One of my many projects lately is what for all intents and purposes I will refer to as the Ipads NOW! project. Our County Board of Disabilities does a great job. People with disabilities move to our county just to get the services they offer. It was our dumb luck that we were here when Connor was diagnosed. After we purchased the Ipad for our son and had great success with it, I had to ask myself "what happens when a family can't afford one?" What kind of impact would it really make on a non-verbal child/adults life? After a lot of poking around for info as it turns out quite a bit. So why if our local board was providing assistive devices,etc. would they not pay for an Ipad? I posed this question to my sons preschool director. I was told that an Ipad was not considered a assistive communication device. It was too risky to pay for a $450.00 Ipad because another family member may use it for another purpose. They will however, pay for apps. They will also pay for a much bulkier communication device that only serves one purpose at $1500.00 on the low end going up into a few thousand dollars. That one left me scratching my head. So I pressed further, was the board open even a little bit to further discussion about the Ipad? Yes, but what information would hold any weight when it came to changing their decision? The answer was clinical studies, the wide acceptance of the Ipad as being a assistive communication device.
In the mean time, I stumbled across something called the Assistive Technology Act of 1998. What the heck was that all about?! I googled it and found out that there are local entities that carry out this law by providing lending libraries, etc. with communication devices etc. I even found one in our area. I called to see if they had Ipads available. Low and behold they had them on order and there was no one on the waiting list. Could that be because NO ONE KNEW ABOUT IT?! I felt that it was my patriotic duty to spread the good word! I downloaded the application and immediately contacted my sons therapists to see who was interested in a clinical study. I am happy to say they are all either first or at the top of the list to get one. I also passed out applications at my sons school for the parents and a few people in the speech therapists waiting room.
My current plans are to do some research myself, put together a power point presentation and in conjunction with my sons speech therapist and her study results and meet with the board at a later date this year.
Sometimes you can't solve the problem but you can give it a great big shove in the right direction.
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