Submitted by San Juan Island Library
San Juan Island Library has a new collection of low- and high-tech assistive technology devices available for patrons to take home and try. The Aids for Better Living collection includes devices to make life a little easier for persons with a wide range of functional needs or disabilities, including mobility, vision loss, hearing loss, difficulty with speaking, or difficulty handling small objects.
Problems with seeing, speaking, hearing, memory, decreased grip strength, diminished ability to reach and bend, as well as other mobility problems, can affect each of us. Sometimes it can be short term, like the after effects of a surgery; other times the issues persist for years. Coping with these kinds of problems now might be a bit easier thanks to the library’s Aids for Better Living collection of assistive devices patrons can check out and use.
Persons with mobility issues might appreciate borrowing a dressing kit, a reacher for manipulating distant objects, a voice-activated switch for turning off a light, and a handlebar that makes getting into out of an automobile easier. There is also a kettle tipper, an utensil holder, a jar opener, and a clamp to help knitting or model making for those with less dexterity.
Products available for people with vision loss include jumbo playing cards, a big keys computer keyboard and CD players designed for listening to books. Various styles of magnifiers are also available.
Hearing loss is increasingly common in our community, which is one of U.S. counties with a large percent of the population over 65 years old. The TV ears system might save a marriage. While products like this are frequently advertised, they can be expensive, and most folks want a chance to try them before making a major purchase. There is also an amplified telephone kit and a personal amplification device.
There are two products that might help persons who have difficulty with speech: the Go Talk Pocket and the Pocket Talker Pro can have prerecorded utterances programmed for those with speech impairment to use instead of talking.
A catalog of the Aids for Better Living collection is available online at http://www.sjlib.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/ABL_Catalog_SJIL.pdf or you can check out a printed copy at the library to take home. Products in this collection are made available to library users through the Washington Assistive Technology Act Program at the University of Washington. Library patrons using the materials are asked to complete a survey about their experience with the devices.
The library also loans a mix of equipment including a cassette player, DVD players, a Kill A Watt energy usage meter and electronic devices that detect the presence of bats.
Library cards are free of charge to islanders with proof of residency. In addition to its collections of materials to loan, the library also provides public access computers and Wi-Fi. Library hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
