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Dear John,
My name is Joe Shoaf, and I am the principal at Girard Junior High School, which is located just north of Youngstown in northeastern Ohio. I work very closely with my Special Education teachers and have been trying to find grants for assistive technology (continuous voice-recognition programs and distance-learning opportunities via the Internet) this year. Can you suggest some possible sources?
Sincerely,
Joe Shoaf
Dear Joe,
Yours is one of the most frequently asked questions that comes my way, so let me answer it in a column so that others can get an answer, too.
There are three main areas where disabled people need assistive technology: in independent-living situations, education, and employment. Unfortunately, the scarcity of funding for assistive technology prevents too many disabled students from getting an appropriate education, and too many unemployed adults with a disability from being hired. (A future column will cover independent-living situations with assistive technology.) But sources are out there.
As you perhaps already know, students with disabilities are covered under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Disabled students can have assistive-technology products included in their Individual Education Program. The school system is required under the law to purchase the products for them. However, the device becomes the property of the school system. Many schools will not allow the student to take the products home with them. Also, when the students graduate, they can't take the device with them -- which is an issue of concern for many students.
State Protection & Advocacy offices are mandated by federal law to advocate for assistive technology for state residents with disabilities, including students. Click here for information.
Not many people realize it, but if you are receiving Supplemental Security Income under Social Security and you need a talking computer or some other assistive-technology device, you can submit an invoice to the feds for payment. All that's required is certification from a doctor or rehab counselor that you need the device for everyday living. For information on funding of assistive technology through Social Security, click here or
here.
For more severe disabilities, funding for assistive technology can be obtained through the Supplemental Security Disability Insurance program of Social Security. You can get more information by clicking here.
The National Cristina Foundation is a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to the support of training through donated technology. For information, write to NCF, 181 Harbor Dr., Stamford, Ct., 06902, or you can call (800) 274-7846. Local Lions Clubs have been known to buy assistive technology for blind and learning disabled students, too.
DIRECTORIES.
Want a broad compilation of what's out there? There is the Directory of Grants for Organizations Serving People With Disabilities, Research Grant Guides Inc., P.O. Box 1214, Loxahatchee, Fla., 33470; and Disability Funding News, CD Publications, 8204 Fenton St., Silver Spring, Md., 20910. The telephone number for this last publication is (301) 588-6380. Then there is TRAIN: Technology-Related Assistance Information Network, Ohio Super Computer Center, 1224 Kinnear Rd., Columbus, Ohio, 43212. I prefer the Disability Funding News directory. The information is constantly updated, quite accurate, and provides highly credible resources.
The Internet is a powerful education tool. Long-distance education training is important for disabled students. You might want to contact Convene Inc. (see BW Online, 4/21/99, "Online School: A Boon for Disabled Teachers and Students"). Convene is a group of schools and colleges that have online courses taught by disabled teachers and attended by disabled students.
There are many manufacturers of voice recognition systems. Dragon Systems and L&H are two leading manufacturers. You can contact them through the Web.
PEP is an informational resource for parents, educators, and children's software publishers. The organization's Web site lists national computer recycling programs and organizations that provide donated, used computer hardware. This site also lists all computer recycling programs in every state. You can learn more by visiting pepsite.
In some cases, Medicaid will pay for augmentative communications products for speech-impaired people, as well as for wheelchairs. The authorization and amount varies from state-to-state because it's a joint state-federal program. And in all cases, for Medicaid to pay for a device, it must be deemed medically necessary. Medicare covers less than Medicaid, and the products are limited mostly to durable medical equipment.
AFTER SCHOOL.
Once your students leave school, they will require additional assistive-technology products. I'm frequently asked by employers, "What is a reasonable accommodation?" The answer is simple: Capital investment. Employers buy equipment all the time for able-bodied employees, and they consider it a capital investment. The same goes for the disabled. Microsoft, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Charles Schwab, and Shell all buy assistive technology for their employees without a second thought. Smaller companies often don't have the same mind-set.
To help employers buy the equipment they need for disabled employees, a variety of funding mechanisms are in place. Almost all of the potential funding sources are public programs. They include:
State Rehabilitation Programs: Some of your students may already be in a state vocational rehabilitation program. If a person is of employment age and has a work goal, state vocational rehabilitation programs may cover a wide range of assistive technology -- from workplace devices to modifications to vans and cars so a person can get to work.
A word of caution: It's not always easy to get state rehabilitation programs to buy assistive technology. And a tip to consumers: educate yourselves first regarding the process. In some states, you'll be better off going to specific state programs set up for the blind or visually handicapped, or for the deaf, depending on your disability. Actually, such specific programs are often better funded and can provide more substantial equipment than those agencies that serve general disabilities.
A number of tax incentives are available to eligible small businesses to help offset the cost of providing accommodations and complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Here are a couple:
Disabled Access Tax Credit (Internal Revenue Code, Section 44): This is a 50% tax credit on accessibility expenses between $250 and $10,250 per year. It's available to small businesses with either 30 or fewer full-time employees or $1 million or less in gross receipts for the preceding tax year.
Tax Deduction for Architectural and Transportation Barrier Removal (Internal Revenue Code, Section 190): Any business may take a full tax deduction, up to $15,000 per year, for expenses of removing specified architectural or transportation barriers. Small businesses, if eligible, may take both the tax credit and the tax deduction.
The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (Internal Revenue Code, Section 51): This is a tax credit for employers who hire individuals who are "vocational rehabilitation referrals." Local employment agencies will certify that a person meets this criteria.
Insurance companies often will buy assistive-technology products necessary to return an employee to work. They require certification that the product is needed, and will often work with a rehabilitation agency in rehabilitating the person. And many manufacturers of assistive technology products have created low interest loan programs with banks so individuals with disabilities can buy assistive technology products for both school and work.
HELP FOR VETS.
Finally, the Veterans' Administration purchases some assistive technology for eligible disabled veterans -- again, it's not easy to get them to pay, but I've known people who've had accessible van modifications and power wheelchairs, as well as other assistive- technology products, paid for with VA funds.
With employers crying they do not have enough personnel to hire, they need to look at disabled students eager to learn and be trained, and to the 10 million to 11 million unemployed adults in this country who can teach, write, create, and do anything that able-bodied people can do. Assistive technology assists disabled people in their efforts to compete in the workplace.
Sincerely,
John M. Williams
Williams writes a weekly column for Business Week Online on assistive technology. For information on assistive technology, write to him at JMMAW@aol.com. You can also discuss these issues on BW Online's EDITED BY DOUGLAS HARBRECHT
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