No Limits to Life Blog

I have been on  hiatus awhile with this blog and I apologize. I need to call this blog “The one that got away” because it kind of did here for awhile. I wanted to keep at least one post a week going, but my time has been spent on my other blog on education and assistive technology (No Limits to Learning) and the Blog Talk Radio show I do every week or so. I have also been working on some online web site content so it has been busy.

I want to focus more on diabilities and ways to create an income if home and out of the work force. There are many for hire type enterprises that anyone with the assistive technology and time can do. I would like to share my ideas, report on others that are doing it as well as the usual equipment reviews and news stories.

I have so appreciated the folks I have met here and the blog writers I have built friendships with too. I had some nice comments and emails awaiting me when I got back into cleaning out the spam comments and spam emails from ythe past month - yes, I REALLY ignored things - sorry…

Please expect to see more here in the future as school approaches and I get back into the normal swing of things.

All the best to you!

Lon

It’s Graduation Time and Four Students with Mental Disabilities are Walking

I am so happy to see that Bellevue Community College in Bellevue, Washington - in the Seattle area, has developed an associate degree program for students with mental diabilities to be sense the accomplishment and pride that comes with earing a degree. An article in the Seattle P.I. Newspaper (link here) stated:

“To earn the degree, students must complete 90 credits over four years — twice as long as traditional associate degrees. But unlike transitional programs at high schools and expensive private academies, the degree pushes students to flex their academic muscles while also developing life skills.”

The director of the program, Mary Allason, said that the goal is to see everyone become self-sufficient and advocate for themselves. The program is the first of it’s kind and the cost is approx. $300 a credit. The program involves 90 credits over a four year period, and students must have an IQ of 70 or above and a minimum of fourth-grade reading, writing and math skills.

 Check out more on the article at the link above.

All the best to you!

Lon

Craig Phillip’s blog, Second Chance to Live, was brought to my attention when Craig emailed me awhile ago. He shared his story with me and I found it amazing. He shared how at 10 years of age, he had a traumatic brain injury that caused him to have to re-teach himself how to walk, talk, read, etc.

His parents were told that the diagnosis didn’t look good. Craig might finish high school, but any hopes of education beyond that would be cognitively and physically impossible. Craig’s parents chose not to tell him about the diagnosis and he went on to earn his masters degree in counseling and vocational rehabilitation. He shares his philosophy on life and steps to healing through his blog and articles that have been published in journals and publications in print and online.

I have asked Craig to visit with us on No Limits to Learning Live, this Friday, May 9 from 10:30 to 11:30. Listen in as Craig shares his story about his injury, his experiences in rehabilitation and the message and mission of his blog. Craig will share how technology has helped him, his published articles and why he calls his condition the “invisible disability”.

The link to the blog talk radio show is:   http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nolimits2learninglive

Listen and call in live, or catch the archive after the show.

All the best to you!

Lon

It’s Friday and I am looking at the weekend coming. I have put lots of work into my No Limits to Learning Blog this week with links to resources. I have had an online talk show segment and put up this past months AT Blog Carnival along with all my regular work duties as an AT specialist. I am going to ask you to indulge me a little and let me ramble about something I am passionate about, but don’t know how to talk about sometimes. It comes from a conversaation yesterday…

I had a wonderful conversation yesterday with a friend whose disability has created an inability to maintain a regular job. Being on disability and reduced to “no-brainer” jobs can be really depressing for someone who is really a genius but can’t use it within the parameters of regular social and vocational expectations.

This is where the World Wide Web becomes a “God-send” for avenues of expressions and employment. For folks like my friend above, it allows an opportunity to work at one’s own pace, be your own boss and do as much or as little as you can handle at a sitting. The ability to choose the amount of time spent and when it is spent puts the disabled person in control.

