T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability

Address: 326 Hardy Road
Mississippi State, MS 39762 Phone: (662) 325-1028 Fax: (662) 3250520 Website: http://www.tkmartin.msstate.edu

Mississippi State University

The T.K. Martin Center provides comprehensive, multi-disciplinary evaluations to remove limitations through the application of assistive technology, allowing individuals to participate in educational, vocational and leisure activities to the fullest degree they choose. The comprehensive nature of the services offered ensures that the correct solutions are achieved efficiently and effectively, with needs being met in a one-stop shop.

The staff of the T.K. Martin Center consists of a specialized team of Speech-language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Special Educators, and Rehabilitation and Biomedical Engineers. Facilities at the center include adaptive computer laboratories, design and fabrication workshops, a driver rehabilitation program, a seating and mobility center and specialized evaluation rooms.

Provides Assistive Technology Services for: Adaptive Driving, Brain Trauma, Communication, Computer Access, Hearing Impairments, Home Accommodations, Job Accommodations, Learning Disabilities, Seating and Mobility, Visual Impairments and Vehicle Modifications

TDD: (662) 325-0520 

Camp Jabber Jaw: http://www.tkmartin.msstate.edu/projects/jabberjaw.php

Funded in part by the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services Project START, Camp Jabber Jaw was established to provide a fun way for individuals to develop improved interactive communication skills. The campers are both individuals who utilize augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and those who do not but are of similar ages. Parents attend the camp with their child and have the opportunity to interact with other parents giving each an opportunity to share triumphs as well as disappointments

Express Yourself: http://www.tkmartin.msstate.edu/projects/express.php

The T. K. Martin Center's project EXPRESS Yourself! (EXperiencing Painting as Recreation & Express the Spirit within Yourself) uses the techniques of Artistic Realization Technologies (A.R.T.) to provide a means for Mississippians with the most severe disabilities to feel the power of self expression through art. Trained individuals, called trackers, "act as neutral arms, executing the vision of the physically challenged through laser-guided tracking and other exacting technologies" (Lefens, 2005). Trackers use precise techniques to "allow a person with the most minimal ability to move to create subtle, exacting works of art" (Lefens, 2005).

Project Impact: http://www.tkmartin.msstate.edu/projects/impact.php

Insuring Mississippi Parents and Children Tomorrows is the main idea behind Project IMPACT, an early intervention project started in the Fall of 1999 with funding provided through the Mississippi Department of Health. The original multidisciplinary team was comprised of a special educator, a speech-language pathologist, an occupational therapist and a physical therapist who provided play-based evaluations and intervention services in the natural environment to maximize the developmental potential of children between the ages of birth and three. Project IMPACT, housed at the T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability at Mississippi State University, is presently a blended program serving the early intervention needs of children in Mississippi by using a family friendly approach involving both parents and caregivers as essential participants in the evaluation, intervention, and follow-through. Children between the ages of birth and three who live in any of the ten counties encompassed by Health District IV may qualify for the program. In addition, any child between the ages of birth and five meeting the eligibility requirements for special education services through the Mississippi State Department of Education may receive services through this program.