Tapping Technology, June, 1993
Inside:
Funding Workshops page 2
Answers to Funding Questions page 3
Funding Strategies Conference page 3
Funding Challenge Answered page 4

Funding Assistive Technology:
A Labor of Love    
    Funding for assistive technology sometimes falls right into
place. More often, though, its an arduous process requiring
tenacity and dedication from the individual using the technology
or a dedicated advocate. The latter scenario describes Nicole
DiSeta and her advocate and mother Lousia DiSeta.
    Were it not for her mother, Nicole DiSeta would probably not
be in a special education speech and language class in Baltimore
City.  She is the youngest of the children ranging in age from 7
to 9.  She is the smallest,  the least expressive,  the child who
needs the most attention, but shes there!
     In a city where a 1991 average of $4,200 per student is
spent, Nicoles Individual Educational Program cost $11,414.   Of
course, the city school system didnt come to the DiSetas and
bestow these wonderful gifts on their child.  Louisa DiSetas,
Nicoles mother,  started fighting the day her child was born and
hasnt stopped fighting since. Nicole became her second full time
job.
     Charlie DiSeta, Nicoles father, tells a favorite story. 
Four years ago when his union, the Teamsters, would not pay for a
Touch-Talker , an augmentative communication device to help
Nicole talk,   Mrs. DiSeta vowed she wouldnt give up.  She
persisted with appeals and finally the executive committee of the
local Teamsters invited her to make her case at a board meeting.
     These men, says her husband, couldnt refuse her.  Louisa
made them see Nicole as one of their children. Three weeks
later, the Teamsters sent a check for $1,600.  The DiSetas
insurance company paid $400 and United Cerebral Palsy paid the
remaining $800.
    When Nicole was not yet 3 - and still crawling  - Mrs. DiSeta
went to Baltimore city schools to plan for her childs education. 
The laws had been changing  and as one of Nicoles speech
therapists at school says. Mrs. DiSeta knows the law better than
the lawyers.
     At first, Nicole was placed in the Paul Laurence Dunbar
Preschool in East Baltimore.  Nicole didnt belong there, says
her mother, who took her out of the program after three days. 
How could they put her in there with kids playing ring around
the rosy while Nicole could hardly sit up by herself?

     Mrs. DiSeta complained.  And complained.  They were just
trying to get rid of me, by putting my child there.  They thought
they heard the last of me. she says bitterly.  But they didnt
know who they were dealing with.
     Mrs. DiSeta kept looking for the right program for her
child.  She spoke to her councilman who wrote on her behalf to
the School Superintendent. Finally, the city offered a private
program that the DiSetas wanted: The Delrey School in Catonsville
run by United Cerebral Palsy.  The cost of tuition, $8,500 per
year, was shared by the city and state.

     But Mrs. DiSeta - who was slowly learning how to maneuver
through the system - saw her battles as just beginning.  I
realized then. she says, that they werent going to give me
anything unless I fought for it.
    The Delrey preschool keeps children up to the age of 5 or 6,
when they are either placed in public schools or sent to other
private facilities.  When Nicole was 4 Mrs. DiSeta began worrying
about Nicoles next placement.
     
     Which turned out to be the best move because the assessment
team gave the DiSetas what they wanted: a city school program
tailored to Nicole, an experiment in placing a non-verbal child,
who at the age of 6 could speak only 13 words and needed a
TouchTalker, right into a special education program housed in a
regular elementary school.
     "Children do get more because their parents push harder",
concedes Evelyn McIntosh, the liaison who works for both the
parents and the schools. Its difficult to say whether Nicole
would have gotten what she did without her mother.  I would like
to hope that there would have been the same decision.  You know
thats what we strive for.
       And the future for Nicole?  I have to keep fighting for
my child. Mrs. DiSeta says wearily, her eyes ready to fill with
tears.  She cant speak, I have to speak for her.  Im only
doing what any parent would do.

Page 2
Funding Workshops:
Where to go and how to get funding for assistive technology 


Funding II - EPSDT vs. Medicaid
If you have a child with a disability or work with children with
disabilities you need to attend this workshop.  EPSDT has been
referred to as the Gold Card of Medicaid and can be the vehicle
to fund an array of assistive technology.  This workshop will
give you hands-on strategies to access this valuable source of
funding.