There is a common viewpoint out there that information for the disabled should always be free. If it isn’t, it is taking advantage of them when they have few resources already. I agree with that to a certain extent (I may be stirring up a hornet’s nest here - but I am going to go with it anyway), but lets not carry that over into the disabled creating an income for themselves online. I think there are plenty of disabled people that have an expertise in writing and are an authority in one field or another to be able to produce reports, ebooks, guides, audio tutorials, etc. on all sorts of things to folks that AREN’T disabled. If you are home and have nothing but time, what could you take 3 or 4 months researching and compiling to offer folks that don’t have that time to find it? I bet the convenience of collecting  all those resources would be worth something that folks would pay for. Having a dependable and cost-effective transcribing ghost-writing service for people to send audio files to be transcribed is a great online service for someone who has nothing but time at home and needs an extra income. Think outside the box a little.

I have wanted to compile a guide to help folks do this, complete with tutorials and videos and guides on how to get something up and going - and integrate it with AT solutions. BUT…I don’t want to put a lot of time into something and have folks think I am just trying to take advantage of them by selling it.

Think about yourself. How often do you download a free report or article or Mp3 file, etc. to listen or read something that interests you? How often do you shop online and find interesting and helpful things that make your world easier and better? I do. I subscribe to one online ezine I get every month that is great and I love it. I right-click and “save target as…” all the time for free downloadable files from safe and respected sites and people I know and trust. There is alot of information out there online for free. I buy audio books now and then from itunes that are self help and motivational books that I listen to over and over to encourage, inspire and train me. I know I am not alone.

All I am saying is that there should be room for folks to be providing positive, constructive material that contributes and adds to society for a fee to create an income for home-bound folks that are disabled. We don’t think anything about ordering a book from Amazon, but if someone has their own website where they are selling a product, we look for the scam that has to be there some where. I know we do that because there are plenty of give money and get nothing offers out there and we need to be cautious and check things out, but, this type of thought prevents many disabled folks from venturing out and learning how to create an income online because they don’t want to be viewed that way. We need to change that opinion.

I shared some of these thoughts with my friend yesterday and gave him some ideas to think about as far as what kind of information marketing he could create. I think he was challenged and inspired to think outside the box a little bit. I will challenge you too. If you have an interest or knowledge base in an area, think about sharing it with others. Develop your ideas. Give some away as well as offer more detailed versions for sale.

Instead of thinking you don’t want to take advantage of someone, think about how maybe you have the perfect information that others want and you would be offering a service to them. When people say “Thank you for providing that,” you realize that you can sell something for a fair price, support yourself and help others too. It can be a win-win situation, but first you have to get over the hump of that initial mental block.

This blog was originally developed with the idea in mind that I wanted to offer free and for-purchase information to the disabled on success principles and ways to create an income in the information market. I am not there yet, and I have gotten side-tracked a little. I have been enjoying the posts and building my blogs and sharing with folks. That will continue, but the conversation I had yesterday made me realize that I have a responsibility to share my ideas and make them accessible to motivate, educate and encourage others. I plan on developing a lot of information available for free and any hard work I spend  and develop into valuable information and materials, I will make available for reasonable and affordable prices. I don’t have any plans to do this soon, (time is a killer isn’t it?) but as I listen to the needs of folks out there, it breaks my heart to hear that they are approaching retirement or that health care costs are high, they are alone, they were in an accident and left without a vocation, etc. I want to help them get a source of their own income and their self esteem back again.

I know of several disabled folks with thriving online enterprises. It can be done and be fun too. If you are in the position where you are wanting to do something or know someone who does, challenge them to look at the great resource the Internet is and how it could just be the right place to start creating a resource that can be a blessing. That’s all I have to contribute on the subject today - no hard sell - I don’t have a course to buy today. I just have these thoughts going on in my head and needed to express them.

All the best to you!

