or Alzheimer’s disease, and general people who want to exercise their brain. The neuro feedback is a standalone system that can be deployed both at hospital or at home.  The other project from Mahidol University is the brain-controlled wheelchair developed by its PhD students. It makes use of a hybrid EEG and electrooculogram (EOG) brain-computer interface system for practical machine control.  Yunyong Punsawad, one of the team that developed it, pointed out that the problems with existing brain-computer interface (BCI) systems are to do with practical issues such as accuracy of various subjects, the number of sensors, and the time involved for training.

The team has proposed a hybrid framework for the brain-computer interface to be controlled by machine. The EOG is employed to control a turn to left or right while the electro dhencephalogram (EEG) is used to control forward and backward motion, or to bring it to a halt. By using just two- channel biosignals, an average accuracy of more than 95% can be achieved, said Yunyong.   

This wheelchair for children with cerebral palsy is designed to operate in both reclining and standing positions.  Automatic control was added in the system to enhance efficiency of movement, accomplished via an automatic forward and prevention module. Infrared sensors are used to detect obstacles while the wheelchair is in motion. Line tracking is a simple, automatic forward method. The system design is suitable and takes less time to set up.  Meanwhile, a team from Thammasat University will unveil a universal standing wheelchair for children with cerebral palsy. The device can be adjusted to recline or stand erect, and it’s meant for children with weak muscles.

The wheelchair is designed for easy use. It comes with a trolley so that parents can adjust to standing position without the need to move the child.  Several other innovative items will be on view at i-CREATe 2011 that runs from July 21-23 the Swissotel, Nai Lert Park, in Bangkok, with HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presiding over the formal opening on July 22.

Gaming helps treat brain stroke victims

Spanish scientists have created a robotic machine that integrates with a gaming  system to rehabilitate people suffering from neuromuscular disability while making therapy fun

Fifteen million people throughout the world suffer from a stroke every year and 5 million are left with chronic disabilities. Researchers have designed a robotic gaming system for treating neuromuscular disability amongst these patients.  The patient will be able to enhance his or her arm mobility by means of a portable robotic device and a software platform with videogames for tele-rehabilitation, so that the doctor can carry out the online monitoring of these exercises through the quantitative results obtained from the games.

The ArmAssist project is currently testing in a hospital, to find out the degree of satisfaction of patients who have suffered a brain stroke. The project was initiated by FIK, a business initiative focused on research into the field of ageing and disability.

THE DEVICE AND VIDEOGAMES

ArmAssist consists of a mobile-based device that is connected to the user through a hand brace that records and measures the movements of the shoulder and the elbow. This mobile base is connected to a standard computer that links the movements carried out by the arm to comply with the demands of the videogames developed for the rehabilitation of the upper limbs. The exercises proposed for favouring the rehabilitation of the patient are of two kinds: evaluation and training.

The evaluation ones are short and which should be undertaken every day at the beginning and the end of the training session. These videogames train independently the range of motion, force, distance and of precision, so that the therapist can evaluate the progress of the patient.  For their part, the training games last longer. The objective is precisely to motivate the patient, training the arm over a longer period. These games also integrate a cognitive component in order to train also this aspect. Amongst these videogames, there are puzzles, memory games and card solitaire games.

REMOTE THERAPISTS

Using tele-rehabilitation software that this assistive arm includes, a link is also developed between the patient and the therapist, which enables training him or her in their homes, and more independently.  While the doctor can ensure the patient is doing the exercises correctly by using the computer programme with an Internet connection.

Mumbai Mirror Bureau mirrorfeedback@indiatimes.com

Experts script design principles for India

New Delhi, June 22 (IANS) A nine-member panel of experts under the aegis of the National Institute of Design (NID) has prepared guidelines to help designers and manufacturers tool their wares to suit the Indian social landscape and open wider marketing avenues.  At a media interface here Tuesday, the panel authors said the Universal Design India Principles (UDIP) are based on usability, equitability, culture, economy and aesthetics.

