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Delaware Assistive Technology Initiative

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Volume 14, No. 1, Winter 2006

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The AT Bargain Basement

Marvin Williams, AT Specialist, Kent County ATRC

Hello true believers, and welcome to the winter installment of the AT Bargain Basement. I am Marvin Williams, and I will be your guide through a wonderland of bargains! For those of you who are new to the Bargain Basement, I’ll explain the rules of the game… I find the best AT deals I can for $100 or less. For this installment, I have decided to take a look at the bargains available for loan and/or demonstration at your local ATRC. Each ATRC has recently received numerous additions to its inventory and quite a few of those happen to be great bargains! That means everything you read about in this column is available for loan from an ATRC near you. So, without further adieu, let’s get to the bargains!

Our first items are the Door Knocker 300 from CompuTTY and the Flashing Door Chime from Lamson Home Products. The Door Knocker is a signaler that flashes when someone knocks at the door. Just plug it into an outlet near the door, and you’re all set. When someone knocks, the signal on the unit flashes and gives a visual alert that someone is at the door. Since it plugs into a wall outlet, you can take this device with you on vacation or move it to other doors in your home. The Door Knocker is available for $24.95 through CompuTTY’s website, www.computty.com or by placing a phone order at (800) 366-9950.

The Flashing Door Chime works along similar lines, but is for use with doorbells and phones. To use this unit, simply mount the doorbell chime button where you would have a regular wired doorbell button. The receiver is plugged into the wall and a lamp is plugged into it. When the button is pressed, the light plugged into the receiver will flash, giving a visual cue that the doorbell has been pressed. It also has a chime on it with a few different tones so that you can have auditory and visual cues. The nice thing about this unit is that it also includes a phone attachment so that you can plug your phone into a receiver and it will make the lights flash when the phone rings as well. The door chime is available for around $50 at your local Lowe’s

Picture of the Flashing Door Chime

Next up is the Clear Sounds 40XLC Amplified Phone with a large backlit Caller ID display. The hearing aid compatible 40XLC is nice because it combines all of the functions of a good amplified telephone with large, easy-to-see buttons, and a large print Caller ID display. There is even a speaker phone included. For those of you needing a more tactile telephone ring, there is a pillow shaker attachment included with this phone. With this device next to your bed, you may never sleep through the phone ringing again. The ringer is adjustable to 95dB, which is nothing to sneeze at, and the amplifier goes up to 50dB. It sells for $86.43 from Ambient Weather, www.ambientweather.com.

Another bargain that is available for loan at your local ATRC is the Oversized Universal Remote. This item is a marvel to behold. The large, easy-to-use buttons light up when you press them. Also, since it’s a universal remote, you can program in up to four devices and control them all from the same remote. Maxi-Aids sells the Oversized Universal Remote for $38.95 through their website, www.maxiaids.com, or by calling (800) 522-6294.

Next we have the Wide-View Fresnel Stand Magnifier, which is available for $87.95 from LS & S, LLC at www.lssproducts.com or by calling (800) 468-4789. This is a large magnifier that can be handy for reading books, magazines, or newspapers. The stand allows hands-free use, and the gooseneck holding arm lets you position the magnifier in a way that works best for you. As with all magnifiers, it is a good idea to try it out before you make a purchase to be sure it will provide enough magnification for you.

That brings us to the Timex Weekly Medication Manager. The Timex system is great because it has four different medication compartments at each level and seven levels, thus giving you enough compartments for four different sets of medications every day for seven days. The system also has alarms on it so you can get friendly reminders of when you need to take your medications. The alarm can be a beep, a voice, or a flashing reminder. Each compartment can have its own reminder. The box can also have two additional timers set. The system has a history tracker so that you can see when the alarms were stopped and when pills were missed. One very big bonus of this unit is that each individual four-compartment tray can be taken off of the weekly rack and used independently with the timer. So if you have medications you take four times a day every day, you can set them up on the rack and then take them and the timer with you when you’re on the go. When you get home, put the empty rack back and take the full rack for the next day. The Timex full week unit sells for $25.95 and a single four compartment unit sells for $16.95 from Safe Home Products at www.safehomeproducts.com or (877) 358-0900.

Picture of the Timex Weekly Medication Manager

For more information on any of the products mentioned in this article, or to inquire about a demonstration or loan of the equipment, please contact your local ATRC.

And that will bring to a close another installment of the AT Bargain Basement. As usual, if you know of any bargains, please feel free to drop me a line. I’ll be sure to mention it here and to properly credit you for your wonderful ideas. So until next time, remember—just because it’s a bargain doesn’t mean it’s cheap!

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