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Deaf/Blind News A Review of Communication Systems Used by Deaf-Blind People—Part III Corinne Klein Jensema Although mediated assistance has long been an integral part of classroom instruction for deaf, blind, and deaf-blind youngsters, the development of electronic devices in recent years has greatly expanded their communication potential in the areas of work and community life as well as education. The following is a description of some electronic devices currently on the market and their functions. Group auditory trainers, which formerly operated only within the confines of wired or "looped" rooms, now transmit and receive over government-approved FM frequencies and can accompany a group of students almost anywhere. Receivers can be adjusted to suit the audiological needs of individual students. These boast a high voice-to-voice noise ratio in teacher to pupil communication (Moberg, Note 1). A similar group communication device without the peripatetic features is available for visually-impaired persons. The Electro-Brailler is an electrical braille communicating aid which consists of a braille transcriber, which acts as the transmitter, and a braillewriter, which acts as the receiver. The braille transcriber is an adapter mounted on a braillewriter, a braille keyboard, or an ordinary typewriter. Pressing the keys down generates electric impulses which are converted into braille dots by the braillewriter. The brailled material appears in the form of an embossed tape (the device is thus a braille tapewriter). (Schopper, 1971, p. 47) Some of the usages of this machine include classroom blackboard substitute, conference equipment, and teletyper. The Braillemboss, a device similar to the Electro-Brailler, developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology also has computer time-share capabilities. A new braille system has been created which correlates symbols from the FORTRAN character set with individual braille symbols (Dalrymple, 1973). The Teletouch is a person-to-person device whereby the sender uses a typewriter-like keyboard to send messages. When a key is pressed, the corresponding braille letter is chemically raised on a braille cell on the back of the Teletouch. The receiving person reads the braille with one fingertip (Kruger, 1974). The Optacon is an electronic scanner which converts printed material into braille. The braille appears on a single cell upon which the deaf-blind person keeps his fingertip in the same way he would when using the Teletouch. The Deaf-Blind Communication Aid is another person-to-person instrument which divides words spoken into a microphone into various sound frequencies and, through five circuits, activates finger-sized vibrators mounted in a small box. By placing his hand on the vibrators the deaf-blind person is able to feel the vibrations produced by the spoken words (Zumalt, Silver, & Kramer, 1972). Several electronic contraptions have surfaced to facilitate telephone communication for deaf-blind people. Kruger (1974) offers the following definitions of two such devices. The Tactile Speech Indicator consists of an induction coil and an amplifier box with a vibrator output transducer. Questions are asked so as to require a yes or no answer. "Yes-yes" signifies an affirmative response, "no" a negative one; or dialing a "1" is used for yes, and a "4" for no. The voiced and/or click responses are felt on the output transducer . The Telebraille is designed to permit two deaf-blind persons to communicate over the telephone. The "speaker" sends braille using a keyboard similar to that on a brailling machine. Each braille letter is converted into corresponding audio-frequency-shifted binary strings which are acoustically coupled to a telephone handset. On the receiving end, the handset is acoustically coupled to an identical unit which converts the binary strings to signals that drive pins in the braille cell. One electronic contraption with a simple communicative missive is the TACCOM, a A.A.O. !February 1980 Deaf !Blind News wireless transmitting unit which vibrates on the portable receiver to indicate that the handicapped person is wanted by the transmitting party. It can be used to communicate with people with a wide span of intellectual functioning (Dalrymple, 1973). A similar device, the Wrist-Corn, has paging capabilities plus capabilities to warn of emergencies, the ringing of a doorbell and the ringing of a telephone . It has added features...

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