ATU131 – Holiday Shopping Special Episode – Part 1

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Your weekly dose of information that keeps you up to date on the latest developments in the field of technology designed to assist people with disabilities and special needs.

Show Notes:

Scott Fogo, Nikol Prieto, Wendy Miers & Wade Wingler discuss Holiday memories, traditions and all kinds of possible assistive technology gift ideas:

Norco Ice Grippers for Walkers/Canes $19.95 http://www.independentliving.com/prodinfo.asp?number=489521

Handy Vegetable Peeler $4.95 http://www.independentliving.com/prodinfo.asp?number=182388

Drive Wheelchair Ramp – Single-Fold- 3 Feet $158.00 http://www.maxiaids.com/products/7814/Drive-Wheelchair-Ramp—Single-Fold–3-Feet.html

Stander Security Pole and Curve Grab Bar $209.95 http://www.independentliving.com/prodinfo.asp?number=151100DS

T-Turning Handle $24.95 http://www.independentliving.com/prodinfo.asp?number=628283

Able Tripod Cane Base – 5-8 inch shaft size $21.95 http://www.maxiaids.com/products/4901/Able-Tripod-Cane-Base—5-8-inch-shaft-size.html

Blue2™ Switch (for use with iOS 7) $179.00 http://webstore.ablenetinc.com/switches/c/100/

Strider No-Pedal Balance Bike $109.00 http://www.fatbraintoys.com/toy_companies/strider_sports_intl/strider_no_pedal_balance_bike.cfm

16 inch Scooter with Handles $18.99 http://www.fatbraintoys.com/toy_companies/fun_and_function_llc/16_inch_scooter_with_handles.cfm

LED Light for Walkers and Canes $9.95 http://www.maxiaids.com/products/12130/LED-Light-for-Walkers-and-Canes.html

Phase 10 Card Game for Blind and LV $17.95 http://www.maxiaids.com/products/7052/Reizen-Braille-Phase-10-Card-Game-for-the-Blind-and-Low-Vision.html

GoBible Original Audio Bible (New International Version) $79.95 http://www.independentliving.com/prodinfo.asp?number=756626

SAPPHIRE, Blue (Portable CCTV) $1,195.00 http://sales.freedomscientific.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=900167-201

Optelec Compact MINI $295.00 http://optelec.lowvision.com/optelec-compact-mini.html

Pebble-Mini $295.00 http://www.enhancedvision.com/low-vision-product-line/pebble-mini-hand-held-portable-electronic-magnifier.html

Perkins SMART Brailler with Video Screen $1,999.95 http://www.maxiaids.com/products/11451/Perkins-SMART-Brailler-with-Video-Screen.html

3X OttLite – LED Clip-on and Freestanding Magnifier $29.95 http://www.independentliving.com/prodinfo.asp?number=369212

2.5 Inch Jumbo Magnetic Letters $13.95 http://www.independentliving.com/prodinfo.asp?number=363601

Sensa Level Indicator MK III $13.95 http://www.maxiaids.com/products/1194/Sensa-Level-Indicator-MK-III.html

www.EasterSealsTech.com

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—transcript follows —

CROWD:  Happy Holidays from the Assistive Technology Center at Easter Seals Crossroads. This is your Assistive Technology Update.

[Music]

WADE WINGLER:  Hi, this is Wade Wingler with the Indata Project at Easter Seals Crossroads in Indiana with your Assistive Technology Update, a weekly dose of information that keeps you up-to-date on the latest developments in the field of technology designed to assist people with disabilities and special needs. Welcome to episode number 131 of Assistive Technology Update, scheduled to be released on 11/29 of ’13. That’s Black Friday here in the States, and this is our third annual Assistive Technology Update’s Holiday Shopping Show.

