Gerald and Donna’s Thanksgiving

This blog post was provided to us in person by Donna and Gerald at their home, the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder.

We had a really nice Thanksgiving. Some friends from church invited us over to their house. They even rented a wheel chair ramp so we could easily get into their house with our wheelchairs. (apparently U-Haul rents ramps for a very affordable price).

For dinner we had turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes (one of Gerald’s favorite foods), and pumpkin pie and whipped cream.

It was fun to have a few little kids there. They add to the excitement with all the energy they have. You have to ask yourself, “Where do they get all that energy?” They can run around until they’re totally exhausted. Then they eventually tend to get tired and a little cranky, but that's how it goes.

The kids sure got a kick out of our wheelchairs. They thought it was like having a car in the house, and I guess they're right. They get us from point A to point B, just like a car does.

When we got home, we talked to mom (Gerald’s mom), and she's doing pretty well. We found out that Gerald’s sister has moved to Texas. She gets around. She lived in Alaska for a while too.

Well, we’ll be putting up some Christmas decorations this weekend at our house, so that will make for a good time. Bye bye for now.

Guess Who's Touring The SmartHomes?

Scheduled to tour the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder tomorrow: Nancy Jelen, a Professor at Wisconsin’s Alverno College.

Here’s what Professor Jelen had to say about why she wanted to tour the SmartHome:

“As a professor who prepares general education teachers and special education teachers, I am focusing my research on innovations in the field of special education. Understanding the potential for innovations that support independence is a critical element for our teachers. I feel that even though they may not be the innovators, their openness to possibilities is key in assisting all students to be independent. Imagine!’s innovative practice is what I would like to expose to my students.”

Thanks for touring, Professor Jelen!

Check Out The Latest SmartHomes Newsletter

Imagine!’s latest SmartHomes newsletter is available online.

Check it out. 

Rebecca’s Thanksgiving

Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Rebecca made a post on the Imagine! Voices blog about how she spent Thanksgiving – and included a great picture of a cool Thanksgiving decoration.

Check it out here.

Moving Technology Out Of Our SmartHomes (Part VII)

Imagine!’s use of technology is not limited to our SmartHomes.

Case in point (Part VII):

Imagine!’s residential department, Innovations, uses CaraSolva’s MedSupport, a real-time online prompting system that schedules medications, treatments, vitals, exercises, tasks and calendar related events and relays them to the staff. Staff administers or enters an outcome for the event online, allowing management and nursing to supervise the workflow in the houses from their computer.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from the staff and residents at the SmartHomes!

Moving Technology Out Of The SmartHomes (Part VI)

Imagine!’s use of technology is not limited to our SmartHomes. Case in point (Part VI):

Imagine!’s SmartSupports team is creating staff technology assessments to pinpoint which skills need to be developed among staff members, and creating customized trainings based on that data to ensure maximum benefit is achieved through technology use.