Everyone interested in helping people with speech disabilities should look
at http://www.stsnews.com/ This web page describes a free relay service
for people with speech disabilities. A brief description follows:
PEOPLE WITH SPEECH DISABILITIES NOW HAVE A TELEPHONE SERVICE
If you have a speech disability and live in : ARIZONA,
CALIFORNIA, MARYLAND, NEVADA, SOUTH CAROLINA, WISCONSIN, GEORGIA, MINNESOTA
and WASHINNGTON STATE, you can now use a new, free telephone assistance
service 24 hours a day.
This service, called Speech-to-Speech, provides "communications assistants"
for people with difficulty being understood by the public on the telephone.
We hope that the FCC will require all states to provide Speech-to-Speech in
two years.
If you have a speech disability, you can dial toll free to reach a
patient, trained communications assistant who is familiar with many speech
patterns and has excellent hearing and language skills. This operator makes
telephone calls for you and repeats your words exactly.
Users now make about 5,000 calls a month nationally. Speech-to-Speech is
also useful if you use a speech synthesizer. Speech-to-Speech is the only
way for many people to telephone others not accustomed to their speech. Many
Speech-to-Speech users have Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy, multiple
sclerosis, or Muscular Dystrophy. Other users include people who stutter or
have had a laryngectomy or ALS.
I have cerebral palsy and Speech-to-Speech made telephone use much easier
for me. You can try out Speech-to-Speech, report problems or get more
information by calling 800-854-7784 and asking for Dr. Bob Segalman (in the
communication assistant's directory). See also the new web page on
Speech-to-Speech:
http://www.stsnews.com/
Here are the U. S. Speech-to-Speech access numbers:
ARIZONA 1 800 842 6520
CALIFORNIA 1 800 854 7784
MARYLAND 1 800-785-5630
SOUTH CAROLINA 1 877 735 7277
WISCONSIN 1 800-833-7637
GEORGIA 1 800 229 5746
WASHINGTON STATE 1-877-833-6341
NEVADA 1-888-326-5658
MINNESOTA 1-877-627-3848
Sweden and Australia have completed Speech-to-Speech Trials. Australia
began permanent service on November 1. For Swedish information e-mail:
[log in to unmask] (Inga Svanfeldt)
and for Australian information
e-mail: [log in to unmask] (Tom McCaul)
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