TechACCESS of Rhode Island has been around for nearly 20 years, bringing technology to Southern New Englanders and allowing them to be more independent.
Will Potter, 19, has been part of TechACCESS for years.
"I first started working with TechACCESS when I was in third grade," he said.
Potter was born prematurely and his eyesight was affected.
"I have two detached retinas, not fully detached but very close," he said.
In his good eye, his vision is 20/400 which means he has to turn his face to see. He said even then, it's blurry. However, Tech Access is opening up a new world to him.
"They were able to provide the school system with the correct technology that I would need to participate fully in class," Potter said.
Some of the technology he uses is a portable book player.
"This allows me to take my textbooks which are at school and I can put them on a memory chip and insert them and play them on the road," Potter said.
Potter said his laptop is equipped with zoom text which enlarges the text.
Another one of TechACCESS's clients is Brian Hubbard.
Hubbard is a psychotherapist who, for years, lived with a progressive eye disease. In 1995, he said he lost the remainder of his vision.
TechACCESS, however, was able to help him out.
Hubbard is now able to do everything from bill clients and communicate using a special-adapted computer. He types the letters into the machine and when he's done, the computer reads back what he's written.
TechACCESS is hoping to expand its reach, partnering with a non-profit group that supports about 2,500 people with developmentally disabilities primarily in Massachusetts.
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