Day 3 - July 7, 2010

I really enjoyed the opportunity to view and actually use some of the AT devices that are available. Our group was given the crespeaker device to use in the activity where we had a non-verbal member that we were attempting to engage in conversation. There was a great improvement in the non-verbal's ability to communicate versus the previous day where this person had no AT device available. The crespeaker enabled the non-verbal person to actually engage in the conversation with more in-depth contributions rather than just "yes" and "no" responses. Even though the non-verbal person could contribute more to the conversation, the use of this device quickly made us realize some of its limitations and how important it is to know the person needing the AT device. This particular device required the user to have good motor skills (gross & fine) as the keyboard was very small, good vision as the display window and text was small, and good hearing as the volume was not overly loud. The user also had to be careful with the angle at which the device was held as the light reflected off the screen and made reading it next to impossible.