So we interrupt our regular format for the entire show today, and I have some friends. Scott, Wendy, and Nikol and I are going to sit around and talk to you about holiday related stuff. We’re going to talk about memories and ideas, and were going to spend most of our time today talking about assistive technology products and gifts that might be good for folks with disabilities and the lives.

This is a two part, so we’re going to do this today. We’re also going to do this next Friday, so we’ll have two weeks of holiday shopping, and then we’ll get back into our regular format following that, so without further delay, here’s our holiday shopping episode.

[Music]
WADE WINGLER:  All right, ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time again for the annual, now our third annual, Assistive Technology Updates holiday shopping show. I’m certainly not the only one in the studio today. Our folks are quiet, but I got three of my friends and coworkers here with me today, and we’re going to talk about some of our holiday plans; we’re going to talk about some assistive technology products and gift suggestions at all kinds of cool stuff. But before we jump into that, we need to introduce this group who is so far pretty quiet, but I’m sure it won’t stay that way. Nikol, how are you?

NIKOL PRIETO:  I’m great, how are you?

WADE WINGLER:  I’m good. You’ve been here on every holiday show so far, for folks who don’t know you, tell them your name, your job, what you’re doing with AT, and maybe a quick word about your holiday plans.

NIKOL PRIETO:  My name is Nikol Prieto, I am the community outreach coordinator for the Indata Project at Easter Seals crossroads. My main responsibility is to get information out about our program, kind of be the front door to that program. The goals of our program are to get the word out about assistive technology and provide opportunities for people to get their hands on assistive technology.

WADE WINGLER:  That’s cool. How about your holiday plans?

NIKOL PRIETO:  My holiday are really strange now that I have children, and I’m a divorce parent, a single mom. The kids go out to California, so we Christmas from December to January. On that specific date, I’m not exactly sure, I think I’ll be with my dad’s side of the family. But we had all sides of the family and try to make up for them being gone over the holidays.

WADE WINGLER:  Excellent, cool. Seated next to the call is Wendy Miers. Wendy, how are you?

WENDY MIERS:  I’m good, thank you. How about you?

WADE WINGLER:  Good. So Wendy, tell the folks here a little bit about what you do and how it relates to assistive technology and then your holiday plans?

WENDY MIERS:  I’m the equipment specialist here at the Indata Project. I’m actually the one out there getting the learner equipment and their hands and helping them learn a little bit more about assistive technology and helping get their hands on it. Hardy plants, we typically go to my mother’s house for the Christmas Eve, and then on Christmas day I just opened at my house and have food and things, and people just kind of stop by. It’s more of an open house. My children are grown, the have more boyfriend things to do, so they’re out and about most of the day.

WADE WINGLER:  Wait a minute, so is that an invitation so if I’ve got nothing else to do, I can use swing by Wendy’s, free food.

WENDY MIERS:  Sure. There will be food to eat. We watch movies, and that’s really it. Nothing really formal.

WADE WINGLER:  That sounds great. Next to Wendy we have Scott Fogo. Scott, how are you?

SCOTT FOGO:  I’m well, thanks. How are you?

WADE WINGLER:  Good. Scott, this is your first time, I guess that’s Wendy’s first time on the show too.

SCOTT FOGO:  It is. I’m a rookie.

WADE WINGLER:  You’re new to the show, so tell folks about your job and how it relates to assistive technology and what’s cooking for Christmas.

SCOTT FOGO:  Well, I’m excited to be a part of this trio here. I am VP of clinical services here at Easter Seals crossroads, which means I think I get to herd cats.

WADE WINGLER:  That means you’re our boss.

SCOTT FOGO:  That’s right, that’s what that means. Truly the exciting part of my role is being able to empower folks that are providing services, make sure that assistive technology is not just one department serving a small group of people, presumably ensure that the good information that assistive technology Indata has shared throughout all of our programs and services, and certainly I kind of enjoy hanging around you very smart –

WADE WINGLER:  Nerds.

SCOTT FOGO:  Nerds. I can say that here.

