EMC193 Thinking Different 1/2 
To:   Emergency Communications Units - Information Bulletin
To:   Emergency Management Agencies via Internet and Radio
By:   Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) of the
      California Governor's Office of Emergency Services  

EMC193 Thinking Different 1/2     For release 7/19/99

With apologies to Apple Computer for borrowing their "Think
Different" slogan, let's look at how thinking affects results.

[Quoted from a message submitted to EvangeList Digest
V1 #1198, 5/19/98. (Edited.)]

"I recently took a position as a teacher's aide. I work one to
one with a 13 year old student who is learning disabled, blind,
and has the use of only her left hand. I was working with her one
morning, when I heard the two teachers discussing that it was
simply _not possible_ for this student to learn to use a computer.
The road blocks were said to be (a) her blindness, (b) use of only
one hand, and (c) the school district having Macintosh computers.

At this point I walked over to the classroom Power Mac and
highlighted a student's poem in ClarisWorks. Clicking on the
appropriate button, the Mac began to _speak_ the poem. 

"How did you do that?" they both exclaimed. A demo ensued.

"Well, that is nice but she has only her left hand."

"Not a problem" I said, "There are Dvorak keyboards. I'll install
the left handed one."

"But then how can other students use the classroom Mac?" the
teacher replied.

"Okay, what if I get her one for only her use?" I responded. They
agreed to try, confident that I could not do it. 

I went to the local Mac User Group meeting where one of the
members donated an older, pre PowerMac computer for the student
to use _at home_.

I went to Apple's Disability Web site for freeware to get the
computer tuned up, installed MacinTalk and enabled the left handed
keyboard. 

The student has taken eagerly to learning the keyboard. She
presses the instructor each week for new letters. She delights in
hearing her sentences read back to her. Her teacher is now looking
into a grant for a PowerMac for her to use in school."
                                                 ---
How does this apply to communications? Habit in thinking is where
we can mislead ourselves. It is easy to fall into a thinking process
that is unintentionally restrictive (the teachers 'not possible' in 
the example) instead of seeking an innovative solution, as did the
teachers aide. It may be a matter of being objective, although in 
some cases it may require additional research and/or knowledge.) 
                               --- 
For how this applies to communications read EMC194 next week!

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