Host: Welcome to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of Western New York Independent Living (WNYIL). Our guest today is Erin Burnelle, director of client services at the University at Buffalo Center for Assistive Technology. And I'm your host Ernie Churchwell. Welcome to the program, Erin. 

Guest: Thanks for having me, Ernie. 

Host: Alright, and it's our pleasure to have you. As always, we are grateful that you are able to appear because of TRAID. I'm sure there'll be someone listening that doesn't know what that is. If you could please summarize it? 

Guest: Of course, so TRAID stands for technology related assistance for individuals with disabilities, and it's a New York State program. It actually receives federal funding, and through that program we can provide things like assistive technology demonstrations and short term loans to the people in the community. So, we serve Erie, Niagara, Orleans, Genesee and Wyoming counties by our center. 

Host: Alright and so, you're kind of something of a clearinghouse where people can try different types of assistive technology to see if that is just what they need before they invest in something pricey. 

Guest: Absolutely. And we also have people who may borrow things for a short-term need, such as like a a surgery or, following a fall or when they're returning home from the hospital as well. 

Host: That's a terrific resource, I dare say. Well, as always, you are shining a spotlight on a particular piece of less than well-known technology today, it's the EZ-Access Tilt Toilet Incline Lift, is it? 

Guest: Yes, it is. 

Host: What do you know? I actually got that right. What can you tell us about this intriguing sounding device? 

Guest: So, the EZ-Access Tilt Toilet Incline Lift, and EZ-Access being the brand and the Tilt Toilet Incline Lift being the name, is a device that can be mounted on someone's toilet that provides a few extra pieces of support. 

I think of it a lot along the lines of like a lift recliner, and people might be familiar with those where it's a recliner with a mechanism in it and they can press the button that puts them up and it puts them all the way up almost to standing. So, for someone who has a little trouble getting out of a seat that's lower, that lift recliner can lift them up and.  The Tilt toilet seat does essentially the same thing, but it's mounted onto a toilet. 

Host: So, I imagine there are a number of circumstances where people would find this of use. Are there particular types of disabilities that for which this would be particularly valuable? 

Guest: I see a lot of different use cases for something like this. Really, I think of it both almost like a combination of like a higher toilet seat and a lot of people who use higher toilet seats may have things like arthritis or different joint conditions. My own grandmother used something like that when she right before she had a hip replacement, and her joint was pretty bad when they finally got to replace it, so having that higher toilet seat really made it so she wasn't, it essentially decreased the angle from which she was coming back up from sitting to standing. This particular model has a couple of different options for it, so there's one that has a battery pack. And then you can of course purchase an additional battery pack if you need to switch it out while it's charging. 

And there's also one that's corded, so depending on where an outlet may be within someone's home, they could purchase the corded one, which is just a little cheaper. It's about $60.00 cheaper. And then there's also options for whether it's a standard sized toilet seat or an elongated toilet seat. The of course the elongated one because it's a little more material is again. It's a little more expensive than the standard size. 

Host: Would you believe we're running low on time, and I believe you have a few developments there at CAT that you want to tell us about. 

Guest: We do so our office has recently moved. We moved at the end of May of this year, and we used to be located on Alberta Drive in Amherst. We're now located at 210 John Glenn, Dr. at Suite 14. Our office. We do require an appointment for anyone stopping by. So, I share our address for information, but please make sure you reach out to us first to schedule an appointment, even if it's for a loan return or pickup, I like to say our office, our staff is small but mighty. So, we have a very small staff and a lot of services we provide. 

Host: Great. And is there a phone number people should know? 

Guest: Of course. So that's 716-836-1168. And we also have an email address now as well. For anyone who prefers to email and that is cat-traid@buffalo.edu. 

Host: Thanks for being with us, Erin. 

Guest: Yeah. Thanks for having me, Ernie. 

Host: You've been listening to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of WNYIL. Our guest today was Erin Burnelle, director of client services at the University of Buffalo Center for Assistive Technology. And I've been your host, Ernie Churchwell.