Easterseals provides tech tools for people with disabilities

November is Assistive Technology Awareness Month. What’s assistive technology? LINK nky went down to the newly renovated Easterseals Redwood Assistive Technology Resource Center late in October to find out.

“We have just about any kind of assistive technology that you can think of,” said the center’s Administrative Assistant Brandie Roberts.

Assistive technology refers to specialized devices that help people with disabilities lead more functional and capable lives. It includes a wide range of devices, from specialized chairs and mobility devices to braille printers to communications devices to specialized kitchen appliances, among other tech.

Easterseals Redwood’s Assistive Technology Center is one of five centers in the Kentucky Assistive Technology Services, or KATS, Network, which provides assistive technology resources to people in the commonwealth.

Anyone in Kentucky can visit Easterseals Readwood or another center in the network to experiment with different devices and even rent them to see if they’re worth purchasing. They also reutilize donated items that are in good condition, such as wheelchairs.

One relatively new addition that Roberts touted was the smart kitchen devices, which include both internet-connected appliances and even a specialized robotic armature – think of the egg-handling device in the first Jurassic Park movie – to aid in feeding.

Noah Halpin, one of the resource center’s clients, has limited control over his limbs, but he can use the movement of his head and ears to direct a tool that inputs commands into a variety of assistive devices, including one that he uses to communicate. He can even use it to tell jokes.

It is, admittedly, limited to the responses already contained in the program, but advances in technology have allowed for greater flexibility for people with disabilities than was previously possible.

It’s just a matter of finding the right tool, said Speech Language Pathologist Charlotte Herald.

“Giving Noah [Halpin] devices that are not set up the way that his is would not allow for him to communicate at all or not as well as he can with the one that he has,” Herald said. “So, I think it’s just finding the system that works… In the 2000s, we probably had very little technology that would suit a client like Noah.”

The Assistive Technology Resource Center is just one of the services Easterseals Redwood offers. They also provide early childhood education, therapy services, employment services and veterans services.

“I’ve been here about three years now, and Noah has been here throughout that whole time,” said Activity Specialist Teddy Rose, “We have a lot of participants who will transfer from the school age rooms up here down to our rooms downstairs. So Easterseals Redwood is something they’ll carry with them throughout their life.”

You can learn more about the organization at eastersealsredwood.org.