Skip to content

Adaptive Telephones Available for Area Disabled Residents

 Adaptive Telephones Available for Area Disabled Residents

Missouri Assistive Technology, which was established by state statute in 1993, provides services to people who have hearing and/or visual impairments. NorthEast Independent Living Services has been working with the Missouri Assistive Technology Council for many years and is a demonstration site for the Telecommunications Access Program (TAP) for Telephone. The TAP for Telephone provides access to basic voice telephone calling (both sending and receiving) for individuals with all types of disabilities through the delivery of adaptive telephone equipment. The program provides such equipment as text telephones, voice carry over phones, phone for hearing carry over, amplified phones, Braille phones, hands-free phones and photo phones. The program is not designed to provide access to other types of telecommunications, such as two-way radio, alphanumeric paging, etc.

Qualifications:
1) MO resident
2) Individual has their own telephone service.
3) Annual adjusted income is $60,000 or less for each individual or individual and spouse. (Add $5,000 for each additional dependent in the household.)
4) Must have a physical address, TAP will deliver the phone through UPS at individual’s home, not P.O. Box.

Types of disabilities:
1) Vision, Hearing Loss, Mobility, Speech, or Cognitive
2) An audiologist, physician, or a TAP designated Agency can certify that the individual qualifies for TAP.
3) Schedule an in office appt. or a homevisit with NEILS for a demo of the different types of phones

Equipment selection:
1) Amplified Telephones – Cordless and Desk
2) TTY’s and Specialized Voice Carry over Phones (VCO)
3) Low-volume Items for Deaf and Deaf/Blind
4) Vision, Motor, Speech, and Cognitive Related
Signaling Devices

For more information contact Shirley Trenter at NorthEast Independent Living Services at 573-221-8282 or Toll Free 877-713-7900. You can also visit NEILS website at www.neilscenter.org.