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October 13 
REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. todaycommitted to contribute its UI Automation specification to theAccessibility Interoperability Alliance (AIA), a new engineering workinggroup dedicated to making it easier for developers to create software,hardware and Web-based products that are accessible to people withdisabilities. The UI Automation specification describes Microsoft's latestaccessibility framework technology, and will help developers includeadvanced accessibility functionality into implementations designed for useon any operating system. To view the full article, click here! January 21 Microsoft is heading a group of technology companies that will collaborate on creating IT products for the disabled.
Microsoft is looking to make it easier for disabled people to use technology. The software vendor is chartering an initiative called the Accessibility Interoperability Alliance. Announced Dec. 10, the AIA is an engineering collaboration between assistive technology vendors, IT companies and key nongovernmental organizations. The group's goal is to enable developers to more easily create accessible software, hardware and Web-based products that will reduce barriers to information and communication technologies for people with disabilities, Microsoft officials said. The AIA members also will collaborate on engineering projects to increase interoperability between existing technologies, deliver new technologies and work to create better developer guidelines, tools and technologies, and lower development costs, Microsoft said. The group initially will focus on four areas: Consistent keyboard access; interoperability of accessibility APIs; user interface automation extensions; and accessible rich Internet application suite mapping through user interface automation, AIA officials said. In addition to Microsoft, founding members of AIA include software and solutions companies such as Adobe, BayFirst Solutions and Novell, hardware companies such as Hewlett-Packard, and assistive technology companies such as Claro Software, Dolphin Computer Access, GW Micro, HiSoftware, Madentec, Texthelp Systems and QualiLife. "Today, developers must work across divergent platforms, application environments and hardware models to create accessible technology for customers with disabilities," Rob Sinclair, director of the Accessibility Business Unit at Microsoft, said in a statement. "The AIA is an opportunity for the entire industry to come together to reduce the cost and complexity of accessibility, increase customer satisfaction, foster inclusive innovation and reinforce a sustainable ecosystem of accessible technology products." This article retrieved from eWeek. For a copy of the full article, click here. January 18
 Christmas came early for an Oahu family struggling to make ends meet and hoping their autistic boy would one day talk. "Leslie," not her real name, wished for an expensive device called a GoTalk that might help her 6-year-old son speak.
EnableMart heard her wish.
To read the entire article on the family and Community Clearinghouse's Adopt-A-Family Program, click here!
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December 13  Easter Seals Crossroads Assistive Technology Center is Indiana’s most well-established and largest provider of AT services. Founded in 1979, this CARF-accredited program provides computer access and job accommodation to approximately 500 individuals each year, with combined AT services reaching over 1,000 people each year.
All professional AT staff members are highly credentialed and certified. Provided services include assessment, recommendation, installation, training, and 24/7 technical support. In addition to its AT equipment loan program housed on-site at Easter Seals Crossroads, the Assistive Technology Center utilizes a mobile classroom to bring hands-on AT services directly to the consumer. Last year the Assistive Technology Center was designated an official Microsoft Accessibility Resource Center (MARC), the first of its kind in Indiana.
One of the hallmark advantages of the Easter Seals Crossroads AT program is its Assistive Tech Team, a group that meets regularly to “brainstorm” best methods for individual consumer’s needs. “Tech Team” members include Rehab Technologists and Trainers, Physical and Occupational Therapists, Speech Pathologists, Physicians, Nurses, case managers and vocational specialists.
Mid-2007 heralded the expansion of the Indianapolis-based Easter Seals Crossroads Assistive Technology Center to eight additional regional offices throughout Indiana: South Bend, Terre Haute, Merrillville, Ft. Wayne, Bloomington, Richmond, Evansville, and New Albany. This program growth allows for far greater computer access and more convenient job accommodation services for the citizens of Indiana.
For more information about Easter Seals Crossroads, visit them online at http://www.eastersealscrossroads.org/.  The EnableMart November E-Newsletter archive is now available. Click here to download the PDF or e-mail Newsletter@EnableMart.com to subscribe.
