Did you see our Specialists in our hometown recently?During the last couple of months ATI’s Specialists have been conducting personalized AT demonstrations and trainings, as well as ergonomic risk assessments along the Southern Oregon Coast, throughout the Willamette Valley, in and around The Dalles, and even in beautiful Cathlament Washington.Our Specialists stay abreast of the every changing market of assistive technologies by taking advantage of numerous professional development opportunities.  They most recently attended both the Assistive Technology Industry Association Conference in Florida and the National Ergonomic Conference and Expo in Las Vegas.  In March several of our Specialists will be exploring the latest AT updates at the California State University Northridge Conference.We like to share information gained from these educational events with our clients, business partners, rehab professionals, and YOU!  And what better opportunity to share this knowledge than at conferences you attend.Watch for our exhibits and presentations during:

– The source for all YOUR assistive technology questions –

Oregon’s Statewide AT Program is working hard to bring assistive technology to the folks who need it.  We understand that not everyone is able travel to one of our two physical Device Demonstration Centers or meet with one of our Specialists as we travel around the State.  Therefore, we developed this virtual Center to provide the opportunity for you to learn about technology solutions for your everyday needs - in the comfort of your home.Our goal is to present a new theme each quarter, which will focus on technology solutions for areas such as the aging workforce, aids for daily living, communication, vision, hearing, and computer access.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices allow individuals with communication impairments the ability to obtain, maintain, or regain communication capabilities.  And because no single device (or device category) offers efficient and effective communication to all individuals with communication impairments, selecting the appropriate communication device for an individual requires a through understanding of the technology as well as expertise in the types of speech and language impairments that interfere with functional communication.Education and training is essential in selecting the correct AAC device. 

For your convenience, AAC devices may be classified as digitized or synthesized speech output.  Digitized AAC devices produce a fixed number of pre-recorded messages (or message units) which can be changed to accommodate an individual’s varying communication needs by simply recording new messages to replace those no longer needed.  Synthesized AAC devices use a technology that translates the user’s input into machine-generated speech using algorithms representing linguistic rules, including rules for pronunciation, pronunciation exceptions, voice inflections, and accents of the language. The user is not restricted to messages that are pre-stored by someone else, as occurs with digitized speech AAC devices; rather the user creates a message using letters, words, or symbols. The device then ‘translates’ the input into speech. We invite you to explore the links to left and learn more about AAC devices that may help a family member maintain his/her independence and active lifestyle, however, we strongly recommended that an individual work with a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) through an evaluation, to determine the key components of the technology that will best meet the individual user’s needs.  And as always, additional information is available from our Specialists via email at info@accesstechnologiesinc.org or by telephoning us at 800-677-7512.