"Accentuate The Positive" - Through Technology
Here I am being awarded the National Discover Card Tribute Award. I was 1 of 9 out of 8,000 applicants worldwide. My Hero, Peggy Flemming presented this award to me; along with the President of Discover Card, CEO of Make-a-Wish Foundation, News Anchor, Chris Wallace and Today's Meredith Viera. This was a phenomenal experience and I have great Pride to have received this Honor.
Created By Colleen Carstensen in 1999
I first created this program when I was a freshman in High School. Nine years later it is a gift that keeps on giving. "Accentuate the Positive” was created with the idea of helping other learning disabled students with assistive technology needs so they can be the best they can be. At a couple of local businesses I have arranged a system where the business gives back to the community a percentage of the monetary value of what the customers purchased. Ten percent of each item people purchase goes into a fund that is set up for my program. These funds are then allocated out to needy families who have a student with a learning disability who would benefit from assistive technology to accommodate their learning style. Applications are made available at various schools. Families fill out an application that is then turned into a committee from my program to determine if there is a financial and acceptable need for the student.
Technology available for these students might include: laptop computers, touch screens, voice activated systems, Write Outloud, Co-Writer, and Inspiration Software, grammar and spelling checks software, Dragon Dictate, scanners, Franklin spellers, books on tapes/CD’s, and tape and CD players.
The reason there needs to be so many different accommodations is because each individual has his or her personal and unique learning style. A laptop can be carried with students to all classes to help with handwriting, spelling, grammar and organizational needs. Touch screens allow students to function independently due to physical capabilities. Voice activated systems help students who have difficulty in reading and writing. Write Outloud is a versatile writing program that allows students to use it as a reading tool. It speaks the text over and over, as many times as students need, in order to build reading comprehension skills. Co-writer is a writing intervention program for students whose limited spelling and vocabulary skills interfere with written expression. It supports the writing process by predicting words to help students generate sentences with correct grammar and spelling. Inspiration is a visual mapping program for students who struggle with planning and organizing their writing. It gives students a clear picture of the relationships between ideas, then automatically transforms the visual map into an outline. Dragon Dictate is a system where students speak into the computer and it prints what is spoken.
Some of the technology might run into thousands of dollars. This really puts a financial burden on the average family. Futhermore, computers are being continually updated causing the actual computer and software to become obsolete and don’t even work on new computers purchased by the schools.
My mission for “Accentuate the Positive” is to advance the dignity, self determination and equality of individuals with disabilities. In pursuit of this mission, one of my goals is to ensure that persons with disabilities receive the necessary support and services to enable them to develop and maintain the skills they need to live independent, successful and productive lives in their community. Assistive technology advocacy is a major part of my program.
