Laura Evans

Laura Evans is the Head of and Professional Lead for Occupational Therapy at Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (STHFT)_ The Trust includes acute and community services. Since qualifying in 1985 Laura has worked in acute hospital services, palliative care, paediatrics and research and is currently is a co-leader in a collaborative project between Occupational Therapists in STHFT and the University of Sheffield to develop assistive technological solutions and increasing research capacity within the profession of Occupational Therapy.

Sally Fowler Davis

Dr. Sally Fowler Davis is an Allied health professional and academic practitioner who has worked in the NHS, acute and community  and at regional and national level to promote research and service improvement in health care. She has worked across sectors and is keen to build capacity in Occupational Therapy and AHP interventions to achieve a wider adoption of assistive technology and telecare and engage clinical practitioners in research and innovation

Assistive technology in rehabilitation;  Have we lost the plot?

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Practitioners are still question the use of telecare (‘friend or foe’?) and there remains a policy/practice gap in relation to the wide deployment of advanced assistive technologies as a key requirement in living with a disability, across the lifespan.  We will argue that commissioners and providers need to consider the drivers to sustained system level improvement in the deployment of technology and work much more closely with clinical /academic practitioners to deliver health outcomes.

Sofia L. Kalman

Education: Semmelweis Medical University, Budapest, 1966-1972 Specialization: General Pediatrics, Budapest, 1978; Blissymbolics,Toronto, 1983, 1985 Title: Tit. Professor of ELTE University, Budapest, Hungary, 2010 Toggle CV Degrees: Dr. Habil. of Linguistic Sciences, JPTE, Pécs, Hungary, 2000 Doctor of Medical Law, ELTE, JTI, Budapest, Hungary, 2000 Ph. D. in Psychology, Hungarian Academy of Science, Budapest, Hungary, 1990 Professional experiences Director of Hungarian Bliss Foundation, 1992–2014. Pediatrician, Heim Pál Childern’s Hospital, Budapest, 1981–1992. General pediatrics, St. John’s Hospital, Budapest, 1973–1980. Internist, Early Infants’ Care, CSOMI, Budapest, 1872–1973. Teaching experiences Pediatrics for Nurses’ Training School, 1973–1980 Post graduate AAC courses for special educators from 1984– presently Graduate AAC courses at the Barczi Gusztav Special Teachers’ Training College from 1988 – presently Disability and society for ELTE BGGY from 2000 Foreign experiences Consulting Editor of the Journal of Augmentative and Alternative Communication from 2008 Research Associate, DUKE University Medical Ctr., Lenox Baker Children’s Rehab. Hospital,  Durham, USA, 1991 Visiting Scholar, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dept. of Medical Allied Health Profession, Chapel Hill, USA, 1990 Post Doc Fellow, Toronto Hospital for Sick Children, Dept. of Child Abuse and Neglect, Toronto,  Canada, 1982-1983 Research Assistant, University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine, Wyler’s Children’s Hospital, Dept. Gastroenterology, Chicago, USA, 1976-1977

What makes it tick? Components of the effective use of AAC

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AAC is still an emerging area of contemporary rehabilitation. It is a way for integrating persons with severe communication disorders into our societies. Most communication disorders are the result of the lack of speech. Life of a non-verbal person in a verbal society is unimaginable for the speaking majority. The more severe is the speech disorder the more expressed is the communication difficulty: complex problems call for complex solutions.

People with special communication needs need complex communication services.

• Complexity means well-trained AAC therapists. But who, how and where will train them? Where will they work? Who will pay for the extra costs for AAC?
• Complexity also means a broad range of available low tech and high tech communication aids, and an extremely high level of IT services. Where will be those informaticians who will understand the needs of a special teacher working with a person with a severe disability?
• Complexity involves a wide range of administrative, financial, social and emotional problems of families living with a non-speaking person. Are the AAC experts or the IT advisors willing to deal with these problems?
• Research is expected to ease the complexity by shedding light on dark areas. In this area certain problems cannot be approached through quantitative methods, so development of qualitative methods brought a tremendous development in AAC research. But are there enough enthusiastic researchers well trained in qualitative methods?

