IF YOU GOWhat: Returning Soldiers & Veterans Technology ExpoWhen: 2-6 p.m. ThursdayWhere: Brainerd United Methodist Church, 4315 Brainerd Road, ChattanoogaCost: Free
Jim Thompson’s computer, with its special program that reads emails, is a lifeline to fellow visually impaired veterans.
Last year, his lifeline broke.
After a few phone calls, technicians with Signal Centers came to his Jasper, Tenn., home to fix the lifeline.
Technology and training has helped keep Thompson independent.
“It gives you a whole new way of looking at life,” he said.
On Thursday, Signal Centers will hold its second annual Returning Soldiers & Veterans Technology Expo in Chattanooga.
Mitzi Davenport, an assistive technology professional with the center, said the organization contracts with government agencies to provide training and installation of tech aids for users with physical impairments ranging from deafness to missing limbs.
“It’s important for people to know if they have a disability what technology can do to help them be independent,” Davenport said.
The organization holds expos for senior citizens, school-aged children and veterans each year, and most of their work is paid for by government grants.
Their technicians install lighting systems to let someone with hearing difficulties know their doorbell is ringing and “bed shakers” that will wake a deaf person when a fire alarm sounds.
Thompson is a retired U.S. Navy chief petty officer who began losing his sight in 1978 and had to leave the service in 1983. He went through Veterans Administration training in 1992 and computer training in 2007 to communicate with a specially designed software program and keyboard.