WADE WINGLER:  You’re among friends. That’s fine.

SCOTT FOGO:  Holiday plans, my kids are getting older, so we are preparing to share them with boyfriends and girlfriends and trying to figure out who’s coming and going, so it’s exciting to watch everybody. The matter what, there is definitely food and family and a couple of traditions that include some old, sappy movies. Those types of things. So we’re looking for to that.

WADE WINGLER:  Nice, excellent. For folks who have hurt our holiday show before, you know that we mix a little bit of technology and a little bit of holiday traditions and nostalgia, and hopefully give you some information that’s going to be useful for a quick disclaimer about the show that we’re doing today: we’re going to talk about some devices and some assistive technology products that might make good gifts, but were not making recommendations here. We’re just sharing stuff with you that we found, some of them we had the opportunity to try, some there are things we want to learn more about, but just know that we’re going to try to stir stuff that we think might be useful and where you can get some things and give you some good ideas for holiday gifts.

The first section that we’re going to be talking about today is our mobility products and get ideas, and after this quick musical interlude, or going to get Nikol, to tell us about some mobility products.

[Music]

WADE WINGLER:  So the first category of products we’re going to talk about today is related to mobility and those kinds of things. Nikol, I know you’ve got a couple of items unless he wants to talk about. What have you got?

NIKOL PRIETO:  I do. One of the things on my list, we’re talking about holidays, our think about bad weather since I live here in the Midwest. One item that I found is called the Norco Ice Gripper, and as for walkers and canes. It takes gripper that can be attached to the cane or the Walker it will go on a 7/8 inch tube, and it goes on the bottom of that come and it will grip into the eyes and the bad weather, and then it will slip up so when you go inside you go to your standard cane or walker.

WADE WINGLER:  Oh, so your cane doesn’t slip out from under you, it just kind of sticks right into the ice.

NIKOL PRIETO:  Right, so it’s a nice, little safety feature. Another little thing you think about what holidays are food and preparing food, and one of the items we found was a Handy Vegetable Peeler. It’s a really cheap item, it’s $4.95. It’s really neat, though, it has a washable plastic finger guard so it protects your hands when you’re coming and coming. So somebody has trouble with mobility in their hands, cutting thing and preparing foods.

WADE WINGLER:  That’s great. Scott, I know you had something that has to do with wheelchairs and getting them where they need to be.

SCOTT FOGO:  Absolutely, this I discovered a few years ago. It’s actually a portable wheelchair ramp. It folds up and stays in your garage year-round. There’s a bunch of different kinds and styles, but I’m looking at one that’s $150 and it has a six pound capacity. It really allows any home to become accessible. So if you’re expecting somebody for the holidays, maybe not that gift that you give somebody else, but a gift that you give your own family to have around just to make sure that those with some impaired mobility can get in and out of the house nicely and easily.

WADE WINGLER:  Yeah, I think that sounds like a real anything that may be a lot of folks can use. Maybe folks who didn’t expect they were going to use it might benefit from that.

SCOTT FOGO:  Absolutely.

WADE WINGLER:  That’s great. I got a few items here that are in this category as well. The first one is a Stander Security Pole and a Grab Bar. This is an item that’s about $200, but it’s interesting. It goes in the bathroom, and you know, grab bars a lot of the times run along the side of the commode or the bathtub. But this is one that goes from the floor to the ceiling. This kind of has a compression thing going on there. It has on the side of it these handles that kind of stick out to the side a little bit, and their current. It will allow you to rotate. So it’s kind of a grant but that doesn’t go on the wall where it might be hard to get access to, but it goes anywhere you want. It can be moved from place to place within the home, and you can also take it with you so that if you knew you were staying with friends for a couple of days and need some sort of a grab bar in the bathroom, that would be a very helpful kind of thing.

