UCP Welcomes Donation of Medical Equipment
Augmentative and alternative communication method for non-verbal people has helped children at Vidya Sagar to express themselves. The result of the hectic work by a number of organisations has yielded products that help children with neurological disorders and cerebral palsy to communicate.
On Saturday, three children with verbal communication disability handled the launch of the software that would enable others like them to communicate. They used portable devices that work like a mobile phone to communicate.
The students, Bhavana, Shanmugapriya and Santhosh, are studying at Vidya Sagar, a non-governmental organisation that works with children with cerebral palsy and other neurological disabilities.
Bhavana has cerebral palsy and can communicate only with her eyes. Now she uses a non-contact switch to activate her computer and expresses her needs. Santhosh uses software that allows him to build sentences based on a built-in vocabulary.
He has to merely click on the mouse to get the letter of the alphabet he wants. The computer will come up with a number of words that he may want to use and Santhosh clicks on the words to form sentences.
Shanmugapriya, with better skills, understands pictures best.
She uses animated pictures to express herself.
The entire effort was the hard work of techies, students, faculty and technicians of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M), besides a host of others who helped design the product. Called Hope, Kavi and Aditi, the three products are diverse and almost custom-made for the youngsters at Vidya Sagar.
Kavi enables the user to hear the programme as it scans the software while the communicating partner only hears the sentence when it is completed. Santhosh uses this software.
What can be a tedious training process for people with cerebral palsy is being made a little easier through the donations of one locally owned medical supply company.
Rezk Medical Supply, with corporate headquarters in Carrolltown, has donated five wheelchairs and five electrically operated beds to United Cerebral Palsy of the Southern Alleghenies Region.
The donation carries a value of $15,000 and is one that will fill a significant gap.
“It actually helps to fill a need. The equipment we were using needs repairs,” said Scott Gilmore, business development specialist with the Richland Township-based agency.
“It’s a lot easier to provide proper training when the proper equipment is in place.”
The Rezk donation replaces equipment used to train UCP clients and staff that was outdated and in need of repair.
Once the training is complete, dealing with equipment in the home becomes much easier for the clients and staff, Gilmore said.
The donation was made to UCP because the agency shares a philosophy similar to that of Rezk, said Joel Constable, the company’s manager/sales representative.
“The people who work at UCP are just like us, caring about these people,” Constable said Friday. “They are caring and compassionate.”
Rezk is a locally owned business with 13 locations between Cambria County and Pittsburgh.
“We’re an independent, family-owned business, and we really try to work with the community and support the community,” Constable said.
source: http://www.tribune-democrat.com/business/local_story_004235054.html
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