May I forward?





--- [log in to unmask] wrote:
> FACT SHEET: TELEPHONE ACCESS FOR
>   PEOPLE WITH SPEECH DISABILITIES
>
>
> If you have a speech disability and live in the
> USA (including Puerto Rico
> and the Virgin Islands), you can now use a new,
> free telephone service 24
> hours a day.  It is also available (fewer hours
> of the day) in Sweden and
> Australia.  This FCC mandated service, called
> Speech to Speech (STS),
> provides communication assistants (CAs) for
> people with difficulty being
> understood by the public on the telephone.
>
>
> STS is provided through the TTY relay in each
> state.  Unlike TTY, STS
> enables people with speech disabilities to
> communicate by voice through a CA
> as many people with speech disabilities have
> difficulty typing.
>
>
> People with speech disabilities can dial toll
> free to reach a patient,
> trained CA who is familiar with many speech
> patterns and has excellent
> language recognition skills. This CA makes
> telephone calls for them and
> repeats their words exactly in a 3-way calling
> environment. Every month
> users make about 6,000 calls nationally.  STS
> is the only way for many
> people to telephone others not accustomed to
> their speech. Many STS users
> have Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy, ALS,
> multiple sclerosis, or
> muscular dystrophy.  Other users stutter or
> have had a laryngectomy.  STS
> also helps some speech synthesizer users.
>
>
>   Bob Segalman, Ph.D. has cerebral palsy and
> developed the concept of STS.
> Now it makes telephone use much easier for him.
>  To try out STS, report
> problems or get more information: Call
> 800-854-7784 and ask for Dr. Bob
> Segalman (direct 916-263-8689). You may also
> visit the STS website:
> http://www.stsnews.com/ or contact Katherine
> Keller at
> [log in to unmask] to place you on the STS
> List Serve.
>
>
> Bob is gathering support letters to insure that
> every state implements an
> STS Outreach Service to tell people with speech
> disabilities about STS..  If
> you're willing to sign a support letter, please
> e-mail Bob at:
> [log in to unmask] and indicate which state
> you live in and request a
> draft.
>
>
> For a list of U. S. Speech-to-Speech access
> numbers go to:
>
http://www.stsnews.com/Pages/STSDial-UpTelnumbers.html
>
>
> Australia provides STS.
> Contact: [log in to unmask] (Tom McCaul).
> Sweden has just extended its STS trial for one
year.


=====
My Ya-Hoo ID:  kathyjopinkus

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