Another item that I have here similarly Nikol talked about having kind of an ice pick cane-based. I found one that’s about $22 that’s a tripod cane base. It looks a little bit like one of those football tees, you know, when you kick a football awful that tee. It looks a little bit like that, but attaches to the end of your can, and it does two things: one, a kind of softens the end of the cane come and they say it gets rid of that thump, thump sound that you kind of here associate with can use sometimes. But the thing about it is if you let go of your cane while this is on there, it will stand up. So if you’ve had the situation where you drop your cane come and you have a hard time picking it up, or you’re always looking for someplace for your cane to lean against, while this one just stands up on its own right in the middle of the floor so you don’t have to worry about your cane falling over and not getting access to it.

Another thing that I had here is a more high-tech thing. You know we talk a lot about iPads and the fact that iOS 7 came out this year with switch access. The first time that an iPad has had that kind of switch access for folks who might rely on a head switch or a switch that they might hit with their hand or their leg. This will allow you to interface your switch with your iPad. It’s a device called a Blue2 from AbleNet. It basically has two switch pads on it, and you can either hit those switchbacks if those on the right shape and the right size for you, or you can wire a different kind of switch into it. So let’s say this isn’t the kind of switch you put in the head rest of your wheelchair, but you can wire headrest switches into this thing and he gets to control your iPad. So it’s kind of a cool, high-tech thing that will really allow you to control any device that has a Bluetooth switch interface.

And then I’ve got just two more items here that are fun. I got little kiddos in my house. The first one I want to talk about is a Strider No-Pedal Balance Bike. I know that when we’re all learning to ride a bicycle, the moment of getting her feet off the ground and onto the pedals is kind of that moment of truth when it’s going to work or not. This is a bike that doesn’t have pedals on it. It basically allows you to sit on the bike and push it with your feet the whole time. It’s kind of a pre-bike bike, but really useful for kids who might have challenges with balance or have a hard time making that transition from my feet on the ground to I’m pedaling independently. End of a cool thing. I know that my two-year-old would love to have that bike. I may have to consider that one for him. This writer bike by the way is about $100 or so.

The next one is less expensive. This is a $20 thing that when I was a kid in gym class, we had little scooters that we would sit on. Imagine a lunch tray sized piece of plastic with a couple of panels on it and for little casters on the bottom. We used to take these things blazing across the gymnasium floor, running into each other. But if were talking about playing with little kids around Christmas time or during the holidays, and they’re having a hard time with balance of mobility, you can play on this thing and do a belly crawl style roll with it. You can sit on it kind of Indian style and have somebody push you around. While you’re doing that, you’re working on trunk control and balance and all those kind of things.

All the items that we are talking about today are going to be listed in our show notes so that if you’re interested in these products, you can go to the website, you can scroll down to the area of the show that were talking about. This is the mobility section, and Bill have the names of these items, you have the prices, it will have banks. Wendy, I know that you have one item for us in this category. What have you got?

WENDY MIERS:  Sure, the last item I looked at was an LED light for walkers and canes. We all need a flash site from time to time. This can be mounted to your walker or even a bicycle, so it’s pretty handy. It’s got a universal strap that attaches to it, and the base has the on off switch. You can navigate, if you can see down the hall or down the steps at night, the different things like that. It is the access to come and then you free up your hands to user device, cane or whatever.

WADE WINGLER:  Cool. And that was about $10, right?

WENDY MIERS:  Right.

[Music]

WADE WINGLER:  So before we move on to our next session, I had a question for you guys. I want you to think a little bit about one of your favorite holiday memories of all time. I know that today is a big one for us and everyone is excited to be here doing the holiday show. But Scott, what kind of holiday memories come to mind when you think about some of your favorite memories of all time?

SCOTT FOGO:  I think one of the funniest stories that comes to mind is a time when I got a phone call from one of my kids teachers. They were preparing a project at school about traditions, and she called kind of joking and check on us, because Elliott had reported that our tradition is to have Christmas dinner at a gas station. I just started laughing, and then I realized it was true because of all of our family travels we often found ourselves summer in northern Indiana headed to Michigan late Christmas night, and the only place to eat was at a gas station. So we spent about 75 bucks on Doritos and popcorn.