Lon

 Boardmaker with Speaking Dynamically Pro:

I had shared 2 posts ago about what happens when children with disabilities become adults. Here is a good example of someone transitioning into that situation. Maybe some of you can relate: 

Today I sat in a classroom with a boy with CP in a wheelchair. He is in high school and has the academic skills of someone in the fourth grade. The problem is that he has struggled with access to the curriculum over the years more than he has struggled with any cognitive issues. The issue has compounded because he wasn’t able to access the curriculum for pre-academic skills in elementary - until now in high school, he is so far behind he can’t read anything. He has visual tracking issues and he needs to access communication by scanning. His speech is very limited. He has a great advocate for a mom and he has a lot of caring people around him who are working for his best.

Our Speech pathologist that works with him is a veteran with years in hospital treatment. She is working hard to get him set up with a portable dynamic disaplay device by the time he exits from high school. He is a very sensitive boy and I believe he has huge potential. I believe if we could get his access issues resolved (they keep changing as his abilities change) he could be the one sharing this kind of material on a blog that he could write through access to a computer and a virtual keyboard with scanning capabilities. I keep saying that if there’s one thing someone in his situation has, it’s time to sit or lay and work with a laptop and scanning to get their thoughts out. He just needs to learn to read and write first! It is never impossible.

I worked with him today using Boardmaker and Speaking Dynamically Pro on his latop. We were able to use grant funds to purchase a Dell PC with Vista (still not sure what I think about that) and the Mayer Johnson Boardmaker with SDP. This program has power that I am still discovering. Let me tell you what I did with it today. I’m thinking about those of you in college, community courses or university that are looking for something that will let you take notes, yet have visuals and text to speech to help you listen to definitions, terminology, etc. This is a GREAT tool.

I opened a new board in Boardmaker w/ SDP. On the screen I made a large “button” that was half the page. I added a text block and began to write out a term and definition off the board. I also wrote some general notes that supported the main ideas.

After the note-taking, I double-clicked on the large button and opened the action settings. I chose “speak text” and then I copied and pasted the text off the page into the setting window for speak text. I tested it that it sounded right and hit “ok”.

When in use mode, the board becomes a large talking page with all my notes. Now here’s another cool thing: Underneath the large button, I made small rectangle buttons and typed a term on them with the text block. Then I double-clicked again and added a speak text command and pasted the definition. I made a button for each term. After I saved those and opened the page or board in use mode again, I had a “word wall” with the terms in front of me. I could drill from memory by looking and then click on the button and hear the definition to check if I had it or not.

If you have someone with auto scanning and switch access, the auto scan will cycle the notes area up above and each of the term buttons underneath. By hitting the switch on the one you want when it comes around, you can choose which definition you want to hear or the notes from class. I am going to try to do a video screen of it working and post it so you can see it work. It is pretty cool. Check back in a few days and maybe it will be up.

Even though this is an expensive program, (about $650), it is well worth it if you want to design custom communication and have a graphic tool with text to speech. It is pretty incredible.

I am hoping that as we work on this more, the assistant will be able to continue this on her own. I demonstrated this for her today and we are going to make this a goal to develop for the student. This is a way that the he can have more access to his curriculum and have a way to review notes, content, and do it under his own control.

If you are in school and have a disability or know someone who is, this might be an option to explore. If I would have had this in college, it could have supported me in many ways.

All the best to you!

I am finally past January. January was a hard month for me. I was thankful the whole month of January because I am still alive and relatively unscathed from a stroke I had last year in January of 2007.

I put the picture of my family on my blog a couple of nights ago. I have been spending a lot of time getting this blog up and running lately. I have wanted to personalize it and make it accessible and interesting. I put my family up there because they are obviously important to me. It seems everything I do anymore revolves around my love for them and wanting to provide for them. Being disabled and wanting to do that is an emotional roller coaster. If you are in that position, this blog is for you.

I want to try and briefly express to you how I came to start this blog and why. I wish this entry could be the introduction everyone reads when they enter my blog site because it will give you some perspective behind what I am doing.

