Hi, Doug -- It really is as the other fellow wrote -- because most disabled folks only acquire their tools through gov't bureaucracy, we're seeing huge, totally unjustified price increases. This EXACTLY parallels the same phenomenon in "medical care" (if not quite an oxymoron, that phrase is sure coming close to it) for older or adequately insured folks. Think about it -- for the same price as an actual car, one can buy a chair set on a low-power (battery-powered) set of wheels! Does that make any sense? Is there a solution? Perhaps not -- I can't even *find* one of those fold-up walkers with a chair (themselves incredibly expensive) to accommodate a person like me who needs a "kneeling" chair. A university once developed a prototype of a wheelchair for someone who needs a kneeling chair, but it was never put into production (though it seems the prototype was snatched up by someone who needed it). These purely mechanical devices are extremely easy to make (if you have a few inexpensive tools and know how to get materials), yet apparently no companies want to make them, let alone special keyboards. But the real problem for people disabled (as I am) is that the Vocational Rehab people want to give us adaptive tools, but do nothing to get us gainful employment. In my case, I finally went to VR June 10th of last year, and demonstrated many of my skills and talents (showed articles and documentation I'd written, listed Web sites, etc.). After making my way through the equivalent of cripple-certification (more x-rays -- as if they're different if a chiropractor rather than radiologist takes them!, an MRI), my counselor questioned me closely about adaptive equipment -- but I've already done that (laptop desk, LCD monitor that sits on it, etc.) -- and eventually promised an appointment with the employment people. Never happened. I called several times, and he seldom even called me back. Finally, I've had to give up and apply for SSI/Disability just because I HAVE NO INCOME and although perfectly capable of working, am entirely incapable of GETTING work. Grumble, grumble, grumble... Carol At 04:10 PM 4/4/03 +0200, you wrote: >Vito wrote: > > > http://www.infogrip.com/ > >I bought a special keyboard from infogrip when I had more >money than I knew what to do with years ago ... it was a >small keyboard for people with poor motor skills. The >price was $500, and although it is a bit "special" >because it takes almost no pressure to press a key, the >price is prohibitive. It may well be a low volume market, >but the prices are hard to fathom ... especially prices >on those braille displays. I think it's a crime that the >big tech companies don't do more with accessibility. >They do lots of experiemnts and write some APIs but >that's about all. Why is there no laptops or PDAs that >are geared for assistance? > > -- Doug -- Subscription/unsubscription/info requests: send e-mail with subject of "subscribe", "unsubscribe", or "info" toWear-Hard Mailing List Archive (searchable): http://wearables.blu.org Please, *PLEASE* don't subscribe through a forward/expander/false domain
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