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Course focuses on assistive technologies
Friday, April 19 2002
by John Kennedy


The first 40 trainees are to graduate on Monday from a special
Microsoft-supported technology course aimed at people with disabilities.



The course, put together by Enable Ireland and Microsoft, is aimed at enhancing
the quality of life for people with physical disabilities through the use of
assistive technologies. The students who are to graduate on Monday from the
course are teachers and therapists who will offer the course to other learners.



"Really what this course has been about is training the trainers -- the people
who will be working with the students and who will be demonstrating the
advantages of technology for them," a Microsoft spokesperson told
ElectricNews.Net. 



Assistive technology enables people with disabilities to gain access to the same
education, employment, communication and leisure opportunities as their peers. On
Monday the graduates will be able to demonstrate some of the benefits to be
gained through technologies, such as head-switches and on-screen keyboards, which
can be used to operate a computer, power a wheelchair, or remotely turn on a
television or a light switch. 



Both Microsoft and Enable Ireland are understood to have invested significantly
in assistive technology services in recent years.



According to the spokesperson, Microsoft has functioned as a corporate partner to
Enable Ireland since October 2000 and has been supporting the charitable
organisation financially, technically and through employee volunteers. Microsoft
has provided up to EUR127,000 in support since then.



Directed by the community affairs department within Microsoft, employees from
different parts of Microsoft have been allowed to take on tasks such as
developing Enable Ireland's Web site and designing a training CD for the course.
Content from the CD will eventually be used as an on-line training resource. 



Other Microsoft employees helped organise a race day in September for Microsoft
employees' families and friends which raised approximately EUR5,257 for Enable
Ireland.



Enable Ireland, formerly Cerebral Palsy Ireland, is one of the largest national
providers of services to people with physical disabilities. 



More information on assistive technologies is at the Enable Ireland href="http://www.enableireland.ie/services/postmanage.html">Web site.