Spread the word: free technology for people with autism

Posted by Beth Finke on September 10th, 2009

Technology can provide exhilarating possibilities to the 54 million of us in America who have disabilities. But a study commissioned by the California Endowment and conducted by the Alliance for Technology Access found that fewer than 25% of us who could be helped by assistive technology are using it to our advantage. The study said most …Read More » »

What does Google have to do with autism? Check out SketchUp and see!

Posted by Patricia Wright on August 28th, 2009

You just never know where a conference contact is going to lead. For example, who would’ve guessed that an autism conference would lead me to an opportunity to visit with folks from Google!

Google had a booth at the …Read More » »

iPhone app for people with autism

Posted by Beth Finke on June 11th, 2009

Our son Gus doesn’t talk. I can tell if he’s hungry or thirsty by the way he smacks his lips, and he can grunt a certain way to make some of his needs known. Otherwise he expresses desires by going to the thing he wants — heading to the door when he’d like to go outside, or pushing on the …Read More » »

Robots could help people with autism

Posted by Beth Finke on March 13th, 2009

A story in this week’s Washington Post describes a new generation of service robots that can provide therapy, coaching and monitoring for people with disabilities. Among the early successes of these “socially assistive machines” are robots that might help children with autism. The story says that researchers first need to determine what these socially assistive robots can do for …Read More » »

Accessing stimulus funding if you’re not on public aid

Posted by Katy Beh Neas on March 12th, 2009

A comment to our post called The stimulus plan: what’s in it for people with autism? prompted me to write more on this issue, because it’s an impoirtant one. The person who commented asked whether parents can access economic recovery funds if their children do not receive Medicaid or Social Security benefits.

The details of how states are going to …Read More » »

Autism, amplify, Austin

Posted by Beth Finke on November 20th, 2008

Greetings from beautiful Austin, Texas. I’m sitting outside with my talking computer during a 15-minute break from sessions at the 2008 Convio Summit. Convio develops the software Easter Seals and a number of other non-profit organizations use for online fundraising, advocacy and Email marketing.

I first found out about Convio when I participated in the U.S. Department of Commerce’s …Read More » »

20 million voters with disabilities expected to vote

Posted by Beth Finke on November 4th, 2008

I’m about to put Hanni’s harness on so she can lead me to my local polling place. Sounds like this year I won’t be alone.

The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) reports that nearly 20 million people with disabilities are expected to vote in this election.

“A 20 million strong voting block can easily decide a …Read More » »

Listen to a radio essay about my Easter Seals gig

Posted by Beth Finke on July 23rd, 2008

Ever wonder how the heck a woman like me, blind and unable to see a computer screen, ended up moderating the autism blog for Easter Seals? Listen to (or read) my Navigating a New Workplace essay on Chicago Public Radio and find out — the piece aired yesterday.

The essay features sound bites of my talking computer and focuses …Read More » »

Try a symbol-based web browser for free

Posted by Patricia Wright on June 26th, 2008

A comment to my blog about web accessibility for people with autism and other disabilities offered a 30-day trial of Webwide. I wanted to let you know about this offer, in case you missed the comment.

If any readers are interested, you can try Webwide for free for 30 days by …Read More » »

Autism and happiness :)

Posted by Beth Finke on June 25th, 2008

For those of you new to our blog, let me re-introduce myself. My name is Beth Finke, and I am the Interactive Community Coordinator at Easter Seals. Simply put, I moderate this blog.

I also happen to be blind.

A computer program called JAWS reads the text on my screen out loud to me. That’s how I’m able to read …Read More » »