Donated Computers Open Doors of Opportunity
From: Vanguard - August, 2001 - page 9

New Mexico veterans with a spinal cord injury, neurological problems or
psychiatric diagnosis that limits their ability to function independently are
learning how to use computers and even taking them home through the New
Mexico VA Health Care System's Zia Assistive Computerized Technology (Z-ACT)
Loaner Donor Program. Now in its fourth year, the program has provided more
than 200 disabled veterans with computers they can use at home. 

According to Z-ACT program director Suzanne Barslund, learning how to use
computers and having the opportunity to take one home has a big impact on the
lives of injured veterans. "We`ve seen significant increases in their
feelings of self- worth as well as in their overall productivity," she
explained. 

"Computers can open a new world to injured veterans by allowing them to
manage their own finances, stay in contact with family and friends via
e-mail, access the Internet, return to school and participate in their
community."  

One of the first veterans to receive a computer under the Z-ACT program had
multiple sclerosis and was confined to a bed for more than four years.
Barslund described how he used his computer to write a book about multiple
sclerosis and then sold his story to a publisher. 

He has since set up a business selling herbs over the Internet and uses his
computer to track orders and print labels. "Many veterans have gone on to
school, gone on to better jobs and stayed with them, or gone on to pursue
goals they didn`t think possible," Barslund said. 

Some Z-ACT computers are donated from local businesses and members of the
community, and then adapted with assistive devices so veterans with spinal
cord injuries or other impairments can use them. Others are recycled from
VA`s Information Resources Management section. Computer-savvy volunteers
assemble the hardware and then modify the operating systems to meet
individual veterans' needs, like adding voice-activated programs that type as
you speak. 

Chief volunteer technician Jim Payne taught high-tech employee training at
Phillips Semiconductor before being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in
1990. He now supervises six volunteer techies in the Z-ACT program. "We`re
opening up a new world for these guys," said Payne, who is on the board of
directors for the Zia Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America. He said
he enjoys volunteering because it allows him to give something back. "VA
treated me pretty good ... and I like to think that I can give something
back."  

"Community integration is the key here," noted Dr. Kurt Fiedler, chief of the
Albuquerque VA Zia Spinal Cord Injury Unit. "When someone has a traumatic
injury, or a disease like multiple sclerosis, they are often initially
significantly removed from their community."  The Z-ACT program strives to
reintegrate injured veterans into their communities by teaching them how to
use assistive devices to access computer and Internet technology - to go
beyond perceived limitations and become more independent. 

To be eligible to receive a take-home computer, veterans must have exhausted
alternative funding sources and must participate in the Z-ACT treatment. For
more information, call the Z-ACT Program in the Zia Spinal Cord Injury Center
at 505/265-1711, ext. 5139.