Collaborating for action 2: the AutreachIT project Dinah Murray and Roger Turner.
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Transcript of Collaborating for action 2: the AutreachIT project Dinah Murray and Roger Turner.
Collaborating for action 2:the AutreachIT project
Dinah Murray and Roger Turner
Long term aim:
Change awarenessso as to
change practice
(see “Collaborating for action 1: Autreach, why, what, and how” for context)
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Basic givens
• Everyone can communicate when they are understood
• Everyone needs to be understood
• Everyone can be understood
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AutreachIT
• Raising awareness of rights to ICT under the law• among autistic people• among their care providers• among the public at large
• Demonstrating the effectiveness of ICT• to autistic people• to their care providers• to the public at large
• Employing autistic people to develop ICT services• for autistic people• for their care providers• for the public at large
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“Not being able to speak is not the same as not having something to say”
[the AutreachIT Manifesto i]
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“Not being able to speak is not the same as not having something to say”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVuoz0s0g6A
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AutreachIT: Pilot Projects
• Voice Output Communication Aids
• Computers with full multimedia and Internet access
• Autreach websites
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AutreachIT proposed projects - VOCA
• VOCA = Voice OutputCommunication Aid
• Two basic sorts +/- real keyboard
• Plus real keyboard has been very expensive until now - Negroponte laptops see below
• You can also get simple key pads with pre-recorded messages.
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For simple key pads with pre-recorded messages
• www.pri-liberator.com (generally more expensive)
• www.inclusive.co.uk (generally less expensive)
• AAC specialists - AAC = Augmentative and Alternative Communication
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Advantages of non-keyboard VOCAs
• Cheap, sturdy, easy
• Being easy to use and easy to program = more likely to be used - staff will not be scared off
- staff will see it’s worth the bother
• Own messages can be instantly delivered
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Disadvantages of non-keyboard VOCAs
• Non-keyboard VOCAs are not fully inclusive
• They don’t access Internet
• They are potentially stigmatising
• They are profoundly limited
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Techno wish-list• Developed by Rosalind Picard of MIT after
extensive consultation with autistic AAC users- Talking word processor with controllable volume audio
output
- Small, portable, not heavy, easy to pick up and carry
- Low power, long battery life
- Reliability: able to survive being dropped
- Low cost (typical cost is $7500-8500)
- Ability to download new pages or overlays made by others via Internet
- The ability to easily network to chat with remotely located friends
- Touch screen option
- Cool-looking, non-medical, non-stigmatizing appearance
- Ability to change colors, sizes of fonts, background contrast depending on needs
How AutreachIT works
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Backpack websites
• Web-based application
• Share web pages instead of emailing attachments
• Track versions, changes, history
• Make pages public to create visible presence for group
• Organizing tools: shared calendar, newsroom, reminders
• Psychological effect of revisable publication
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Autreach website• Pages related to Autreach groups (about 20*)
- Autreach Network, Autreach <your name here>...?
• AutreachIT public pages (about 10*)- includes manifesto i, constitution i, as well as usual
public pages
• AutreachIT private/shared pages (about 50*)- online administration:
• agenda, minutes of formal meetings...• policy documents: conflict of interest, vulnerable adults, ...• register of members, trustee declarations of interests...• letter templates, funding bids, to do list, shared calendar...
- projects, including this presentation - see next slide
* current numbers, from zero 9 months ago, you can help add more...
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Autreach Network i
• A network of autonomous groups, adopting some basic principles(join or start a group and help to define those principles!)
• Not a group or organisation (even an “umbrella” organisation)
• AutreachIT, London ARM, AutreachBB
• Group website(s) can be provided by AutreachIT
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The message "There is no-one who can't be saved!" was found on the beach in Warrnambool Australia by Beatrice Kurmann, Wendy Lawson, and Dinah Murray in November 2001. To us it is a message about emancipation.