I had a dissected vetebral artery January 2007. That means that the artery lining tore inside, blocking bloodflow to my brain. The vetebral artery is encased in vetebral bone at the base of the skull and somehow I had something that caused it to tear.

I was driving when it happened and it felt like I was on the “Tilt-o-whirl”. I spent 5 days in the hospital and was released to occupational therapy for a month and physical therapy for two months. The main side-effects these days are a light headedness at times, peripheral vision issues, some dyslexia-type issues and some problems connecting the dots in conversations - although that could be due to approaching 50!

As I thought about the stroke, my career and my family after-the-fact, I realized that I had the information and technology to continue to thrive even if I had been confined to a bed for a year or the rest of my life and… it would be OK. That sounds crazy to say, but I KNEW I would be fine. I had that confidence because I have a list of tools and toys at my fingertips to access the Internet, write, use speech to text, access the computer hands-free, etc. These tools and software are available to anyone and a lot of them are free.

I thought that I would start collecting my information and compiling it in several ways, one being this blog and my other blog for children and education, No Limits to Learning. So my hope is that what I share will be a gift to you, allowing you to discover ways to adapt, adjust and reach outward beyond your disability to actually excel and grow.

I will continue to write about disabling disease, physical challenges and pass on the secrets to overcoming them that I learn from people like you first-hand. So read, share this blog with others and contribute. I have had one wonderful post on CTCL, and two spammer-type posts that I kept just so I could say I got some. That sounds pretty desperate, but I’m not really.

Take care of yourself and have a great weekend!

All the best to you!

I placed a video on my AT & Education blog this evening and thought it was more than appropriate here too. I know that I have excuses for why I don’t get things done, but I am getting better at following through. After watching this there aren’t any excuses any more for any of us to reach for our own personal best.

Enjoy!

Smart Nav 4 to be released February 4th,  2008

One of the main pieces of AT equipment I use for hands-free access on the computer is the Natural Point Head Tracker. When I first began using it, it was the Head TrackIR. Over time the company began to develop their product for the PC gaming market and moved the lower level head tracker to the gaming application. They developed the Nav 3 which was the assistive technology version with higher end applications. Now in February, they are releasing the version 4, the Smart Nav 4 - AT.

The Reflective Dot:

The device has a reflective dot that can be placed on glasses, a cap brim, a forehead, etc. When the head is moved, the “eye” picks up the movement and mirrors it on the screen for cursor movement.

Dwell-click Feature:

What I like about this tool is the dwell-click feature. The software loads with a tool bar that lets you move your cursor up and choose an action: right-click, left-click, click and drag, double click, etc. When you dwell on a window, icon or button, the cursor does the mouse click choice for you. You can also set the dwell time to activate the click and the speed and smoothness of the cursor on the screen.

Integration with other products for ease of use:

I like to use the Natural Point device with the free online Click-n-type keyboard. I open a Word document and use the head tracker to select keys on the virtual keyboard. This types my words into the Word document. If I am using a software like Don Johnson Co:Writer, I can hear the text as it is written. I can have the head tracker device, Word, Click-n-type and Co:Writer all open at the same time without conflict (in Windows XP - I haven’t tried Vista with CO:Writer.) The new Smart Nav 4 is Vista compatible. I prefer the Click-n-type over the Microsoft internal virtual keyboard because it lets me move it around the screen, resize it and it also has scanning capabilities for switch scan options with a USB swicth interface like the Don Johnson Switch Interface Pro 5.0 USB.

The EG vs. AT versions:

I called the Natural Point Toll Free number and asked them to explain the difference between the Smart Nav 4 EG at $399 and the Smart Nav 4 AT at $499. They explained that the AT version includes the dwell-click software. The EG (for ergonomic) is to use the head to move the cursor around the screen instead of a hand on a mouse. To do click actions the user must use hotkeys assigned on the keyboard or external USB switches with a switch interface to represent right, left, double clicks.

