An online magazine from the Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology, Inc.   
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In This Issue
AT Product Review
Featured Apps
Inside Access
Regional Highlight
Essay contest winners
Resources
Quick Links
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FAAST is sponsored by the Department of Education/Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and the State of Florida.

Florida Division of Vocational Rehabilitation

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Legal Resources
February 2012
3rd Winter Edition
We value your interest in Florida's assistive services and technology program and hope you will stay tuned as we launch FAAST Access Online. As a State Tech Act Program, FAAST offers a variety of services.
 
FAAST Core Services

Statewide and Six Regional AT Device Loan Programs

AT Device Reutilization/Refurbishing/Recycling  Programs

AT Skills Development Trainings and Assessments

AT Device Demonstrations and Trainings

IDEA and Rehabilitation Act Transition Trainings  Leading  to Employment

Structured Presentations and AT Device Exhibits at Educational Conferences, Exhibit Fairs and Disability Specific Events

Public Awareness Activities; and Information and Assistance Services

AT Product Review
Mobi 2: Lightweight for users on the go 
The Mobi 2 is a portable and powerful tablet computer or a fully featured speech generating device with a clear and bright touch screen display.
 The Mobi 2 by Jabbla
A multi-feature communication device, Mobi 2 is based on the graphic communication program Mind Express.  The Mobi 2 is the newest member of the Jabbla family, in addition to the Mobi 1. The Mobi 2 now comes with a larger 12" wide screen and an integrated desktop stand among other new features. The Mobi 2 uses an adjusted high performance computer platform with Windows 7 Professional. 

 

The built-in high quality amplified stereo speakers produce excellent sound.  With multiple access methods and feature packed software, the Mobi 2 can be easily adapted to meet the varied needs of each individual user. The Mobi 2 is compatible with WLAN, Bluetooth and 3G/UMTS. This allows wireless printing, internet capability, e-mail functionality as well as cellphone voice and text messaging.

 

Another Mobi 2feature that allows hands-free interface is Eye Tracking - The Mobi 2 can be paired with either the Eyetech TM4 or the Tobii Eye Tracker. Few AAC devices offers both eye tracking technologies used worldwide.  

 

View an extended review of the Mobi 2

Featured Apps

New frontiers: apps for adapting mobile devices 
An iPhone® or iPad® app is an application, typically developed by a company other than Apple®, and designed to be used specifically on the iPhone®, iTouch® or iPad®. Apps work much like user-installed software on a computer and allow the mobile device to perform specific tasks that the user wants or needs. Users sometimes pay a small fee for the use of an app, which is downloaded directly to the phone. Apps helped make the iPhone® and other smartphones a must-have tool for many people who want instant access to information. For more quick answers to common questions about iOS apps, visit
  

Blindness and visual disabilities  

Revolutionary apps for simplifying everyday life with brain injury

Hearing disabilities   

Autism and learning disabilities  

More... 

Inside Access: A professional's point of view
Choosing an App for AAC - by Dr. Carole Zangari

Buying a car is an experience familiar to most of us. We head to the dealer with a rough idea of what we're looking for.

 

You might want a sporty convertible, while your neighbor may be interested in an SUV. Your family might be in the market for a car with good gas mileage and have a preference toward one built in the US. Someone else might make their decision based on style or safety records or resale value.

 

Whatever the particulars, people go car shopping knowing what sorts of factors or features are important to them. We do some research, compare models and brands, and test drive our favorite options before making a final selection.
Believe it or not. . .  Read on. 

Regional Highlight
South Florida RDC wins CVS Caremark Award 

The Mailman Center for Child Development and FAAST South Florida RDC at the University Of Miami Miller School Of Medicine were recently awarded a grant from CVS Caremark Charitable Trust under the direction of Dr. Michelle Schladant, South Florida Regional Director to expand its assistive technology program.

 

The grant from CVS Caremark Charitable Trust will provide language interventions to children with autism using the most advanced assistive technology techniques. The University of Miami Mailman Center for Child Development is one of the top ten programs in the United States for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities and chronic illnesses.

 

Each year, the Mailman Center serves over 19,000 children with special healthcare needs, including more than 150 children with autism and related disorders. It is estimated. . . Read on. 

High-schoolers with disabilities awarded laptops
High Tech Rewards: The Able Trust and FAAST provide personal computers to Florida high schoolers
Two students at Madison County High School were awarded two new Dell laptop computers on Friday, January 6, for their efforts in a student essay contest.
 
Students across the state of Florida who are members of the High School High Tech program were encouraged to submit an essay about how they could benefit from a computer with their education and future careers. In a joint effort by the Able Trust and the Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology, MCHS students Chaddrick Johnson and Jamarian Robinson... Read on.      

 

Resources

Sometimes we all need legal advice or services that may be difficult to obtain or afford.  Below are a few examples of helpful assistive legal services that are free or at low-cost to eligible Floridians. For the full list of resources, click here.

  

Resouces for children and parents

FAAST has just researched and developed this guide to provide general resource and self-help information to help foster mutual cooperation between public school officials and parents, family members, caregivers, guardians, and advocates/representatives to help students with disabilities receive reasonable accommodations. 

 

This self-help resource guide provides hyperlinked information and resources on effective Section 504 and transition planning, auxiliary aids and services under the ADA with applicable federal/state laws and regulations.  This user-friendly guide provides a table of contents that hyperlinks to subject matter, informational websites, helpful suggestions, fact sheets, and applicable federal/state laws and regulations. 

This guide, along with eleven other FAAST self-help resource guides, are also hyperlinked for convenient reference and can be found on the FAAST website at www.faast.org/resources/library. 

    

Children's Legal Services 

Since the early 1990s, The Florida Bar Foundation has funded special annual grants for legal assistance to children. Gifts from attorneys to the Foundation from the Lawyers' Challenge for Children on the annual Florida Bar Fee Statement help support these grants, along with proceeds from The Florida Bar's Kids Deserve Justice license plate initiative. The Foundation's priorities for its Children's Legal Services grants include representation of foster-care children and access to special education, medical, developmental and mental health services that are required under law. For more information, click here.  

 

State grants for protection and advocacy services related to assistive technology (PAAT)

State grants for protection and advocacy services related to assistive technology (PAAT)are authorized under the Assistive Technology Act of 2004 (29 U.S.C. §3004).

 

Each state and protectorate of the United States have protection and advocacy (P&A) systems to provide assistance to individuals with disabilities and their families. The State Grant for Protection and Advocacy Services related to Assistive Technology are charged with... Read on.