Technology Helps Wounded Warrior Lead Productive Life
(February 3, 2010) |
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Retired Army Capt. Matthew Staton uses a personal digital
assistant to organize his schedule at the 2010 Military Health System Conference
at the National Harbor in Prince George's County, Md., Jan. 26, 2010. |
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PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md., Jan. 29, 2010 –
It took a few trips to the grocery store before
Army Capt. Matthew Staton realized he needed
help.
“I'd go to the store and forget a five-item list
my wife had given me,” he said. “I'd just wander
up and down the aisles.”
Staton eventually sought help for what turned
out to be mild traumatic brain injury, a result
of exposure to multiple improvised explosive
devices in Iraq and head trauma from a stateside
car accident.
Staton, now medically retired, received not only
medical care, but also technology-based care
that has enabled him to embark on a successful
post-military life. He described the help he
received through the Computer/Electronic
Accommodations Program at the 2010 Military
Health System Conference at the National Harbor
here.
The program, known as CAP, falls under the
assistant secretary of defense for health
affairs. It provides free assistive technology
and services to people with disabilities
throughout the Defense Department and other
federal agencies.
“I'd heard of the program and reached out,
asking for the services,” he said during a Jan.
26 interview at the conference. “The memory was
the biggest thing for me. I was the Post-it king
-- write everything down. The problem was I
couldn't keep it organized.” |
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The program provided Staton with two personal digital
assistants, a digital voice recorder, literacy software and
scanner, and even a chair – all free of charge. “The PDA
allowed me to pull everything together,” he said.
Since its inception in 1990, the program has filled more
than 81,000 customer accommodations, said Dinah Cohen,
program director, who described the program's benefits at
the conference Jan. 26.
“Our mission is to provide the assistive technology and
accommodations to ensure our employees with disabilities and
my newest customers, my wounded warriors, have equal access
to the information environment and opportunities at
Department of Defense and throughout the federal
government,” said Cohen, who has been with the program since
it started.
These disabilities can range from carpal-tunnel syndrome and
tennis elbow to vision impairment and hearing loss.
Through the program, employees receive assistive technology
and training, needs assessments and technology
demonstrations, installation and integration of technology,
and training on disability management and on creating an
accessible environment, Cohen said.
In 2004, the program expanded to target the unique needs of
wounded warriors, Cohen said.
“When CAP was established, the military audience was always
a part of it, but requirements were low; the number of
people with devastating injuries was relatively low,” Cohen
said in an interview today.
“Post-9/11, I saw more and more servicemembers coming home
with devastating injuries,” she continued. “They were coming
back with injuries similar to disabling conditions I've been
accommodating for many years,” such as cognitive issues and
hearing and vision impairments.
A new population was developing that wasn't as aware of the
laws dealing with disability issues, she said, due to the
youth and health of the force.
A CAP program called “Support, Equip and Empower” now
provides wounded warriors with information about the
available technology and then provides the right equipment
for their needs. Since its inception in 2004, the program
has filled more than 14,000 requests directly for
servicemembers, Cohen said.
As an added benefit, once assistive technology is delivered
to servicemembers through CAP, they can keep that equipment,
whether they continue with federal employment or not. That
equipment has become part of a wounded warrior's daily life,
Cohen said, so it's only fitting it should remain so.
Staton, for instance, kept his CAP-provided assistance items
from active-duty service through separation and into his
current job as a staff assistant for the Office of the
Secretary of the Army.
The goal for wounded warriors, Cohen said, is re-employment.
“Many of our men and women who have been injured are young;
they have a whole life ahead of them,” she said. “We don't
want to say to them at the age of 21, ‘You can't work any
more.'”
To spread awareness and facilitate requests, CAP has local
representatives at more than 56 activities throughout the
country, Cohen said.
“If you are in charge of a [military treatment facility], a
clinic, a program, that has servicemen and women who are
wounded warriors, who are coming back and they need CAP, you
need to let us know,” Cohen told the conference attendees.
“That is the liaison we need.
“Bottom line is that we do right by that man and that female
who have worn the uniform to keep us safe,” she continued.
“That we get them the right technology, that we don't make
mistakes, that we're helping them through their recovery and
rehabilitation.”
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Article and photo by Elaine Wilson
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2010 |
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