I would recommend spending the extra $100 to get the dwell-click option on the AT version. It is well worth it and if you need total hands-free operation it will be the cleanest and simplest way.

Here’s to better hands-free computer access! Let me know your opinions and experiences with this company and devices in a post .

All the best to you!

My son and I were having dinner in a local Mexican restaurant last night and at an adjacent table were some of my former students with their familiy. It took awhile to wrap my braind around who my former students were, but the light finally turned on.

As we visited, I heard about a member of their family who lives in the Seattle area. He was in a car crash and was crushed severely. The nerve endings in his optic nerve died due to being out too long and is now blind. He has a bad leg now because of it too.

I asked what he was doing for his vision and because he is a veteran, he is getting great training on living a new life with blindness from the VA up in Seattle. I asked about assistive technology and they said that he has been given a computer and is being trained on how to use it. This would include using Jaws - a software that gives an audio cue for navigation around the computer and reads text as well as text you type. It also interfaces with PDA type devices known as Braillenote.

They said that he has a job at the Seattle Times and as soon as he is ready, there is a desk waiting for him. I am so happy to hear a success story with someone who has had a disability hit them at 40 and make successful adjustments. I am going to visit with him (I am withholding his name until I have permission) and see if we can get a podcast interview set up. I think he probably has some importnat things to share, lessons learned, etc. I’ll keep you posted.

All the best to you!

Yesterday was my first year anniversary. A year ago, I spent 5 days as a stroke patient in the hospital. Now, one year later, I was up at our mountain house after temperatures of 22 below zero the night before. I woke up yesterday morning to no running water in our house. I went out back and began to dig down through 3 three and a half feet of snow to find water from a burst main connected to our garden hose line in a hole in the ground. Even though it was a frustrating time, I was able to be grateful. You know why? I was able to be there in the snow and dig. I could have been using a walker or could have been in a bed.

My stroke left me with a spatial relationship issue, some dizziness at times (I am doomed to forego any thrill rides the rest of my life), some reversal-type-dislexia, and a problem with connecting some of the “dots” cognitively. I am fortunate that my OT and PT released me after a month with very little residual effects.

I have one important lesson learned in my life that came out of that incident. It is that while I was in the hospital, I knew what I needed in the way of tools and technology (assistive technology) to function once I was out of the hospital if it was needed. I also knew that I could use my skills to make a living for myself if ever I got in that place down the road.

It has taken a year to get there, but I have decided I need to implement these tools and skills and get myself out there on the Internet where I can help others. I am bringing my expertise in principles of success and motivation and ideas and technology tools that anyone can use to create an income at home by providing honest, positive information that contributes to society and our community.

These things would have never come to be if it hadn’t been for my learning that I had something to contribute and that no limitation would keep me from sharing it. I don’t know what your disability or limitation might be, but whatever it is, you can do great and exciting things with principles, a plan and technology to assist you to accomplish it.

Your dream might be to go back to school through an online program. It might be to learn how to do an online  service or skill in ghostwriting, transcribing, web design, marketing research, etc. from home that others could pay you to do for them.  It might just be to get brave and venture out to communicate with others through special interest groups and forums online. Maybe you could find great satisfaction in supporting and encouraging someone else. Don’t limit yourself on what you can accomplish. I know that there is a huge human potential lying untapped. Let’s tap it!

If you have any questions about what you can do and how to do it based on your disability, please email me at: lonthornburg@nolimits2life.com or post a comment to this blog with your question to address on a future post.

I am committed to building a group that can support each other to see great potential released. Part of my role in this will be to submit articles for publication, be consistent in these posts and work on adding keywords that will pull my posts and articles up so they can be found.

If you know anyone that could use this information, send them the link and ask them to read and share. If you can read this but don’t have an ability to post, just keep reading and enjoy! I will be sharing ways to partcipate.

All the best to you!

Lon