WADE WINGLER:  Health food.

SCOTT FOGO:  Exactly. Nothing but healthy stuff there. It was just funny that that became such an important part of our day, and the kids look for to that. What a really represented is the importance of family and doing what we need to do to make sure we were with all the important people in our family.

WADE WINGLER:  That’s cool. When the, you’ve got a memory?

WENDY MIERS:  You know, I think one of the things I think about, and we still do this to a degree, but when my children were going up, it just happened that my now-former in-laws lived across the street for my parents. My ex-husband is an only child, so we combined our families and did everything together so they just came part of our family. We both have smaller families, so all of us got together and did dinner and gave gifts and wants to candlelight services together. So that became part of the one big family all the time.

WADE WINGLER:  That’s great. Nikol, how about you?

NIKOL PRIETO:  Gosh, I was sitting here thinking about memories that I think of when I was younger during Christmas. That was just that sheer thrill of making her parents up and getting downstairs.

WADE WINGLER:  It’s morning! It’s morning!

NIKOL PRIETO:  Please get up, please get up, please get up! Now it obviously seeing that through the eyes of my kids, I think traditions are really important to me. We get Santa’s helper to bring pajamas to all of us. We get matching pajamas before the holidays where we have to wear those during the holidays. Making the cookies and watching the movies and just all the traditional things that we do every year.

WADE WINGLER:  That’s just so you look good in the Christmas morning pictures, right?

NIKOL PRIETO:  Absolutely. I do the hair before.

WADE WINGLER:  That’s funny. One of my most recent holiday memories that really ticks with meat is faster, my little guy was about a year and a half old so he was just trying to understand toys. On Christmas Eve, as everybody wants to bed, my wife and I ended up getting a kitchen set that said on the box “some assembly required.”

NIKOL PRIETO:  We’ve all been there.

WADE WINGLER:  So at 2 o’clock in the morning after the second watching of It’s a Wonderful Life and some apple cider that may or may not have been spiked a little bit, we finally got that thing put back together. It really was a great time even though we were up late, we’re having some family time together and I think the commonality between all the comments was it’s about spending time with family and those who care about during the holiday season.

NIKOL PRIETO:  Now, your son now has my sons last year Christmas gift that I spend doing the same thing doing. A train set went from my house to his house. That was already assembled.

WADE WINGLER:  And the way the call is, all the parts were labeled as such a way where it’s very easy to read.

NIKOL PRIETO:  Number, ordered parts. I was never going to do it again.

WADE WINGLER:  There you go. So after the break, we’re going to come back and were going to talk about holiday gifts and products for folks who are blind or visually impaired.

[Music]

WADE WINGLER:  All right, and dissection of the show, we’re going to talk about some products and possible gift ideas for folks who are blind or visually impaired. We got some high tech stuff and some low-tech stuff. Nikol, you’re going to kick us off with a game.

NIKOL PRIETO:  Yeah, I really love games, board games and card games. Something that I stumbled across was the Phase 10 card game. It’s a lot like playing Gin Rummy. They have them in a person that has braille on them. So someone can play a family friendly game that someone who is blind or visually impaired could play along with a sighted individual.

WADE WINGLER:  Cool. And how much does the costs. Did you happen to remember?

NIKOL PRIETO:  $17.95. You can find those on Amazon. When you think about Christmas, you think about getting Christmas cards and receiving all those cards in the mail, and for some people due to vision impairments they have trouble reading them.