Thus it is easy to state that communication is a human right and nobody can be deprived of it just because of his/her physical condition, but to provide the adequate services needs much more than a simple act of goodwill.

Mike Paciello

Mike’s interest in accessibility was piqued in the mid-’80s when he encountered the then-laborious process of converting software documentation into braille. Mike knew there had to be a better way, and that led to him cofounding the International Committee for Accessible Document Design (ICADD), which created the first international specification for accessible electronic documents. Toggle CV Mike helped kick off the W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), and he was among the authors of the first version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). He also wrote the first book on web accessibility, Web Accessibility for People with Disabilities. And in 2002, he went on to found The Paciello Group. Mike served as the co-chair of the advisory committee that rewrote the Section 508 and Section 255 standards for the Access Board. Two years and forty-one collaborating organizations later, they presented their new and improved guidelines to the Access Board in the spring of 2008. Mike and his wife Kim have lived in New Hampshire for over thirty years, and they never tire of its serene wooded landscapes. Mike’s also recently rediscovered his love for cooking, and if you’re wondering what’s on the menu, well, anything’s fair game—as long as it’s Italian.]

E-Accessibility: Achieving Pervasive Inclusion

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Regardless of ability, we are a global society immersed in the Digital Age. For

more than two decades, eAccessibility has achieved a state of maturity best

described as recognizable and relevant.

 

This presentation provides insight into the current state of eAccessibility

involving research, development, implementation and practice and suggests five

spectrums of change needed to raise the bar to achieve pervasive inclusion.

Penny Standen

Penny Standen is Professor in Health Psychology and Learning Disabilities at Nottingham University. From early work on developing virtual environments to support independence in people with intellectual disabilities, her work has grown to embrace serious games, location based services, robotics and contemporary media. She is currently investigating the potential of a range of new technology to support profound and multiply disabled adults and young people.

Designing dedicated assistive technology or adapting mainstream technology? Examples from intellectual disabilities.

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An increasing number of children with profound and multiple disabilities (PMID) are surviving to school age and beyond. Even special schools struggle to meet their educational needs. At the same time we are all living longer but can still expect to spend our later years with reduced ability. In spite of these  increasing numbers, technology designed for those with a disability is expensive and people are reluctant to use it. In Nottingham, we have been exploring the use of adapted mainstream technology such as contact microphones, robots, eye gaze capture and brain computer interfaces to facilitate communication and access to electronic based learning materials in children with PMID.  The presentation will describe some of this work to enhance learning in pupils with PMID, the challenges experienced evaluating its effectiveness and how future developments in technology might benefit those with disabilities as well as those without.

• Assistive Technology
• Accessible Environments
• Ageing, Disability and Technology
• Alternative and Augmentative Communication
• Ambient Assistive Living / Domotics
• AT for Motor Limitations, Mobility
• AT and Cognitive Impairments
• AT and Sensory Impairments
• AT and Intellectual Disabilities
• AT and Autism
• AT and Dementia
• AT in special needs education
• Care Technology (monitoring, telecare)
• Cloud Computing and AT
• Computer Access
• e-Accessibility
• Economic Aspects
• Education and Scio-economic Aspects
• Education and Training in AT
• e-Inclusion
• Entertainment and Rehabilitation, Serious Games
• European and global initiatives and programmes (the assessment of their outcomes)
• HCI and Multimodal Interfaces
• Healthcare and Rehabilitation
• Information provision on AT
• Integrated Solutions for Mobility and Communication
• Knowledge / Technology Transfer
• Markets for AT
• Outcomes of AT (Quality of life, Costbenefits, etc.)
• Policy and policy development in AT
• Robotics (assistive and educational)
• Service Delivery
• Smart Devices
• Standardization
• Stroke Aspects
• Technology in social care
• United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (its implementation)
• Universal design/Design for All
• User Perspective
• Other

Detailed description for abstract submission proccess can be read in the “Abstract submisison” menu

The congress centre is located on the Buda side behind the Gellért-hill, crossing the Danube river through the Elisabeth-bridge.

