Assistive Technology Empowers Students

In the library at Warren Middle School in Forney ISD, Emma taps the device at her temple, which lights up.

After a second its robotic voice says, “Officer Baker,” letting the seventh-grader know that her friend, the school security officer, is in the room.

Emma is a student with visual impairments, one of a number across Region 10 who are learning to use an Orcam MyEye, a small camera with artificial intelligence technology that helps these students navigate their surroundings with relative independence. She can train the device to recognize faces and objects. Out on his family’s farm in Grayson County, seventh-grader Garrett also uses technology to assist him with his visual impairment. He helps his father care for their cows and horses, and proudly shows cows at agriculture competitions.

Alexa Poynor, a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS) with Region 10 ESC explains, “The Orcam is a device designed to help a person capture images of people’s faces, describe the environment around them and read street signage and other distant vision tasks.” Poynor works closely with Garrett and other visually impaired students in Region 10 schools. The Orcam is one of a number of technological innovations that she introduces to her students.

“Assistive technology allows people who are visually impaired to perform activities including those in areas of independent living and communication, as well as employability related tasks,” she says. “Examples include devices, software and apps to assist with reading, using the computer to access email, creating documents, and accessing the internet.“

On a recent outing, Garrett used the Orcam to help read street names, safely cross the street, and find a restaurant. Once inside he was also able to read the menu with his hi-tech helper: “We took a picture of it and then the Orcam read the picture off the phone.”

Garrett's mom, Beth Jones, explains that living independently with visual impairments runs in their family. Jones is a college professor and uses assistive technology for her job at Texas A&M Commerce. She’s even able to drive for local errands. The family works together to come up with creative solutions for challenges on the farm, such as a color-coded wrench set for Garrett. His father, Curtis Jones, says he thinks it’s good training that Garrett fully participates in the many chores, from scrubbing down the cows to cleaning their stalls. (Beth Jones is also an appointee to the Board of Trustees for the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.) Region 10 provides direct services to students with visual impairments via a team of COMS’s and Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TVIs). Kelly Bevis, Program Coordinator with Visually Impaired Services programs at Region 10, emphasizes the work of the TVIs and COMS’s who work directly with students like Emma and Garrett.

Bevis explains, “No matter how simple or complex the tools or needs of the student, these vision professionals enhance the present and future independence and quality of life of the students they serve."

Region 10 also hosts two alternating yearly technology fairs and sporting competitions: Technology Olympics in the spring of every even year, and Dallas Area Braille Challenge in the spring of every odd year. (For more information visit region10.org/programs/ visually-impaired-assistive-technology). The next Technology Olympics is coming soon, on February 18 at the Region 10 campus on Spring Valley Road in Richardson. There is also a Seriously Wild About Assistive Technology (SWAT) Roundtable Group, at which vendors showcase the newest assistive technology hardware and software. The next SWAT is on February 10, 2022, at Region 10.

“Assistive technology allows people who are visually impaired to perform activities including those in areas of independent living and communication, as well as employability related tasks.”