High-tech connections

Thirteen-year-old Shelby Craig spent this year's Fourth of July weekend flying up to Detroit to visit her doctor for the 55th time since she was 6 weeks old. Shelby is blind and travels almost 900 miles to visit her eye-care specialist.

Closer to home, Shelby is an honor roll student at Rollings Middle School of the Arts and is one of the students assisted twice a month by Clay Jeffcoat, access technology specialist for the S.C. School for the Deaf and the Blind (www.scsdb.k12.sc.us/).

Thanks to recent advancements in technology and the help of Jeffcoat, Shelby is able to keep up with her online school assignments and write papers just like the other students. While she has been blind since birth and grown up with technology, the devices she uses also can help others who are slowly losing their sight.

Shelby began school at the early age of 3, started using a computer at 6 and then received a laptop in the sixth grade. The laptop was provided by Dorchester County School District 2, where Shelby is the only blind student. She attends regular classes with the help of her Hewlett-Packard laptop and advanced

software programs.

"Nowadays, everything for school is posted online. She had to learn how to use a computer to keep up," said Jeffcoat.

JAWS 9.0 is a screen-reading software that reads aloud anything that comes up on the screen. Shelby can rapidly search Google, switch software programs and type homework assignments with the help of JAWS. It's also a good program for the elderly whose eyesight might be diminishing with age.

"Technology is the way of the future. When Shelby graduates from college, she needs to be equal to her peers to compete in the job market," said Debbie Craig, Shelby's mother. "I worked at a bank and one day I was using a typewriter, and the next day there was a computer sitting in front of me. To be independent these days, you have to be proficient in technology."

For those who still have some vision left, Jeffcoat recommends screen-enlargement software such as ZoomText or MAGic. These programs enlarge and enhance computer screens, making fine text easy to read. Visual impairments, such as glaucoma, should no longer stop people from using computers.

Shelby also uses the Duxbury Braille Translator 10.6 software to translate Word document text into Braille on her computer. She can either connect her computer to a Braille embosser and print out the document in Braille or connect it to her PAC Mate QX400.

A PAC Mate looks like a keyboard except it also includes a retractable Braille keypad. It is more portable than her laptop and includes the JAWS software. Shelby uses it in class with headphones to take notes without distracting the class.

"Braille books are so bulky. 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' was six or eight volumes long. But I can download it and read it on my PAC Mate," said Shelby.

She is an avid reader and downloads books from the Library of Congress onto her PAC Mate or Victor Reader Stream by Humanware.

The Victor Reader is similar to an MP3 player and allows Shelby to listen to books and music through the compact device. It also tells her how much she's read, how much she has left, and how long it will take her to finish.

Hearing impaired

Floris Phillips, like many who are getting up in age, has hearing loss. The 84-year-old requires a special telephone so she doesn't have to strain to hear conversations. She uses both a CapTel phone and Clarity Professional Ameriphone XL50, but said she prefers the Ameriphone.

"It's a wonderful phone. I can take my hearing aid out and use it. It has 50 decibels, which some don't have," said Phillips.

CapTel phones go up to only 35 decibels, but they feature live captioning of phone conversations on a screen located on the phone. They are equipped with large buttons and amplification to improve hearing. Both the Ameriphone and the CapTel are free in South Carolina for those with certified disabilities through the S.C. Equipment Distribution Program, an outreach of the School for the Deaf and the Blind (www.tedpa.org then click on "Find a state equipment program).

The Ameriphone Alertmaster AM-6000 is an alarm clock that vibrates when it's time to wake up, when the phone or doorbell rings or when the smoke alarm goes off. It aims to make living alone safer and easier for anyone with hearing problems.