It is called Budapest Congress Centre, which is combined with the Novotel Budapest Congress, restaurants and other facilities.

The 17 climatised rooms are suitable for any kind of event with a capacity of 10 to 2000 people. The excellent technical equipment and trained staff ensure a sophisticated environment for conferences, concerts and receptions. There are rooms that can be opened into each other by the use of mobile walls between them.

General information

The region is in between the former West and East, there is easy access from both sides, and also from other continents. For travel to Budapest there are several good options. The international airport of Budapest (terminals 1, 2A, 2B) connects the city directly to some overseas and to all important European destinations. The three main railway stations (Déli, Keleti, Nyugati) are either terminations or stops of many intercity trains from west and east, south and north. There are several international coach services to Budapest. Motorists can also reach Budapest easily on the European motorway network. One can even travel to Budapest by boat.

Travel to Budapest by air

There are daily direct flights from most European and from some North American cities. Liszt Ferenc Airport is situated on the SE margin of Budapest, 20 km from the city centre and is a popular destination for many low fare air carriers. The Airport Minibus service is relatively cheap and reliable. Public transport buses (#200E, air conditioned, from Terminal 1 also#93) circulate between the terminals and the Kőbánya-Kispest terminal of the Metro line 3 (“blue line”) at 8-15-minute intervals in daytime. As an alternative, trains from Terminal 1 leave for Nyugati railway station frequently. Főtaxi has exclusive rights for operation of a taxi service from (and to) the airport for fixed prices according to distance zones (hence the name) based on a contract with Budapest Airport Ltd.

Budapest airport has two terminals (practically one large, as 2B is directly connected to 2A),

• Terminal 2A: for international flights arriving from the Schengen zone
• Terminal 2B: for flights arriving from the non-schengen zone, departure terminal for budget airlines

Travel to Budapest by train

Budapest has direct rail links to some 25 capitals. There are three major international railway stations in Budapest:

• Keleti pályaudvar (Eastern Railway Station), on Metro line 2 (“red line”)
• Nyugati pályaudvar (Western Railway Station), on Metro line 3 (“blue line”)
• Déli Pályaudvar (Southern Railway Station), on Metro line 2 (“red line”)

For information on international connections in English see the railway journey planner of the MÁV-Start Zrt. (Hungarian Railway Passenger Transport Co.) or the international railway journey planner Deutsche Bahn.

Travel to Budapest by coach

Volánbusz Zrt. (Eurolines Hungary) has scheduled passenger coach services to and from several European countries, see its coach journey planner. International buses depart from and arrive to the Népliget Coach Station (Metro line 3 “blue line”). The discount coach company OrangeWays operates buses to a limited numbers of European destinations, especially to the neighbouring countries of Hungary.

Travel to Budapest by boat

Once familiar but now a rather exotic way of travel to Budapest is by ship on the Danube. You can travel from Vienna to Budapest and back by hydrofoil.

Travel to Budapest by car

Budapest is in the centre of the radial road network of Hungary. It is along the European highways E60, E71, E73, E75, E77. There is a motorway connection from Budapest with the most neighbouring countries of Hungary. Motorways are toll roads; a (virtual) vignette system is in operation. For details (maps, vignette prices, methods of payment etc.) about the Hungarian motorway system see the official home page.

Visa and customs information

Customs information for Hungary

Hungary joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. Since that date Hungary has adopted the customs regulation of the European Union. Detailed information about travel documents and customs can be found in this booklet published by the Hungarian Customs and Finance Guard, providing useful information for tourists travelling within the European Union or travelling from a non-community country (third country) to any Member State of the European Union. For further information about the custom procedures, please consult the homepage of the Hungarian customs authority.

