{"id":472,"date":"2013-10-16T16:13:59","date_gmt":"2013-10-16T15:13:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/autismcard\/?p=472"},"modified":"2013-10-16T18:04:46","modified_gmt":"2013-10-16T17:04:46","slug":"devices-connectivity-shoestring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/autismcard\/2013\/10\/16\/devices-connectivity-shoestring\/","title":{"rendered":"How to: Devices and connectivity on a shoestring"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Images<\/a>
Photo By: Images Money<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the intentions of the Autism Card project is to look at cost-effective technologies. Although much of what we’re investigating revolves around devices that can be \u00a0substantially cheaper than existing assistive devices, ‘cheap’ could in practice still mean hundreds of pounds either one-off costs for buying a device or for a rolling mobile phone contract, for some this will still be prohibitively expensive, especially if you are an out-of-work adult.<\/p>\n

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“only 15% of adults with autism are in full-time paid employment.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

–\u00a0The way we are: autism in 2012<\/a> [PDF], \u00a0National Autistic Society<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Are there cheaper ways of getting some of the same benefits of the more expensive devices?<\/p>\n

eReaders<\/h2>\n

eReader<\/a> devices are specialised devices helping you to read electronic content. They are often cheaper than tablets but are more restricted in what they can do. As they are generally simpler to use and have fewer options to choose from, these ‘restrictions’ may be helpful if you get easily confused trying to make a choice. The cheaper devices will also usually be greyscale (black and white) rather than colour and some don’t have sound but they are usually much more tailored to reading text easily than an average tablet. Because they tend to use less power you can normally go longer between needing to recharge the device than a tablet. \u00a0Examples<\/p>\n