Expanding Access/Expanding Horizons; Meeting The Challenge: ­Parenting Children With Disabilities; Road To Access: Travel For The Physically Challenged

With the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act, expect to see more and more materials on the subject of improving access for the physically handicapped. Expanding Access/Expanding Horizons is an eye-opening overview of the impressive new technologies, many of which are computer-based, that are currently being used to assist those who are deaf, blind, or have physical disabilities. A voice synthesizer coupled with an input device such as a mouse (used by theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking) or even an eye-tracking device, gives a voice to those who cannot speak, while another computer responds to voice commands for those without control of their limbs. Alternative keyboards, touch screens, and Braille printers, are just a few of the other wonderful tools being made available. Although very brief (10 minutes), Expanding Access/Expanding Horizons is an exciting look at some clearly beneficial fruits of technology.Meeting the Challenge: Parenting Children With Disabilities is actually four short films collated under the title "Video Intensive Parenting" In Part I, "Lost Dreams," parents of children with Down syndrome, severe retardation, hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy, and other disabilities offer an honest overview of the emotional shocks and traumas following the birth of a physically disabled child. Particular attention is paid to the stages of the grieving process (denial, fear, anger, blame, guilt, depression, etc.). Part II, "Rebuilding Dreams," revisits the same couples, who discuss the steps they took to begin their lives again, from the mechanics of coping to the decision whether to keep the child or place him or her in a professional institution. In Part III, "The Challenge of Parenting," a different group of couples (which is rather disorienting) talk about the day-to-day challenge of parenting "special needs" children, from looking for respite care when parents need a break to finding support groups. Finally, in Part IV, "The Professional Puzzle," the couples from Part III and health-care professionals talk about the problems involved in working with the health-care profession. In many respects an excellent tape overall, Meeting the Challenge has a couple of problems: first, the shifting of couples halfway through the video breaks the thread. And second, the switch to the term "special needs" in the second half of the tape points to one of the difficulties of politically correct euphemisms--it's impossible to tell what actual problems--which can be widely divergent and require different treatments--the parents are referring to. On the other hand, the general nature of the program makes this a good choice for a beginning tape on the issue.Road to Access: Travel for the Physically Challenged encourages physically disabled--specifically wheelchair-bound--individuals to take advantage of the many new changes in transportation modes and facilities which allow people to travel safely and comfortably. Using actual carriers (US Air, Amtrak, etc.) as examples, the program overturns misconceptions that some physically disabled individuals might have: such as the notion of having to pay extra (false), not being able to travel alone (false, in most cases), and that their special needs will not be accommodated (the situation gets better every day). Beyond offering visual demonstrations of boarding and leaving an airplane, train, and subway, the program also carries a number of handy tips that wheelchair-bound individuals can follow to ensure a less-stressed trip.All three programs are good, relatively inexpensive, and recommended. (Expanding Access/Expanding Horizons is available from: Utah Assistive Technology Program, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-6855; (801) 750-2355.) (Meeting the Challenge is available from: Karol Video, 350 No. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18773-7600; (800) 526-4773.) (For availability of Road to Access see CELEBRATING FAITH THE HOOSIER WAY.)