Visa information for Hungary

Hungary is part of the Schengen Area of 25 European countries. For non-Schengen EU, USA and Canadian citizens a valid passport is sufficient to enter Hungary. Citizens of other countries should check whether visa is needed for them when entering Hungary (for more information please visit the home page of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Hungary). On request, the Organizing Committee will issue invitation letters for visa applications. Please apply in due time for a visa if necessary. Please indicate during the registration if you need a personal invitation to attend the conference. It is important to note that a visa is only a preliminary permission for entry, which does not authorise its bearer automatically to enter the country.

The electricity is 230 V, 50 Hz. Japanese, UK, USA and other visitors: please note that in Hungary Continental European German-style CEE7/4 sockets (“Schuko sockets“) are used, which also accepts CEE7/16 “Europlugs“.

Foreign exchange, banking facilities

The official national Hungarian currency is the Hungarian Forint (HUF). All the major credit cards are accepted in Hungary in places displaying the emblem at the entrance. Though Hungary is a member of the European Union, only a few shops and restaurants accept Euros (EUR) for payment. Currency exchange booths are available in Budapest at the airport terminals, railway stations, travel agencies, banks and various places in the city. The exchange rates applied may vary. Click here to see the actual official exchange rates. Traveller’s cheques and convertible currency may be exchanged at these facilities. Major credit cards are usually accepted in most hotels, restaurants and certain shops in the city. Obtaining cash against ATM or credit cards is very easy from the ATM cash machines that can be found at almost each bank office, hotel or on the street.

Liability and insurance

The organisers cannot accept liability for any personal accidents, loss of belongings or damage to private property of participants and accompanying persons that may occur during the Congress. Participants are advised to make their own arrangements to obtain health, travel and property insurance before their departure to BEW 2012.

Public transport in Budapest

Public transport in Budapest is provided by Budapest Transport Ltd. (known to all Hungarians simply as BKV). Budapest has an efficient public transport network. In general the buses, trams and trolleybuses operate between 4.30 AM and 11 PM. All-night bus service operate on the major thoroughfares in the city (night bus timetables are posted at stops and in most metro stations). The three metro lines intersect at Deák Square in the centre of the town. Metros run at 2-15 minutes intervals from about 4.30 AM to 11.15 PM. There are also five suburban railway lines (HÉV) serving the outskirts of the city. For maps, timetables, ticket and pass information etc. see the home page of the BKV Ltd. (Budapest Transport Ltd.)

Shopping in Budapest (opening hours)

Food shops are open from 7 AM – 6 PM Mon – Fri, 8 AM – 1 PM Sat (but there are several larger stores open on Sunday morning and a number of small 24-hour shops). Other shops are open between 10 AM-6 PM Mon – Fri, 10 AM – 1 PM Sat. Most shopping centres are open 10 AM – 8 PM even on Sunday. Tesco is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Office hours: generally from 8 AM – 4 PM Mon – Fri.
Post offices: Mon – Fri: 8 AM – 6 PM, Sat: 8 AM – 1 PM
Banks: Mon – Thu: 8 AM – 3 PM, Fri: 8 AM – 1 PM.

Taxis in Budapest

Budapest taxis have yellow number plates and a taxi sign in yellow. Any vehicle without these features is operating illegally. It’s a good idea to avoid drivers who volunteer their services but don’t have a registered taxi sticker on their car. This can prevent unpleasant surprises when it comes time to pay. All cars must have a taximeter installed, and these also print out a receipt. Taxi drivers are required to give an invoice on request. Tipping: in general 10% of the fare is acceptable. The total charge that has to be paid by the passenger is made up of three separate parts: the basic charge, which is irrespective of how far the journey is, presently HUF 450 during day and night, a per kilometre charge which depends on how many kilometres are covered during the journey HUF 280/km, and the waiting charge which is HUF 70/min. From 1 September 2013 a new regulation came to force which regulates the taxi fares. No fixed, shuttle or pre-agreed prices are available any more. The taxis will be coloured to yellow within a few months time.

Telephone

The international code for Hungary is 36, the area code for Budapest is 1. To call a number within Hungary, first dial 06. Budapest telephone numbers have seven digits, all other areas have six digits (in addition to the area codes). To make an international call from Hungary, first dial 00, then the country code followed by the area code and the subscriber’s telephone number. Public telephones accept either coins (20, 50, and 100 HUF) or phone cards (available from tobacconists, newsagents, post offices, and petrol stations). To call a (Hungarian) mobile phone, from a public telephone first dial 06, followed by the subscriber’s seven-digit number starting with 20-, 30- or 70-.

