A10.4: Online Communities

  I have never joined an online community before this class.  For the past two months I have been lurking on to a augmentative device mailing list.  Everyday I receive messages from the list and I read them.  The emails vary from questions, responses to questions, and general information about individuals using a device or needing one.  I think that this community is very supportive.

     The group members of the community are generally professionals or people who have a child or spouse with a device.  The members share some of their concerns, ask questions about devices, and give updates on what is happening.  About a week ago I received a message from a speech-language pathologist asking the community their thoughts on two different devices because she was going to fit an individual with one.    One of the reasons that she asked this question is because the client had a job and she wanted to know which one would be better for him to use.  She also wanted to know if anyone had encountered a problem with employers because of their disability.  I thought that this was very interesting.  She did get some responses from the members.  Another recent topic raised was about the different augmentative devices and how well they withstand abuses of daily living.  A mother wrote in about her daughters device.  Her daughter had already gone through two devices because they tore up due to things that happen.  She wanted to know more about developing technology that was available to individuals who use augmentative devices.  This was a really neat email.

    I think that the purpose of this community is to provide support and answer questions and concerns.  I think a lot of the members are prompt in their answers.  I also think that the answers have been thought out.  I really like that the members are concerned with what is happening and try to support each other.  I really think that this community does what it has set out to do.  You can tell that people like to get updates on individuals and even sometimes send out an email if they haven’t heard from someone in a while.  I think that this is a good list to join because it shares ample information about augmentative devices and you get to know some amazing people along the way.