What assistive technology is available that could help my child to be more independent? There are several items that can help children be more independent from being able to wake themselves up in the morning for school to being able to take a babysitting job. Some of the popular ones are listed below and a full list is available from Harris Communications or Hartling Communications. Alarm clocks: These functional alarm clocks come in a variety of styles and with varied functions. They feature a vibrating pad which can be placed under a pillow to alert the child, some also feature a flashing light or a loud audio alarm. Wrist Watch: These wrist watches also feature vibrating alarms along with a variety of other features. There are several styles to choose from. TV viewing: All newer televisions (built after the mid 1990 s) must by law come with caption decoding build in as standard (you should read your television manual to find out how to activate this.) A Decoder box can be purchased if you have an older television.
TV Amplifying Equipment: This type of equipment will amplify the volume of the television to the personal headset that is worn by a hard of hearing user. The volume of the television set is unaffected by the headset and can be turned up or down as required by the rest of the family. Baby Monitoring: For anyone interested in baby sitting or in helping the family out with younger siblings these baby monitors can detect even the quietest noise from a baby and alert the user by a variety of methods including strobe flashing light, a lamp flashing or even a vibrating pad. The transmitter is placed into a socket in the baby s room and the receiver will be located near to you. Strobe light receiver Basic receiver for a lamp Safety: Smoke alarms and CO2 detectors are available to purchase to ensure your house is safe. They come equipped with a strobe flashing light and a loud alarm sound.
Door Bell Signalers: There are a variety of door signalers available that will notify you by a flashing light if someone knocks on the door or rings a bell, they also can be activated in some instances by the visitor stepping past a designated spot. Some of these signalers can be joined to the same system as other detectors, such as smoke detectors, baby monitors and telephones. Communication: There are a number of methods for deaf and hard of hearing people to communicate with both the hearing community and the deaf community. These vary from phones with adjustable volume to using videophones. There is technology to support a variety of communication modes too. Here is a selection of the most common communication methods used by the deaf and hard of hearing community. Videophones: Videophones (VP) are a common method for deaf and hard of hearing people who use sign language to communicate with. You can dial directly to another VP user or use the interpreter service to talk to non-signing people. Some VPs connect to your television and use an internet connection to transmit while others are stand alone devices. Skype: Skype is a free internet application that is available to download. It works on your computer that has a webcam and you can make face to face video calls for free using your internet connection. It is now also possible to have group video calls too. You can also use it on
some mobile phones. By using skype you can see the person you are communicating with and use sign language. There is no relay service available with skype and the person you are calling must be online and have a webcam enabled. Instant Messenger: There are a huge variety of instant messenger services available online that enable two people to communicate by text using their internet connection. This is also possible on some mobile phones and does not cost anything extra if you have a data package for your phone. This is an increasingly popular way for people to communicate as it is fast and effective. Some examples are: AIM, Yahoo Messenger, ichat, Google Chat/Talk and Windows Live Messenger (MSN). Some of these applications also allow video chat. CapTel: To use a CapTel phone you dial the person s number that you are calling, like on any other phone. You are then automatically, connected to a free captioning service. You can then listen to the other person, like a traditional call, but at the same time the captioning service will transcribe everything they say into captions that appear on the display window. You hear what you can and read what you need to. TTY: TTY is a text telephone that allows deaf and hard of hearing people to communicate by typing messages back and forth. A TTY is required at both ends to enable this
to happen. There is also a relay service to support TTYs, by dialing 711. This will enable people without a TTY phone to call people with a TTY. See relaynewhampshire.com for more information.