Important phone numbers
(English is usually spoken at the emergency numbers listed below. In case English is not spoken, dial 112)

Ambulance: 104
Fire brigade: 105
Police: 107
Central help number: 112
General enquiries: 197
Inland enquiries: 198
International enquiries: 199
Hungarian Automobile Club help number: 188

Time

Hungary is in the Central European Time Zone. In the summer months clocks are set at GMT + 2 hours.

Weather

The weather in Hungary in September is usually sunny and warm. Temperatures are usually in the range between 18 and 22 °C during the day. Check the weather forecast for Budapest at weather.yahoo.com, or at weather.com. For other regions of Hungary check weatherinhungary.com.

Hungary is a landlocked country of 93,030 km2 area in Central Europe, in the middle of the Carpathian Basin. It is bounded on the north by Slovakia; on the northeast by Ukraine; on the east by Romania; on the south by Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia; and on the west by Austria. Plains and gentle hills of the Pannonian Basin dominate its surface. Some inselbergs form 600-1000 m high mountain ranges. Temperate grasslands, agricultural land, meadows and non-coniferous forests characterise the landscape. Two major rivers: the Danube and the Tisza flow across the country from north to south. Lake Balaton, the biggest lake in Central Europe is a favourite target of tourists because of its warm water and nice landscape.

During its more than 1000 years of existence Hungary has experienced every possible historical ups and downs. It was several times invaded by different empires, occupied neighbouring areas, suffered several subdivisions, won battles and campaigns, lost world wars, survived civil wars and fallen revolutions. Since 2004 Hungary has been a member of the European Union.

Hungary has a slowly diminishing population of 10 million. The capital: Budapest is the most densely populated area with its 2 million inhabitants. Major cities of over 100,000 inhabitants are Debrecen, Miskolc, Szeged, Pécs, Győr, Nyíregyháza, Kecskemét and Székesfehérvár.

The dominant Hungarian (Magyar) population arrived from the east, from the Ural region. Its Finno-Ugric language and its traditional folklore is different from those of the surrounding Slavic, German and Romanian populations. Today’s Hungary hosts ethnic minorities (altogether 10%) including Roma (Gipsies), Germans, Slovakians, Croatians, Serbs, Romanians etc. Nearly 3 millions Hungarians live outside Hungary as minorities, mostly in the immediate neighbourhood.

For facts and details see the Hungary portal of the government, the Fact Sheets on Hungary published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Hungary in six languages, the CIA Factbook or the wikipedia article about Hungary.

From the wide range of travel and tourism information sites on Hungary see e.g. the official Hungary tourism site or the site of the Lonely Planet.

Click the pictures to see the movies on Budapest.

Briefly on Budapest

Budapest, the capital of Hungary, is an economic, financial and cultural centre with two million inhabitants. The city, known by many as the “Pearl of the Danube”, is undoubtedly one of the most beautifully located capitals in the world. Budapest has a history dating back over 2000 years: there are ruins from the times of the Roman Empire as well as from the Middle Ages. Its main characteristics reflect the atmosphere of the end of the 19thcentury when the millennium of the Hungarian state was celebrated. It boasts a number of museums, theatres, concert halls, a lot of restaurants and other amenities.

Due to the favourable geological setting of Budapest, there are more than 100 thermal springs and wells producing more than 30,000 m3 of thermal water supply to 12 medicinal baths. In recent years the UNESCO put several parts of the city on the World Heritage list. For more information about Budapest, you may wish to visit some of the links below:

Official home page of Budapest: http://english.budapest.hu/Engine.aspx
Official touristical web-site of Budapest: http://www.budapestinfo.hu/en/
Wikipedia site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest

Selected foreign web sites:
http://www.budapest.com
http://wikitravel.org/en/Budapest

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