Monday, June 7, 1993          1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m Potomac Center,
Hagerstown
Thursday, July 8, 1993 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Eastern Shore
Hospital Center, Crownsville
Monday, August 30, 1993 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Prince Georges
County

Funding III - Preparing a Funding Justification:  JUST DO IT!
This hands-on workshop will address the process of preparing and
submitting a successful proposal for funding of assistive
technology devices and services.  This is a must attend
workshop if you are serious about funding assistive technology.

Thursday, September 23, 1993 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon Maryland
Rehabilitation Center, Baltimore

EPSDT: an underused funding source for individuals up to age 21,
EPSDT can fund: 
Call 1-800-TECH-TAP today to register for EPSDT vs. Medicaid

Other Upcoming Training Highlights

Planning Adaptable and Accessible Housing: Using Universal Design
Concepts. Original date of May 26, 1993 has been POSTPONED.  New
date will be in July or August.  Call 1-800-TECH TAP after June
1, 1993 for exact date and time.

SA V - Terminology for Interpreters
May session changed to Saturday, June 5, 1993 
9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., Eastern Shore Hospital Center, Cambridge. 


CET IV - Computer Based Solutions
Locations have been finalized: 
June 22 - Hagerstown, July 20 - Cumberland; August 17 -
Salisbury; September 21 - Baltimore.  

Call 1-800-TECH TAP for more information.

TOOLS FOR LIVING trainings are exciting, accessible, open to the
public assistive technology workshops.  The majority of the
training sessions are available for Continuing Rehabilitation
Credit for DORS employees.  Check your MD TAP Spring-Summer, 1993
Training Calendar for upcoming training sessions which are of
interest to you.  If you have not received a Training Calendar,
please call 1-800-TECH TAP for a complimentary copy.  The
Calendar is available in print, Braille, and on diskette.

Page 3
MD TAP Resource Answers Funding Questions:
RESNA TA staff Answers Funding Questions
Experience across the country has shown that although a
federal/state program MAY pay for assistive technology devices or
services, it also MAY NOT...  If you are having difficulty
negotiating funding for Assistive Technology, then you should
know how to respond to the following situations: 

The school officials say they just dont have the money....

The school officials say theres no place for Assistive
Technology on the IEP....

What if the therapist confides to me that school officials wont
permit inclusion of AT needs in the evaluation report?

The school wont let students take equipment home....

Our local principal agreed to provide technology, but the school
board said no....

The school says I must first try to get private insurance or
Medicaid to pay for the equipment before they will consider
it....

Who should pay for technology, training or other services
included on a 16-year-old students Transition Plan?

My vocational rehabilitation counselor said there is no money
left in his/her case services allocation for the year.

VR is making me run around and get a denial from every other
potential source of funding before considering providing the
technology I need....

When I finished school, I went to work in a sheltered workshop. 
Id like to get a real job, but Ive been told Im too
severely disabled....

Where can I get help negotiating the system to get the
technology and services I need?

Where can I get details of  federal policies related to
assistive technology?

If you are able to answer each statement with appropriate policy
please give us a call. Wed like to know of your experience.  If
some of them leave you hanging, or if they describe  situations
you or someone you know are in, please call MD TAP at
1-800-TECH-TAP and request MD TAP TECHknowledge Resource Guide #
TK15, Funding Resources. RESNA TA is a federally funded technical
assistance grant to provide help to consumers and "tech act"
staff.

Funding Strategies Conference
On June 5,  funding experts from around the country descend on
the WISP Resort in Western Maryland for a full day, MD TAP
sponsored conference. Focusing on hands-on strategies for
obtaining funding for assistive technology, the conference
participants are equipped to seek funding on their own. 
Conference presenters and topics include:
Steve Mendelsohn, nationally known author and speaker, on Tax
Strategies & Options,
Ron Sibert, Delaware Assistive Technology Initiative, on Funding
Streams for Individuals Birth - 21 years, and
Michael Dalto, Service Coordination Services, on Work Incentives
and Strategies for Working Adults.
If you were unable to attend this dynamic conference, excerpted
participant packages have been bundled with other timely funding
information and are available to you by calling 1-800-TECH-TAP
and asking for:         MD TAP TECHknowledge Resource Guide # TK15,
Funding Resources.  

Page 4
We Goofed!!
First prize for proof-reading goes to Ernie Laveau, a Rehab
Engineer with DORS. He spotted our mistake in the March 1993
issue of Tapping Technology. 
We referenced the Maryland Building Code for the Handicapped
(ANSI A117.1-1980). That code is outdated and should read: ANSI
A117.1, 1992 Standard for Accessible & Useable Building
Facilities. 
Thanks for keeping us honest, Ernie.