The UDIP have been modelled on the seven standard global design principles, keeping the Indian cultural context in mind.  According to a member of the panel, Professor Abir Mullick of Georgia Institute of Technology and a scholar in residence at the NID, "The Indian design principles were inspired by Tagore’s ideal – the problem is not how to wipe out all differences, but how to unite with the differences intact". "Our primary focus is to make design equitable and democratic so that it becomes an uniting force. Indian designs will have to ensure usability because Indians are pragmatic by nature. We don’t throw away goods if they can be used."

"Aesthetics has to be crucial to Indian design to reflect the country’s cultural heritage and designs have to be economical. It should be unique to the cultural ambience of India," Mullick told IANS.  The contemporary idea of design as we know now has come from the West. Our design has been intrinsic, our craftsmen were designers. But India is now a global economy and has to interpret traditional design in the contemporary language to make it distinctive. The country is now paying attention to the fact," Mullick said.

He said innovation was the plank on which the Indian design movement would ride.  Disability is at the forefront of the design movement in India – with specially designed products for the disabled driving the design business, Mullick said.  Citing Census 2011 statistics, he said India "has 2.19 crore people with disabilities, constituting 2.13 per cent of the total population and nearly one-third of the global population of the disabled".  "Moreover, the elderly population in the country was the second largest with high family dependency, half of which have at least one kind of dependency. Design has to be accessible to them," he said.  Other members of the UDIP authors’ panel include experts from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the NID and the School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal.

Manglogrean.com

Berkeley-based non-profit sues CNN.com for not captioning online videos

By Josh Richman, Oakland Tribune

A Berkeley-based non-profit sued global media and entertainment giant Time Warner on Wednesday in Alameda County Superior Court, claiming CNN.com discriminates against the deaf or hard-of-hearing by not providing any captioning of its online videos. Disability Rights Advocates is representing the Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness and three individual plaintiffs in what they call a first-of-its- kind lawsuit. The Oakland firm of Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian is also representing the plaintiffs.

"Time Warner’s refusal to provide captioning of its videos is astounding given how central the Internet is in today’s communication environment," DRA attorney Anna Levine said in a news release. "The lack of captioned videos means that millions of people with hearing loss will continue to be denied equal access to video news content on CNN.com." The lawsuit alleges violations of California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act and Disabled Persons Act. A CNN spokeswoman said Wednesday that because  the company has not yet been served with the lawsuit, it won’t comment.

Hayward resident Daniel Jacob, 36, is among the three individual plaintiffs. "The era of waiting for the 6 o’clock news is over," he said in the news release. "I simply want an equal opportunity to view news videos on CNN.com‘s website at my convenience like most people can."  DRA said CNN.com viewership rises dramatically when breaking news becomes available. For example, according to its own website, CNN.comreceived 67 million global page views in a single day, March 12, after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Almost every user who visited CNN.comthat day watched a video; according to its own website, CNN.com received 60 million global video starts that day.

The Hearing Loss Association of America reports that about 36 million American adults report some degree of hearing loss; about 1 million are functionally deaf. Federal law already requires that broadcast and cable television content be closed captioned.

MercuryNews.com

Piercing a Tongue, in the Name of Mobility

By EMMA G. FITZSIMMONS

CHICAGO — Martin Mireles says his mother was not happy with his tongue piercing: It didn’t fit his image as a former church youth leader.  But as Mr. Mireles told her, it was for research. Paralyzed from a spinal cord injury since he was shot in the neck almost two decades ago, he was recently fitted with a magnetic stud that allows him to steer his wheelchair with his tongue. Now he is helping researchers at the North-western University School of Medicine here in a clinical trial of the technology, being financed with almost $1 million in federal stimulus funds.

Mr. Mireles, 37, tested the equipment one recent afternoon by guiding a wheelchair through an obstacle course lined with trash cans. Mouth closed, he shifted the magnet to travel forward and backward, left and right. The study was one of about 200 projects selected from more than 20,000 applicants. “There was a ‘wow’ factor here,” said Naomi Kleitman, a program director at the National Institutes of Health and an expert on spinal cord injury research. “This is kind of a cool idea. The question is: Will it work well enough not to just be cool, but to be practical too?”