Something that’s really handy to be able to read cards and recipes and missing labels are handheld CCTV’s. One of the ones that were going to talk about today is the Optelec Compact MINI. It’s a smaller version, so it’s really ultraslim video magnifier. It modifies the print on the screen. It’s very small and light. It also offers different contract options. It something the size that would fit in your pocket. There’s many portable CCTV’s out there. We have tons and our library. Some of the other ones we have are the SAPPHIRE, Blue from Freedom Scientific and the Pebble-Mini. So there’s several different varieties of CCTV’s.

WADE WINGLER:  one of the things that I have is a more low-tech version of that. What are talking about magnification folks who have low vision being able to see various things that Christmas cards or recipes the summer year, having a light is a useful thing. One of the things that I’ve got a link for is a 3X OttLite with an LED Clip-on and Freestanding Magnifier. This is about a $30 thing, but the thing that is cool about it is it has a stand that will sit on your kitchen table or your desk or whatever. It’s got a small, three times magnifier on it, so a little lens that you can hold up whatever you want under there. Then it’s got another one that is not a movable gooseneck with a clip. So basically if the sand isn’t working for you and you’ve got something that you want to see, you just grab this other magnifier. It goes with you. You can clip it to whatever. You can clip it to your cookbook, maybe the table next to where you’re doing knitting or things like that. It’s got a lot, and it’s got a 1 to 5 built-in right there. It’s about $30, and it’s cool because it’s got to lights and to cleanse us.

Another item that I got here is a more expensive item, but it’s kind of cool. A lot of folks who are braille users have been using a Perkins Braille Writer, so it’s kind of the old clunky, junkie, heavy braille typewriter that a lot of kids learn to type with braille and their early years. This one is a smart braille writer with a video screen, so it looks like a traditional Perkins Brailler, but also has a display on it that’s a large print display that will show what you’re typing in braille in standard US English so that you can see the letters of the characters. It has the ability to provide audio feedback so that when you’re learning braille, it can help you learn those cells and those position and how that works. Because you some pretty cool stuff. Again, it’s a $2000 item, but as an educational tool I think it’s pretty interesting and pretty useful for folks who are learning braille.

The last thing that I have in this category is for kids. It’s about a $13-14 item. It’s very simple, 2.5 inch Jumbo Magnetic Letters. When I was a kid, I used to play with letters on the refrigerator all the time, so I would take the letters and move them around and learn to spell words. These are little bit bigger, they’re very brightly colored, and they are tactile. Because of their shape, you can feel what those letters are like. Especially with kiddos who are learning their fetters and they have low vision, it’s a really cool way for you to play with letters and spell words on the fridge. You can spell happy holidays on your face that everyone can see it there.

WADE WINGLER:  So Wendy, I know you’ve got an item in this category.

WENDY MIERS:  Yeah, it’s pretty low-tech. It’s the Sensa Level Indicator. It something you hang on the side of your top off your class, and that way you will not overflow when you start pouring in. Not only do I think about people who are visually impaired, but just kids who wants to be independent and I want to fill their own cups on the dinner table or whatever. This is a great way to teach that independence or maintain that independence.

WADE WINGLER:  And to keep your holiday eggnog from pouring all of the table. Nikol, I know you have one more item he wanted to throw on the list there.

NIKOL PRIETO:  You know when you think about Christmas, it’s become so commercialized, and you see a lot of the expressions “Reason for the Season.” I think this falls in that category, an audio Bible. It’s called GoBible Original Audio Bible. It’s really cool, it’s the entire Bible both old and New Testament. It’s a handheld portable MP3 device. So it’s its own device with the entire Bible downloaded on it. It’s got the entire audio version of the Christian Bible. It’s got an on-screen menu that enables the user to scroll through the old and new Testaments. You can select the book, the chapter, diverse, and that it’s also indexed with 31,000 Bible verses so you can play and repeat or bookmark any of those particular verses that you want to go back and review. And it’s got the voice menu of course for sight impaired people to use it. That’s $79.95. That’s independentliving.com. I think that’s a pretty neat device.