From the Editor:        
This issue of Tapping Technology features the experience of
Nicole DiSeta and her family related to funding assistive
technology. We'd also like to hear from you. The upcoming topics
for Tapping Technology are:
September, 1993 - Education
December, 1993 - Independent Living / Older Adults
March, 1994 - Transportation / Personal Mobility
June, 1994 - Underserved Consumers / International A.T.
We'd like to consider your insight and experience on these topics
and assistive technology for publication in Tapping Technology.
Please submit your ideas or articles at least eight weeks prior
to publication to:
Rick Metheny, Editor,   Tapping Technology,   MD TAP
1380 Marshall Street,   Hagerstown, MD    21740

MD TAP Funding Challenge Answered
The Beach Chair Challenge that MD TAP issued (see Tapping
Technology December 1992) has been met by four community
organizations and two resort hotels. As a result of that
challenge, MD TAP helped support the purchase of 8 chairs, of
which 7 will be used at various locations and resorts in Ocean
City and at Assateague State Park.
Two hotels / resorts, the Carousel Hotel and Castle in the Sand,
have purchased chairs for their guests.  The additional five
chairs were purchased by service organizations to be used at
public use beaches in Ocean City.  Service organizations
purchasing Beach Chairs include: Ocean City Lion's and Lioness
Clubs, Quota International of Ocean City and the Order of Elks,
Ocean City Lodge No. 2645.
The City of Ocean City's ADA Committee has met with the Beach
Vendors Association to establish locations and guidelines for
remaining chairs. The locations are:
 the Ocean City Inlet    25th Street    30th Street    89th
Street    130th Street
All of these street locations are marked with the Universal
access symbol as an accessible route to the beach and boardwalk
from Coastal Highway. The city is planning to build shelters to
store the chairs at these locations and the nearest beach vendor
has agreed to accept supervision of the chair and shelter.
To access the chair located at Assateague State Park, individuals
should contact the Department of Natural Resources at the Park. 

Page 5
Capitol Notes
Health Reform Moves On 
The White House invites consumers and providers of health care to
comment on health care reform.  Send written comments to the
Health Care Task Force: 
 The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, CD 
20500.  

Increased A.T. Funding
The Clinton administration proposes increased funding for only
one rehabilitation program. Technology Assistance would increase
$3.6 million to $37.7 million. This program funds MD TAP as well
as programs in other "Tech Act" states.

Page 6
Marylands TAP Team
Technology Assistance Program
Executive Director:  Mary Brady
Assistant Director: Pat Ourand
Administrative Coordinator: Maureen Holder
Office for Individuals with Disabilities
Box 10, One Market Center
300 W. Lexington Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201   

Technology Demonstration Center 
1-800-TECH-TAP
Director: Bud Rizer
Information Specialist: Jim Corey
Sensory Aid Specialist: Sheri Gelvar
Funding Specialist: Pat Ourand
Administrative Specialist: Dave Poehlman
Secretary: Hope Sanders
Technical Support: Teresa McCoy

Regional Technology Specialists
Western Maryland: Rick Metheny
The Brandenburg Center, Cumberland 301-777-2373 (Monday)
The Potomac Center, Hagerstown
301-791-4626 (M - F)
1-800-99-WMTAP

Eastern Shore: Janet Parke
The Holly Center, Salisbury
410-546-2181  ext 273

Our September, 1993 issue will focus on Education. If you have
specific areas you'd like to see addressed, write Tapping
Technology,   Box 10 One Market Center 300 W. Lexington Street,
Baltimore, MD 21201 or call 1-800-TECH-TAP

Tapping Technology is available in large print, on disk, in
braille and on audiotape. Call 1-800-TECH-TAP to request an
alternate format. Tapping Technology is a publication of the
Maryland Technology Assistance Program. MD TAP is a federally
funded project of the National Institute for Disability and
Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), Grant No. H224A90019-91. MD TAP
is governed under the provisions of Public Law 100-407 (1988),
and is provided as a cooperative service of the Governor's Office
for Individuals with Disabilities, William Donald Schaefer,
Governor. MD TAP provides information on available products,
devices, services and other resources to assist individuals with
disabilities. No endorsements of these products, devices,
services or resources are intended

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