Additional Services

Transition services provide information about the needs for assistive technology as one moves from high school to post-secondary education or employment. Also, this caters to those entering or maintaining community living outside of institutional settings.

Aging in Place
LATAN provides training and a resource manual “Assistive Technology for Aging in Place” to train older individuals who want to remain in community settings, their caregivers and service providers, and individuals who want to transition out of institutions into the community. Hospital discharge planners also receive this transition training and technical assistance. For more information, please call the LATAN office.

Training for Special Educators
LATAN’s plans include collaborating with the Department of Education Louisiana Assistive Technology Initiative regional centers and the Louisiana Rehabilitation Services to develop a training module that will be used to train special educators, vocational rehabilitation counselors, parents, and students involved in transition with the skills and knowledge they need to successfully include AT in all transition planning.

Technical Assistance
In addition, LATAN provides technical assistance to the long-term service and support task forces in state agencies. This is utilized as a way to enhance the functional abilities of people transitioning to community settings from nursing homes and other institutional settings.

LATAN provides technical assistance to agencies and organizations by request. These are just some of the areas in which LATAN has provided technical assistance:

• Barrier-free housing
• Visit-ability
• Universal design
• Long-term supports and services
• Emergency preparedness
• Transition

LATAN maintains an extensive list of resources for individuals with disabilities, and our staff is knowledgeable on AT topics ranging from adapted housing to ZoomText.

LATAN’s Information & Assistance services helped 582 people this year by explaining AT products and services, assisting consumers in finding funding for AT, and providing information on general disability topics and resources.

Louisiana Assistive Technology Access Network (LATAN) urges Louisiana residents who use Assistive Technology (AT) to make plans and become prepared to be able to evacuate with all AT devices and components necessary for independent daily living in the face of hurricanes or other disasters.

In addition to being personally prepared for all disasters, LATAN offers the following checklist of suggestions that users of AT can follow when faced with evacuation:

1. Label all AT devices and components with owner’s name and contact info
2. Post “how-to” instructions on big or complex devices for first responders and evacuation personnel
3. If relying on local/state officials for evacuation, touch base with them and remind them of AT needs
4. Keep devices charged
5. Store chargers, extra batteries and adapters with devices
6. Take a plastic zipper bag and electronic file (disc or flash drive) containing all AT info including:
   • Device name Manufacturer’s name & info
   • Model and Serial numbers
   • Vendor (Store’s/Seller’s) name & info
   • Date of purchase and copy of receipt if available
   • Copy of Doctor’s or Therapist’s prescription if available & contact info
   • Funder’s (i.e., Medicare, Medicaid, Insurance Co.) name, contact info, & policy numbers

Louisiana residents with access and functional needs may want to review the LATAN Emergency Preparedness Video© for tips on being prepared for disasters. This video is fully accessible through American Sign Language (ASL) and open captioning. For more information, call LATAN’s Emergency Preparedness program at 225.925.9500 or 1.800.270.6185.

©2009 LATAN Emergency Preparedness Video including “Preparedness, It’s Your Turn” presentation and “EAD Emergency Readiness Wheel”, both ©2007 EAD & Associates, LLC. All rights reserved and further reproduction prohibited without prior written permission.

After a disaster, people with disabilities and the elderly need your help during their stay in emergency shelters. YOU can help in so many ways.

You can read to someone who is blind, help orient someone to the shelter’s layout, assist with dressing, eating, getting in and out of his/her cot, getting to the restroom, etc. With your help, an already difficult experience can be a little less stressful. To volunteer go to http://www.lava.dhh.louisiana.gov.