Forum Proceedings

Gina McMaster

Primary Consumer
Mead, Washington

Dear T²RERC,
I feel there were good ideas brought up at the meetings I attended. I went to the Advanced Input Technologies session and the Communication Processing session. I was able to participate more in the Com. Processing session because I was more familiar with the material they were covering and could relate to what improvements our devices need for developing better literacy for the user and expressing emotions.

I hope something will come from this forum that will enlighten and encourage the researchers and manufacturers of AAC devices by keeping in mind the many different abilities and disabilities of the users and not just strive for high tech. Like Mary Ann said, I am happy with a way to communicate and express myself. I am proud of the fact I use Morse code and taught myself Minspeak. It is probably not the choice combination a Speech Pathologist would encourage but I knew it was something that would work for me. I guess I am not as interested in speed and comparing myself to people who can vocalize instantly as I am interested in using proper language, getting the right message across the first time and expressing emotions.

I very much enjoyed matching some faces to Acolug members at the forum and got to talk with other participants on a one-to-one basis. I enjoyed meeting Bruce Baker and I got a kick out of seeing his expression when my mom told him how I access my Liberator.

Mimicking the human voice and ability to use language skills with a device is remarkable and we do have a long way to go before mimicking all aspects of verbalizing. I was very impressed to see intelligent and dedicated people working so hard towards this goal: the ability to fully express ourselves. I hear frustration from users, therapists, teachers, parents and those who design and distribute AAC devices. The fact that T²RERC and AAC RERC combined to attack this field gives me hope. Gina McMaster

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