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http://www.examiner.com/a-154791~Technology_aids_deaf_blind.html
For the deaf-blind community, today’s technology spells independence.
At the American Association of the Deaf-Blind National Conference held at Towson University, several manufacturers displayed and promoted multiple products that bridge the communication gap between the deaf-blind and the general population.
Katherine Spears, 73, from Sacramento, Calif., who has been deaf-blind all her life uses BrailleNote, a product offered by HumanWare that enables the deaf-blind to communicate using a Braille keyboard.
The keyboard, which is also equipped with wireless Internet, lets the user surf the Web, download, use a word processor and even talk to others when attached to the palm pilot.
Spears said that she lives in a community where people do not know how to communicate with her, and that because of her BrailleNote, others can now understand her.
“The deaf-blind community is misunderstood, and this equipment has made a difference,” she said.
Dona Sauerburger, an orientation and mobility specialist who is speaking at the conference that kicked off Monday, said: “The biggest obstacles in a deaf-blind person’s life is not necessarily communicating to a fellow deaf-blind, but communicating with the general population. The public has no clue.”
Sauerburger said the result often is deaf-blind people automatically thinking they are being rejected.
Whereas in the past there was little hope, today technology can make a difference, said Jonathan Mosen, product manager for HumanWare.
“There’s never been a better time to be blind,” he said.
For the deaf-blind community, today’s technology spells independence.
At the American Association of the Deaf-Blind National Conference held at Towson University, several manufacturers displayed and promoted multiple products that bridge the communication gap between the deaf-blind and the general population.
Katherine Spears, 73, from Sacramento, Calif., who has been deaf-blind all her life uses BrailleNote, a product offered by HumanWare that enables the deaf-blind to communicate using a Braille keyboard.
The keyboard, which is also equipped with wireless Internet, lets the user surf the Web, download, use a word processor and even talk to others when attached to the palm pilot.
Spears said that she lives in a community where people do not know how to communicate with her, and that because of her BrailleNote, others can now understand her.
“The deaf-blind community is misunderstood, and this equipment has made a difference,” she said.
Dona Sauerburger, an orientation and mobility specialist who is speaking at the conference that kicked off Monday, said: “The biggest obstacles in a deaf-blind person’s life is not necessarily communicating to a fellow deaf-blind, but communicating with the general population. The public has no clue.”
Sauerburger said the result often is deaf-blind people automatically thinking they are being rejected.
Whereas in the past there was little hope, today technology can make a difference, said Jonathan Mosen, product manager for HumanWare.
“There’s never been a better time to be blind,” he said.