A quarter-million Americans have severe spinal cord injuries, and experts estimate that there are about 10,000 new injuries each year. Millions more have some form of paralysis from an array of conditions, including stroke, multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. Wheelchair users do have several options now, including the “sip and puff” technology, used by the actor Christopher Reeve before his death in 2004, in which the chair is steered by breathing through a straw. But Maysam Ghovanloo, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, wanted to create a technology that would be more aesthetically pleasing — without a straw obscuring the face — and more intuitive for users, with better control and greater flexibility.

After working on the tongue drive system for about five years, Dr. Ghovanloo is now conducting the clinical trials with North-western, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and the Shepherd Centre in Atlanta. To operate the system, the user wears a headset with sensors that pick up magnetic signals from the tongue ring. Moving the tongue to the mouth’s upper left corner, for instance, moves the wheelchair forward. (The researchers hope that in the future, touching each tooth could signal a different command, from turning on the television to answering the phone to opening a door.)

Researchers decided to use the tongue because they wanted to take advantage of some of the functions a severely disabled person still had. The tongue does not tire easily, they said, and it is not usually affected by a spinal cord injury because it is directly connected to the brain through a cranial nerve. At first they just glued the magnet to the user’s tongue, but it often fell off after a few hours. The idea for the piercing came from Dr. Anne Laumann, an associate professor of dermatology at North-western who had studied body art.

Ann Carias, a nondisabled volunteer who had her tongue pierced for the study, said it hurt for a few days but healed faster than she expected. When she tested the wheelchair, she said it became easier to steer the more she used it. Ms. Carias, a 30-year-old Ph.D. student who has several other piercings and large tattoos, said she sometimes felt judged because of her piercings. She thinks the technology will give disabled people more freedom — and could have a side benefit for others as well.

“I think it’s great that something taboo can be used for therapeutic reasons,” she said.

New York Times

40 Amazing iPad Apps for the Learning Disabled

The iPad is a device that many lust after as a shiny new toy, but many people with disabilities can benefit from what it has to offer as a functional tool. Students with learning disabilities can enhance and develop their communication skills, learn how to adapt to situations, and develop social skills. Check out this collection of iPad apps that can make a difference in the life of a learning disabled child.

• Crazy Face Lite: Crazy Face Lite encourages shy students to speak more often, and is great with students who have trouble speaking.
• Autism Timer: This app offers a digital timer for students with autism.
• Behavior Assessment Pro: BAP identifies factors related to problem behaviors for autistic kids.
• Awareness!: Awareness allows students to listen to their surroundings while also playing games, watching a video, and more.
• Everyday Skills: Use this app to find self-directed learning for students with autism and learning disabilities.
• Proloquo2Go: Proloquo2Go offers picture-based communication for children with communication disorders.
• ArtikPix: Children with speech issues can use ArtikPix to practice sounds and words at home.
• Aurify: Aurify is a challenging and rewarding audio game for students, especially those with learning disabilities.
• iEarnedThat: This tool can help parents track and reward good behavior.
• Model Me Going Places: This visual teaching tool can help your child navigate challenging locations with appropriate behavior.
• iWriteWords: Encourage fine motor skills using IWriteWords for practicing writing letters, numbers, and words.
• MyTalkTools Mobile: MyTalkTools Mobile offers augmentative and alternative communication for learning disabled students.
• First Then Visual Schedule: Provide positive behavior support using the First Then Visual Schedule app for the iPad.
• Idea Sketch: Draw mind maps, flow charts, and more with Idea Sketch.
• Off We Go!: Off We Go! can help children with special needs become more comfortable in new situations.
• AutismXpress: Autism Xpress makes it easy for people with autism to recognize and express their emotions.
• StoryBuilder: StoryBuilder can improve auditory processing for children with autism or sensory processing disorders.
• iMindMap Mobile Pro: Let creative thoughts flow using iMindMap Mobile Pro.
• Grace: Grace can help autistic and special needs children build sentences to communicate effectively.
• Which Does Not Belong: This app will help your learner discriminate which items don’t belong in a group and encourage vocal imitation.
• My Choice Board: Kids with autism, communication delays, or learning differences can express their needs and wants through this choice board.
• iThoughts: iThoughts will enable students to see the big picture and concentrate on multiple thoughts at once.
• LivingSafely: LivingSafely can help students with autism and developmental disabilities practice self-directed learning.
• iCommunicate: Children with autism and visual challenges can use this app with pictures, storyboards, routines, and more.
• Toy Story 3 Read Along: Toy Story’s app is a great early literacy tool for early language learners.
• ACT Spell: ACT Spell offers games for training motor/visual/executive functions.
• Stories2LEarn: Promote social skills and literacy by creating personalized stories on Stories2Learn.
• iConverse: iConverse works as a picture exchange communication system for autistic individuals and those with communicative disabilities.
• MyTalk Mobile: Those with communication difficulties can express themselves through MyTalk.
• MindNode: MindNode makes creating mind maps easy.
• Storyrobe: Storyrobe offers a simple and easy way to produce digital stories.
• Flashcards for iPad: This app can be used effectively for special needs learners.
• Glow Draw!: Glow Draw! is a fun drawing app for students with visual development problems.
• What Rhymes?: Encourage reading comprehension with this reading comprehension tool for visual and auditory learners.
• MyHomework: MyHomework can help students with trouble concentrating keep track of their next task.
• Bigger Words: Bigger Words can help kids read easier.
• iSpectrum: iSpectrum offers an assistant for color blindness.
• Dragon Dictation: Dragon Dictation is great for students who have reading disabilities or are unable to write.
• Talkulator: Talkulator can help students with visual problems count and do arithmetic.
• Read2Me: Read2Me will import a text file and read it aloud to weaker readers.

