North Dakota
Internet Access for Persons with Mental Retardation
Type of Grant: TOP
Amount of Grant: $560,000
Non-Federal Support: $560,000
Date of Grant: October 1998-October 2000
Project Partners: Minot State University - NDCPD
Contact: Joseph Ferrara
Phone: (701) 858-3055
Email: ferrara@farside.cc.misu.nodak.edu
In 1998, with support from TOP, the North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities (NDCPD) at Minot State University established the Internet Access for Persons with Mental Retardation Project (IAPMR). IAPMR created and maintained a local area network (LAN) that provided people with mental retardation access to the Internet. The program participants' use of the Internet was not limited to recreational and social activities; those with moderate to severe mental retardation used IAPMR-generated software to earn up to $15.00/hr at Internet-based jobs. Ninety-four participants learned to use project-generated data entry software. NDCPD continues to make this software available at-cost to businesses and agencies hiring workers with mental retardation. One replication site operated by the Black Hills Special Services Cooperative (BHSSC) employs about 15 people with moderate to severe mental retardation. In December of 2001, BHSSC billed data entry customers for over $9,000. This project has made it possible for people with mental retardation who have never worked and never had money of their own to achieve the goals of employment and earned income.
There have been several other offshoots of the IAPMR program, and as a result, several hundred people with severe mental retardation and no expressive vocabulary have been able to use modified communications boards to send and receive email messages. Also, IAPMR has developed an Internet-based data service that currently tracks the effectiveness of the vocational and support services provided to over 1,500 consumers with mental retardation. Specialists use this system to review data and provide timely case-specific guidance to community-based professionals. These programs also have the potential to help people who were not members of the original target population. For example, one company is interested in using a modified version of the data service to enable families to monitor the services provided to loved-ones in distant nursing homes.
