RJ Cooper's Visit 

R.J. Cooper Comes to Hawaii by Lynn Reedell R.J. Cooper, developer of computer hardware and software for people with special needs, came to Hawaii during one of his monthly "Road Trips". An electrical engineer by profession, RJ began researching, than developing products in response to the requests from special ed. teachers and speech pathologists. Touring the country, R.J. has provided individual consultations with families of people who have moderate to severe disabilities. 

During this year's visit, R.J. toured several Island schools and presented a workshop at Shriners Hospital. Three infants from Early Intervention, 2 students from DOE and 2 adults from the community each took part in 1/2 hour evaluation sessions. Shriners' staff and individuals interested in assistive technology observed R.J.'s ability to develop learning solutions during this daylong workshop. 

R.J. stressed the need to provide individual choice and personal interaction with each learner. Using his tailored approach, he skillfully demonstrated each client successfully interacting with the computer, regardless of age, functioning ability, or computer experience. While teaching switch interaction, a young client might be offered the choice of playing music with an interactive video, over the choice of having their nose blown with a tissue. R.J. emphasized having a less desired choice, as opposed to having a negative choice during a learning experience. 

Products demonstrated included the Magic Arm for optimal switch mounting, WakerShacker, Magic Touch Screen, and various keyboards and switches. Software included Early and Advance Switch Games, Spell-A-Word, Turn-Taking, and Point to Pictures, to name a few. All products used during the workshop can be found at: www.rjcooper.com. Additionally, two of these products will be featured at 1/2 price every month..