AT Success Story: A Low-Tech Solution
by Steve Freier, Assistive Technology Coordinator
Consumer:
Brad M.
In October I received a TTD
call from Brad M., who was seeking AT Assistance. Brad is profoundly
deaf and had just moved into an apartment after living in a single family
home. He needed my help because he had no way of knowing when someone
was at the front door. Brad already had other sophisticated AT devices
that would signal him when the phone rang with a flashing light or shake
the bed to wake him up, but that was not going to help him in this situation.
Brad had recently moved into
one of those huge apartment complexes South of San Francisco and he
was on his own for the first time. In order to be of greater assistance
I decided that I needed to see the apartment building and also to meet
with the management. Once there I immediately understood that this was
going to be a challenge. The building Brad lived in actually had two
front entrances on either side of the building. And to make matters
worse, his apartment was about as far away from the doors as he could
get.
Before meeting with Brad
I imagined that the management company might have to be persuaded to
install a fancy new door announcement system with a camera and TV screens,
so I researched that idea. The cost looked horrendous and I wasn't encouraged.
After meeting with the management
I found out that the doorbell announcing system used a telephone call
system which really was an ordinary telephone call. How would Brad be
able to tell when someone was at the door? And which one? Well I discovered
that management could provide me with the exact telephone numbers associated
with each door. I thanked them and went back to my office to conduct
a little research. And then it hit me! Why couldn't we just buy a couple
Large Screen Caller ID Units? After some additional research and a visit
to Frys Electronics I found that I could just buy a couple of simple
units costing only $19.95! (He needed at least two to cover the large
apartment.)
I made another appointment
to see Brad and to test the units, but when I arrived I found out that
he didn't have Caller ID service. After a few days wait, he got the
necessary service turned on. And guess what, it WORKED!
I guess the moral of the
story is that AT doesn't always have to be high tech or expensive. Look
for a simple low-tech solution first and you may be able to solve the
problem with a minimum of cost and effort.
- Steve Freier, At Coordinator
- CID
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