From the [UK] Guardian:

A UK charity says that many of the 1.5 million people with learning disabilities in the UK are being denied an effective voice in their care, and would be better served with the use of new multimedia technologies.

The Rix Centre said that new technology, including digital cameras, social networking sites and other multimedia sites, could be used to revolutionize the care of people with disabilities.

Andy Minnion, the group’s director, said websites could be created a low cost to offer information in formats that people with learning disabilities would find easy to use, but he said the government should provide multimedia training for caregivers.

The charity is hosting a conference called My New Media Life at the British Museum.

From AP, the Boston Globe:

Massachusetts Attorney General Matha Koakley has reached an agreement with Apple Inc. to make the iTunes software accessible to people who use computer screen reader software that reads text aloud.

Under the agreement, Apple must make iTunes accessible to all systems by next June. The iTunes software is used not only to purchase movies and music online, but also as an educational tool for listening to lectures by faculty of major universities.

Coakley said that by failing to make its software more accessible to blind people, Apple was violating the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as the Massachusetts Equal Rights Act. But Coakley said that instead of threatening Apple, she suggested the company address the matter voluntarily. “They agreed to work with us on this,” Coakley said. “We felt that this was one where we had a good argument, and Apple frankly agreed with us.”

(Above: AP photo of Coakley with students of Perkins School for the Blind.)

UPDATE, 09/29/09: See also ITunes eases access for the blind — Wall Street Journal

From Scientific American, the New York Times:

Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google, says he has a genetic mutation that increases his likelihood of getting Parkinson’s disease, a condition which is shared by his mother and her aunt.

Brin discovered the genetic mutation in a test from 23andMe, his wife’s gene-screening company. He estimated his risk of getting the disease at somewhere between 20 percent and 80 percent.

Forbes magazine recently estimated Brin’s personal fortune at $15.9 billion. He said he may help provide more money for research into the disease.

(Photo from Scientific American)

From the CBS Early Show:

Garrett Schram of Boise, Idaho, (left) is the first student in the country to attend school from a hospital room by using a new business video conferencing device. (See video here.)

Called Roundtable, the device with tiny cameras pointed in every direction makes it possible for Garrett to participate in classes at Sawtooth Middle School even though he’s being treated for bone cancer at St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital.

The Microsoft technology provides a real-time audio-video connection between the hospital and his classroom, allowing Garrett to keep up with lessons and stay connected with his community, teachers and peers.

Microsoft says it is donating thirty of the devices to hospitals this year.

(CBS graphic)

From Fortune Small Business/CNN Money:

Debra Ruh’s TecAccess was named one of the Small Business Administration’s top ten success stories in 2008. The company places people with disabilities in technology jobs, and consults with organizations about making hardware, software and websites accessible to those with disabilities.

The mother of an adult daughter with Down syndrome, Ruh realized the value of technology for people with disabilities while volunteering in her daughter’s special education class. “Accessibility used to be about building ramps,” Ruh says. “Now it’s about building ramps to technology.”

Companies say accessible products allow them to be more competitive in the marketplace, and employers say that in some cases employees with disabilities are more motivated. Ruh says employees with disabilities are often more creative since they must solve problems daily, and the cost of meeting ADA requirements for employees with disabilities is usually lower than employers expect — median cost $600.

The company is set up as a for-profit firm because Ruh says “We didn’t want to be marginalized … we wanted to emphasize that this is good for business.” Her profits have grown every year.

See earlier post here.

(David Yellen photo/Fortune Small Business/CNN.com)

From MSNBC:

Two new technologies are helping people with impaired vision gain much-needed access to information.

The Pulse Smartpen, which debuts in retail stores this month, records and synchronizes nearly everything a student hears and writes. And WebAnywhere, a free Internet-based service released last month, works as a screen reader by converting Web site text to electronic speech.

Some researchers believe the products could expand career options for blind people, who are dramatically underemployed. It is estimated that 70 percent of blind people do not have jobs; only about ten percent of blind children learn Braille in school, down from about 50 per cent in the 1960s.

See earlier post: 1,000 march in Dallas to advocate for blind people

From The Wall Street Journal:

Researchers are exploring new technologies to detect autism earlier so that children can benefit from behavioral therapy at a younger age. The reason: studies of children with autism indicate that preschool-age kids receiving intensive treatment show greater gains in language and IQ scores than children whose treatment begins at older ages.

Scientists at Canada’s McMaster University and Yale University’s Toddler Developmental Disabilities Clinic are both working with eye-tracking technology intended to predict the risk of autism in children in infancy. Meanwhile, researchers at at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab are developing specialized software and an in-home recording device to analyze the habits of infants to detect signs of autism.

The new technology is meant to complement traditional behavioral methods of analysis that are still necessary for a proper diagnosis.

Wall Street Journal video includes an advertisement.

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