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Event showcases latest
devices to help disabled

The Assistive Technology Resource
Centers event will include hands-
on demonstrations

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Star-Bulletin staff

Disabled residents can see and test the latest tools and devices to help them do things more easily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday at the state Capitol.

The Assistive Technology Resource Centers of Hawaii will present a hands-on, interactive event with demonstrations and information on assistive technology.

The program wants disabled people to know technology can help them remain independent and in their own homes, said Barbara Fischlowitz-Leong, executive director of the centers and an assistive technology user.

It also wants the Legislature to know its future is threatened: Its federal funding was cut in half this fiscal year, to $377,000 from $700,000.

And under the present law, no federal funds will be provided to support 56 Tech Act Projects in the United States and its territories after 2003. "We're at the Legislature because we need state support," Fischlowitz-Leong said. "Right now, there is no requirement for a state (funding) match."

Without funding, she said, Hawaii's 223,000 people with disabilities and thousands in the Pacific territories will lose their primary assistive resources.

The centers were set up for 13 years, ending in 2003, to provide free information and resources for people with disabilities, seniors and service providers.

Fischlowitz-Leong said the program is working with Hawaii's congressional delegation to obtain funding for the next three years and to enact legislation to continue assistive technology money.

The state Department of Human Services this summer will apply to the federal government for an additional $1.3 million for the next three years, she said.

Hawaii's disabled population is fast-growing because of the aging population -- the largest in the country, Fischlowitz-Leong said.

Monday's event will show people the latest in technology "to continue to live independently, to be employed and to be successful in school. ... We're not trying to sell someone a car -- we're trying to sell them life equipment."

A broad range will be displayed, from "low-tech" adapted eating and writing tools to voice recognition and other computer equipment.

For more information, call 532-7110 or 1-800-645-3007.