Leanne works as a manager at a bookstore in the BC Interior. Her job involves taking care of the organization and upkeep of the store, customer service and sales, as well as stocking books.

“I have chronic pain, especially back pain, which makes it difficult for me to be on my feet for long periods, perform repetitive tasks, and bend and lift,” she shares.

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Linda develops and teaches a variety of personal development workshops for a retreat on the Gulf Islands.

“[I have a] hearing impairment, making it stressful and potentially reducing my effectiveness,” she shares. “My work includes working with intense emotions, and when people are emotional it is even more challenging to hear clearly what they are saying, and vital that I understand what they are saying.”

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Neil Squire has created a new funding opportunity for persons with disabilities in the Fredericton area.

The Neil Squire AT Fund was created to help support youth from grades one through twelve in acquiring new or refurbished assistive technology. Students from all types of school environments are encouraged to apply. This includes public, private, and home schools.

This fund will support households with a $75,000 or less annual household income and will be limited to a maximum of $1,000 in funding for each household.

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Tania-Lynn has been taking courses to upgrade her skills and achieve her career goals, while also working in retail. However, she was having difficulties hearing during her studies and while working.

The WorkBC Centre she was working with referred her to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for help.

“The Assistive Technology Services Program was instrumental in helping me acquire the necessary hearing aids. Without the program, I would still be without hearing aids,” she shares. “These aids have also greatly assisted me in my courses, as being able to hear better has improved my overall learning experience.”

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School is starting once again, and on today’s episode we’re going to explore some brand-new apps, strategies, and technologies that we think would be especially useful to students in particular.

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Laura was looking for work and she has hearing loss. Her WorkBC Employment Centre referred her to WorkBC Assistive Technology Service to help her get the technology she needs to work.

“The Assistive Technology Services program assisted me by providing a hearing aid that is compatible with my upgraded CI sound processor and the Roger On device, which I use daily,” she shares.

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The 2024-2025 school year is upon us, and we have plenty of new, accessible apps to review. If you have any suggestions or ideas about apps or products that you’d like us to cover, please send us an email at ta-atsupport@neilsquire.ca. We’ll even create one-pagers to explain specific app tools or functions by request. To see an example of some previous one-pagers that we’ve created, click here.

Today we are going to look at a mind mapping app. This relatively new tool is designed to help you visualize and organize your ideas in a digital space. And while the concept of mind mapping isn’t new in itself, the digitization of this concept is fairly new, and it has some great benefits for persons with disabilities.

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Thanks to vehicle modifications he received through WorkBC Assistive Technology Services, Ahmed has been able to work as a rideshare driver for the last four months.

Ahmed has a spinal cord injury and uses a wheelchair. His local WorkBC Centre referred him to Assistive Technology Services to support his self-employment goals.

“They changed my life. I couldn’t use my car easily. They gave me a transfer seat and lift for my wheelchair,” he shares. “I don’t need anyone to help with my wheelchair anymore. I can use my car alone.”

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Tiffany works as an executive for a non-profit. She has moderate to severe hearing loss.

“If I don’t have hearing aids, I cannot work,” she shares.

When her old hearing aids started to fail, her audiologist referred her to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for funding for a new set of hearing aids.

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Madeleine works as a coach and personal trainer in Southeastern British Columbia.

“I love my job,” she says. “I get to interact with people of all ages, and help them feel fit and strong and capable of whatever goals they have.

“I am deaf in my right ear. I’ve been this way for as long as I can remember. As I grew older and more mature, [I realized] that I was missing out on a lot of conversations,” she shares. “It started to negatively impact my job situation when I realized I couldn’t hear clients if they needed help, if they were asking a question, if they wanted to point something out. I was missing that whole part of my job.”

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