computerdisc-l: Adaptions for Special Pops

[Catherine Patton <cbp@sunherald.infi.net>]

Elouise Klavon and I were scheduled to each have a one-armed student
this year.  My student transferred to another school, but Elouise's
student remained in our school.  I got on the net last year to try to
find a solution to this problem.  A very nice doctor responded to me and
pointed me in the direction of a company which makes a device called a
BAT.
This device has about 5 keys and uses chording and various combinations
of the keys to type different letters.  We consulted the student's
mother before purchasing one, but the mom as well as the student did not
want her to use anything which would not be pretty much available in
"normal" life.  They also did not want to call attention to her
handicap.

I still contacted the company to discuss the situation.  The company
representative pointed out that they also made a mini-keyboard that many
special needs people purchase. It is slightly smaller than a laptop
keyboard, plugs into the same keyboard port on the back of the PC, but
does not have a numeric keypad.  The rep. pointed out that the use of
the expanded keyboard we all have in our labs would probably cause
additional stress and strain on the student's one good arm/hand.  Sure
enough, after about a week, the one-armed student and her mother had
decided that they wanted to try the mini-keyboard.  Since the company
had a 30-day trial period, we decided to order it and let the student
try it out.  It is the cutest little keyboard -- and when it came in all
the other students wanted to know when they were going to get one!  The
model we purchased was the Glidepoint Trackpad Model, and the cost was
about $152.00.   When the student comes in all she does is gets her
keyboard out and swaps it with the expanded one used at the station by
others.  This student is typing at a speed of close to 30 nwpm!

The company name and address for these and other adaptive devices for
the computer is:

Infogrip, Inc.
1141 East Main Street
Ventura, California  93001

Phone:  (800) 397-0921
            (805) 652-0770
Fax:      (805) 652-0880
www.infogrip.com

Hope this helps you all out.  :-)

Cathy Patton
Gautier Middle School