Adaptive Technology: Why Paying for It Yourself Makes Sense

Summary:
Another option to seriously consider as part of your funding strategy for gaining information access through technology: Pay for at least part of it out of your own pocket.

End users make some of the best cost-efficient and
effective choices when they buy adaptive technology
themselves.

If you are not working, you might be surprised how
much money you can still save in six months. Also,
look for opportunities for paid employment: walking
the neighbor's dog while he's on vacation, answering
the telephone for a local business, rewriting term
papers and washing dishes on the weekend for a
neighborhood restaurant. Many other odd jobs can add
up to a small money pot in a few months, allowing you
to afford some information technology.

Even staying home one year from vacation might yield
a cost savings which you can use to buy adaptive
hardware and software, mainstream equipment and
applications and training tools and materials.

Buying your own equipment might also be used with
these other funding options to gain information
independence. You can combine self funding, for
example with a charitable donation, a used PC, a free
computer, a Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS) or
some vocational rehabilitation assistance.

Be careful not to dismiss this buy-it-yourself option
too quickly. You'll gain respect and attention from
funders if you're willing to invest part of your own
resources into a solution instead of expecting a
funding source to foot the entire cost of meeting your
needs for adaptive technology.

Remember, too, that most people use multiple funding
sources to pay for their information access solution.
The expectation that a single funder will shoulder the
entire cost of adaptive technology is usually
unrealistic and will likely lead to disappointment.

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