We look forward to seeing you each month! November 12
 The Redwood Rehabilitation Center works from the mission to guide children and adults with multiple and severe disabilities to achieve independence and reach their highest potential throughout their lives by providing enriching educational, therapeutic, and vocational services. Recently, in further accomplishing this mission, Redwood turned to EnableMart to help them acquire a wide variety of assistive technology products for their clients. From software learning programs such as Read and Write Gold to mobility products like the HeadMouse Extreme, Redwood purchased a broad range of items to accommodate a broad selection of individual client needs.
Redwood has a strong history of providing assistive technology (AT) products and services within their Assistive Technology Resource Center (ATRC) and through the various programs services offered. The Redwood ATRC, founded in 1998, is a member of the Kentucky Assistive Technology Services (KATS) Network and serves as a community resource for the Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati area. According to Barbara Howard, Executive Director at Redwood, “there has been an amazing growth in the use of specialized technology to increase independence and promote learning for children and adults with disabilities.”
 Qualified staff members, including Speech Language Pathologists, AT Practitioners, Rehabilitation Engineers, Physical Therapists, and Occupational Therapists, offer a wide range of AT services through Redwood. In addition, staff members endorse demonstration, experimentation, and short-term trial use of the technology. Consumers, family members, professionals, etc. may visit the center, as well as, borrow various technologies at a nominal fee. Evaluations, training, and consultations are offered in the areas of AAC, computer access, adapted play materials, access to learning opportunities, environmental control, ergonomic design, and more.
For additional information on the Redwood Rehabilitation Center, click here. For more information on how EnableMart can provide similar products and services for your organization, please email Becky@EnableMart.com.
The Redwood Assistive Technology Resource Center is an agency partner of the United Way of Greater Cincinnati.
October 02
While the EnableMart team is dedicated to spending time promoting assistive technology and raising awareness about disabilities and disability rights, we also enjoy trying our hand at a few other things that we think can make a difference. Apart from our ever competitive Fall Softball League games, we also like to step into volunteer work to remain actively involved in our community. Next up to bat: Race for the Cure, sponsored by the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
On September 23rd, the EnableMart team will spend our Sunday morning setting-up for The Race, after which, several of us will head off to run in support of the cause. If you're in the Portland area, come find us to cheer us on, or better yet, sign up and run with us! Otherwise, you can join us in the mission to find a cure by visiting Oregon and SW Washington's Race for the Cure homepage to make a monetary donation on behalf of EnableMart or for someone you know who has been through breast cancer. For additional information, feel free to email EnableMart's own Community Outreach & Volunteer Coordinator, Kelsey Wack at Kelsey@EnableMart.com. September 17 EnableMart Education Sales rep Gabriel Swatzell recently interviewed Dr. Laureen Mayfield, to discuss her thoughts on the Edmark Reading program and its success in schools across the nation.
Why did you choose Edmark?
I chose the Edmark Reading Program as a tool for the classroom and as the subject of my dissertation research because of the fantastic success I had with my students over a 21-year period. I have taught in state institutions for the mentally handicapped in both Mississippi and Louisiana, as well as in public schools in Louisiana, and have seen non-reading students with classifications such as Learning Disabled, Mentally Disabled, Emotionally Disturbed, Other Health Impaired, and Speech Impaired-Language become successful readers using the Edmark program. I have used it with students in kindergarten all the way up to teenagers in institutions who had never been taught to read. I have also used it with non-special education students in private tutoring situations. Wherever I taught, the first thing I requested was a copy of the Edmark Reading Program.
Why do you think that sight word recognition techniques like the ones presented in Edmark is the best way to educate at-risk students?
A sight-word approach is definitely not necessary for all students; the majority of our public school students are successful with a phonics-based and/or whole language approach to reading. When we talk about students who are at-risk for reading failure, however, we are working with students who have not been successful with the traditional approach, whether phonics or whole language. I believe that many of these at-risk students cannot hear the different sounds in a phonetic approach; research has shown that many children cannot differentiate between different musical tones, a fact which supports my theory. Other at-risk students must have instruction broken down into small, discrete steps, making success in a whole-language approach dubious. My experience has been that these groups of students flourish with Edmark’s sight-word approach.