WADE WINGLER:  The idea is it’s a standalone device that does all those things so you’re not having to mess with something more complicated. It’s is just a device that does just that. That’s cool. Anybody traveling for the holidays?

SCOTT FOGO:  Anybody traveling for the holidays.

WENDY MIERS:  I don’t travel. I’m close by.

WADE WINGLER:  We are planning to stay home ourselves to.

NIKOL PRIETO:  I do a little driving, and my kids fought out to California, so they go out there and I do some driving. But that’s about an hour drive.

WADE WINGLER:  Scott, I know you’re going to spend some time on the road for the holidays. I also know you have some tips and ideas when we’re talking about traveling for folks with disabilities. Just some pointers that might be helpful.

SCOTT FOGO:  My first pointer would be to be kind to yourself, be gentle. Know what you can do. Obviously we are all learning so crazy. It starts to early this time of year that we just put so much pressure on ourselves. Step one, gentle, be kind. If you got a three-hour trip and you got young kids or unique situations, be in touch with what you can do. Pace yourself, take breaks. If you have to, sleep over. Just don’t push folks to the edge. It’s important, you know, maybe you’re on a long car trip. I just talked with a new staff member who is getting ready for a six-hour trip with two young kids, one with a disability. We were brainstorming about some ideas and one of the things we came up with was maybe a small surprise gift every once in a while kind of keeps the kids on edge expecting something special. We’re not talking about anything of major cost, McDonald’s toys, or maybe little trinkets, trance every once in a while.

WADE WINGLER:  Dollar store stuff.

SCOTT FOGO:  Exactly. The idea here is just to keep kids engaged, keep them surprise. Obviously you want to make things happen, don’t forget to pack the favorite music. Sometimes we big people forget that little people struggle being strapped to the seats and too often we are listening to our music, and we need to sing along to the younger kids.

The other thing I think, Nikol, you are bringing this up. When we arrived, don’t assume that everybody understands what’s going on. Do a nice job of being honest, Frank about what you need, about what’s going on. Again, don’t push kids or family members, anybody with a disability into that extra hour. I know we want to spend as much time as he can with friends and family, but be aware of environment center overstimulating, situations that are challenging. Just be honest with everybody involved to better prepare them for what you need to make a successful visit. We want to make sure it isn’t too nice to be a bad visit that we present or keeps us from visiting in the future.

NIKOL PRIETO:  I think as a host also you may want to ask your guests what their needs are, whether it’s someone with a special need for disability, physical or emotional, or young child. If you’re an older person who’s not had younger children around, you don’t know what the needs are, if they need to have a childproof area or somebody needs after space at the table for their wheelchair. I think as a host just kind of taking that one step out to reach out to them and say what can we do to make this the best experience for you to welcome you and make you feel comfortable.

SCOTT FOGO:  Also important on the list is a dietary needs of different folks. We are all eating so healthy this time of year, and we do have lots of different folks depending on the situation that may have some unique dietary needs. Be mindful of that and respectful of those differences. It’s not just that they don’t like something, but it may have significant impact on the situation or disability if they’re getting the wrong kind of food.

WADE WINGLER:  It sounds to me like we’re really talking about communication. We’re really talking about being mindful as we spent time together. The goal is to build happy memories that have some of those holiday memories that go on into the future. Today we talked about products related to ability and we talked about products related to blindness and vision impairment. We shared some great memories, and were going to come back next week, and were going to be talking about some other things. I know are going to ask about folks’ favorite Christmas gifts. We’re going to talk about products and gifts for folks who might be deaf or hard of hearing as well as other kinds of products for folks who might have autism. Scott’s got a little quick segments to talk about Christmas gifts for service animals and some of those interesting things that are going to be available for those. Scott, Wendy, Nikol, thanks for being with us this week. We appreciate you being here. We’ll see you all back here next week when we do part two of the 2013 Assistive Technology Update Holiday Show.

 

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