COALITION SEEKS TO ESTABLISH ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY CENTER

A Southeast Missouri coalition wants to establish an assistive technology center in Cape Girardeau where disabled persons could try both low- and high-tech aids.

The devices could be as simple as a modified door handle or one as complex as a voice-controlled computer. Other devices would work with eye contact.

Kansas City, St. Louis and Springfield already have assistive technology centers, set up with federal grant money.

Miki Gudermuth of the SEMO Alliance for Disability Independence in Cape Girardeau said $30,000 in federal funds is available to set up such a center here as part of the Missouri Assistive Technology Project.

Gudermuth is part of the Southeast Missouri Assistive Technology Coalition, comprising professionals, parents and persons with disabilities.

Gudermuth said the coalition would have to secure a competitive grant from the state project in order to set up the center, which would serve both adults and children. If funding is secured, a center could be in operation by early next year.

The issue will be discussed at a series of workshops: Caruthersville, Sept. 12; Poplar Bluff, Sept. 13; Dexter, Sept. 14; and Cape Girardeau, Sept. 15.

Workshops will be held from 1-3 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. in each of the cities. There is a $10 fee to attend, but the fee will be waived in cases of financial hardship.

Medicaid pays for many devices. But too often, disabled persons have to learn on their own how to use a particular piece of equipment. At times, they obtain equipment only to discover it isn't suitable for them.

"We let physicians and occupational therapists make decisions for us," said Gudermuth.

Pam Grindstaff would welcome an assistive technology center.

Her daughter, Maria, has difficulty speaking. The 5-year-old Bollinger County girl suffers from cerebral palsy and epilepsy, which affect her speech.

But through the aid of a computer device called a Liberator, Maria can communicate by punching symbols or letters. The state-of-the-art device can communicate audibly -- it has 10 different voices. It also has a display screen and a smaller printer.

Teachers can load homework into the computer, which has files in eight different subject areas and a built-in calculator.

Pam Grindstaff said she obtained the device for her daughter a year ago in June.

At the time, Grindstaff knew little about computers. She had to travel to other parts of the state for several days of training.

"My husband took off work to stay with Maria," Grindstaff said.

Had there been an assistive technology center in Cape Girardeau, things would have been easier, she said.

Gudermuth said Cape Girardeau would be a good place for such a facility, because it is a regional medical center, and is home to Southeast Missouri State University and a number of social service agencies.