How would you measure your success rate with the Edmark Reading Program?
I can only think of a handful of students in 21 years who were not able to progress to ending 2nd grade or beginning 3rd grade level in reading using this program. The most dramatic success story that comes to mind happened in my last year of teaching special education in a public elementary school. A 5th grade student, classified as Learning Disabled, transferred from an inner-city California school. When I began working with him in October, he could read about 10-15 sight words and was constantly being sent to the principal for fights with other students. I used Edmark with him in a one-on-one situation for 30 minutes a day. Once he completed Levels I and II, I used a sight-word strategy I have developed, which is a natural extension of Edmark’s approach, to instruct him in the 5th grade basal reader. By March of that year, the child was passing 5th grade reading tests in the regular classroom setting given only the accommodation of extended time—and he was seldom in the principal’s office.
What do you think the most effective part of the program is?
I believe the program is effective because of its sound theoretical roots - the concepts of Direct Instruction and Mastery Learning. Students are taught one word at a time, and once taught, that word is immediately put into context in sentences and stories, and is then reviewed constantly throughout the program. While critics may think that a child will never learn to read learning just one word at a time, the opposite is true. Most at-risk and learning disabled students can complete both levels of Edmark, thus mastering 350 words, given 15-20 minutes of daily instruction, in one school year.
The program uses an “errorless discrimination” method that allows the student to learn without making errors; students are first asked to find a word where the other possible choices are non-words (lines, letters). The program enables the at-risk student to experience success every step of the way. This is critical for children who have experienced failure, and may perceive themselves as failures. Edmark lets all students be successful and appropriately receive constant verbal praise and reinforcement from those teaching them.
Would you suggest that schools implement the Edmark Reading Program?
Without reservation! I believe every special education teacher should have it available for at-risk readers. Beyond that, I think it is an excellent intervention to be used by school systems addressing Response to Intervention. The reauthorization of IDEA allows districts to use 15% of their special education funding for early intervening services; for the first time, special education dollars can now be used to help keep children out of special education. In my district, paraprofessionals have been hired for each elementary school and trained in Edmark. Teachers in the elementary schools refer their at-risk K-3 readers to the program. These students receive 15 minutes of instruction in the Edmark Reading Program every day. We are still collecting data on the decrease in special education referrals in our district, but qualitative data from regular class teachers and parents have already shown the success of this program. Our goal is to provide effective interventions that will keep students out of special education, and so far, Edmark is helping us do this!
Dr. Mayfield is currently the Director of Special Education for the Bienville Parish School Board in Arcadia, Louisiana. Her dissertation on Edmark was published in 2000 and received the Herbert Handley Dissertation Award given by the Mid-South Educational Research Association.
For more information on the Edmark Reading Program, visit us online here.
August 01 As of July 1, EnableMart has officially lauched our fifth generation website with many improved, convenient features that make shopping with us that much better!
- Register with us while shopping online. By creating an account, you can now login to check order status, order history, receive important AT related news, and much more!
- Try our improved search options that help your find what you are looking for with ease and accuracy.
- Take advantage of the new customization options. Select a specific model, color, version, related item, or accessory right from the product homepage, making your purchase process quicker.
- Make educated decisions when purchasing your AT with EnableMart's improved product descriptions, handy comparison charts, and audio and video demonstrations of various items.
But don't just take our word for it. Visit us online at www.EnableMart.com to see what's new and how shopping has been made easier for you!
See you there!
The EnableMart Team April 19 In the coming weeks, EnableMart is set to launch our fifth generation website. Though the look and feel of the new EnableMart.com will be virtually the same, you'll be impressed by the new features that make shopping with us even easier. Now, customers can view items related to the product they are most interested in, check the status of their orders online, and even look up their purchase history, just to name a few! Keep an eye out for the changes to come and make sure to contact us with any input! We look forward to seeing you at www.EnableMart.com!
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