Hi Nilesh,

I work with Matchacollege.com, where we just published entitled “40 Amazing iPad Apps for the Learning Disabled” Considering this overlap in subject matter with your blog; I thought perhaps you would be interested in sharing the article with your readers? If so, you can find the article here: (http://www.matchacollege.com/blog/2011/40-amazing-ipad-apps-for-the-learning-disabled/).

Either way, I’m glad to have come across your blog. If there’s anything else on our site that interests you, please feel free to let me know. Thanks again for the great content!

Study of disability should be part of college syllabi: Chief justice

Mayura Janwalkar

It is the study of disability that needs to be a part of medical college syllabi and not just the medical condition, chief justice (CJ) Mohit Shah of the Bombay high court said on Saturday. For the first time, the high court interacted with nearly 60 government officers and NGO representatives together to discuss issues related to disabilities. Major General (retd) Ian Cardozo of the Rehabilitation Council of India informed CJ Shah and justice SJ Vajifdar that candidates from the reserved quota for the disabled are often turned down by government doctors. CJ Shah remarked, "We will ask the Medical Council of India to make the study of disability a part of their syllabus.""

Centre to be answerable

Bhushan Punani of the Blind People’s Association said the centre allocates funds for development in the disability field to state governments each year. However, principal secretary of the social justice and welfare department Satish Gavai said these funds are not adequately allocated. The court has issued a show cause notice to the centre.

Technology needed

Advocate Kanchan Pamnani said that of the 3% of government posts reserved for the disabled, 1% are reserved for the visually challenged. Professor Sam Taraporevala made a presentation of various softwares which, if made available by the government, can be used by the visually challenged to enhance their efficiency. "Reservation is meaningless if the software is not provided by the government," CJ Shah said.

What’s in a name?

Due to a difference in nomenclature of central and state government posts reserved for disabled candidates, there is a backlog of 607 posts in the state. Issuing a show cause notice to the state government, the court also sought a compilation of government resolutions, including the resolution of February 2008 that bars blind candidates from teaching in colleges. Advocate Jamshed Mistry said that the government’s decisions need periodical reviews and a time-frame for implementation.
Attitude change needed

Advocate general Ravi Kadam said, "Unless the mindset changes at our end, there is going to be no real change," Kadam said. CJ Shah added, "In the West, legislation mandates testing for disabilities at birth. If it is made compulsory, remedial measures can be taken immediately. I would like the government to consider this very seriously," The court was informed that such detection was a part of the government’s draft action plan.

DNA