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I learned about this cool, FREE app, at the TNOTA conference during our students presentation. You basically download it and it allows you to choose a vision impairment (from the list provided) and you can then experience how the client w/that particular vision impairment sees. You can scan your surroundings using your camera feature. It even allows you to control the severity of the symptoms. This tool is not only great for educating yourself, but can be an extremely beneficial tool when educating family members on what their loved one is experiencing on a daily basis.

you can also download using itunes for ipad or i phone as well. (i just happen to have an android)

This video is very informative on compensatory strategies for people with low vision. The speaker discusses how little changes to an object make a huge difference for the person. The strategies do not involve a lot of money, but rather give you ideas how to use the resources around you. Occupational therapy could use these strategies for about any age group that may have low vision, or difficulties focusing on objects. The thing I like most is that these ideas would be helpful for people who may not have insurance, or a lot of income in general.

This has tons of good information on low vision and a wide variety of aids.

I love the idea of this device! I had never heard of anything like it before so when I found this article I was amazed. The Color Identifier would help individulas who are blind perform ADLS, such as dressing, independenlty. It can identify the color of clothing by determining how much light is being reflected. The individual wouldn't have to worry about if their clothes matched or not, which could save them time and embarrassment if they cared about their personal appearance. It also seemed to have very simple instructions, which is a plus.

The Job Accommodation Network put this information together because the number of workers over 65 is going to increase dramatically as the baby boomers age. The benefits for hiring an older worker are listed as well as the laws protecting workers. This is a nice resource for those older workers to know what rights they have and what accommodations are even available. Some accommodations cover ADLs, weakness or fatigue, hearing limitations, vision limitations, psychological issues, to name a few. I thought it was really helpful that a few situations were presented with possible solutions. Also, for the consumer, is a link to products for accommodation options.

This was a neat article on low vision patients and keeping their needs met through occupational therapy. Very interesting read!

This page just lets you select different foreground and background colors. As someone with vision problems, I found it really helpful to see how my eyes reacted to the different combinations.

Adaptive Equipment For Dementia Patients. Adaptive equipment designed to help individuals with decreased mobility, balance, motor control or vision loss often helps the dementia patient. Other types of adaptive equipment are specially designed for patients with memory loss. Equipment may function as warning devices, such as alarms that sound when the door is opened, or promote safety, such...

This site provides people around the world with disabilities information on assistive technology as well as other resources in order to improve daily activities.

This website has suggestions for AT for individuals with different impairments, such as vision problems, writing difficulties, hearing impairments, and physical challenges.

This page from the AOTA website contains links to various topics associated with the aging adult. These are tip sheets that explain different conditions and how OT can help. These include aging in place, living with Alzheimer's, fall prevention, hip replacement, home modification, low vision, driving and stroke. In addition to the tip sheets, there are links to videos for aging in place, home modification and precautions the elderly can take to prevent falls in the home. This is a great place to look to obtain a lot of good information on a variety of problems the elderly can face and how occupational therapy can help this population.

EnableMart is your #1 source of Assistive Technology products. We are a world leader in assistive technology for those with blindness, low vision, hearing loss, learning disorders and other disabilities. EnableMart has been supporting the special needs community for more than a decade by providing all the most demanded learning curriculums, augmentative devices, large key and large print keyboards, Braille displays, alternative input devices, switches and amplified phones.

I thought this was a neat website. Kinda like a "Wal-Mart" for assistive technology. I think it's really important to know what is out there and how expensive things are so we can recommend to our future clients things that could help them.

This may be old news to some individuals but these are some pretty cool feature for individuals with certain, as Jennifer Isham would say, diffabilities. As OTA it is our job to keep our client connected and active in the activities they love. What better way to accomplish this than by teaching them these neat feature on their telephone which make the phones accessible. Communication through the telephone is necessary and with the majority of phones being smart phones they also needs to be implemented as an assistive device to help individuals throughout the day. Not only are the accessibility features very useful but other features on the smart phone can serve as a useful tool for some cognitive deficits such as short term memory loss. For example, the phone can remind them of appointments or to take medications. The Android system, whether you own an LG G3, Galaxy S4 or Nexus 5, has a number of accessibility options built in for those hard of hearing, suffering from a vision impairment or any other number of other conditions that might make the standard operation of your Android difficult.

This app looks like it may be able to replace some pricier or cumbersome options for low vision..

I posted this link awhile back on my Pinterest, I really enjoy what all this website has to offer us as future practitioners. It literally has everything from information that we can use as practitioners and information that we can give clients. This website addresses pain, ADLs, assessments, certain dx (cancer, diabetes, you name it its probably on here). I advice everyone check this site out. I feel like this site has come up before in another course but maybe I just used it.