Web Posted on: February 24, 1998
INTEGRATED SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS FOR THE AAT PROFESSIONAL
Doug Dodgen
Doug Dodgen & Associates
P.O. Box 180503
Arlington, TX 76096
Voice: 817-467-0627
Email: ddodgen@darlingii.com
Web: www.why.net/home/ddodgen
Time is the most precious resource of any busy professional. The need for AAT professionals far outstrips the supply. These two truths scream out for solutions! Doug Dodgen and Associates have created an integrated suite of software to meet the needs of the busy AAT professional: Client Information System, Student Information System, AAC Feature Match and our newest AAT Assessment Tool.
The purpose of this presentation is to explain how each of these tools, either individually or together, can help reduce the time needed to complete mundane tasks. They free the AAT professional to spend more time doing that for which they are trained, conducting evaluations and providing service.
The core of each software tool created by Doug Dodgen and Associates is the Client Information System. It is used to collect and maintain information about clients. This information includes the obvious name, address and phone, as well as diagnosis, treatment (including a place for regular treatment notes), therapists, physicians, funding and general comments. Many large free-text input areas are included to allow the collection of virtually enclycopedic amounts of information.
The Student Information System has been designed to accomplish a similar task for school districts. Information about students requiring treatment in the area of Physical, occupational and/or speech/language therapy can be maintained. Districts are also provided the means to collection information about their schools and therapists. Useful reports can be printed or viewed on the screen. The Student Report shows what service they receive from which therapist at which school, for each school year. The School Report shows which students are receiving what service by which therapist. The Therapist Report shows each student that the therapist provides service to sorted by school. There are also listings of students, schools and therapists to help managers supervise and organize their programs.
AAC Feature Match has been Doug Dodgen and Associates' flagship product for the last two years. It contains a database of the features of every major AAC device in the market, and can replace mounds of product brochures. The entire Client Information System is also included to increase the usefulness of this product. Many AAT professionals across the country have found this the perfect tool to collect information about their clients, find the best match for their AAC needs and create a comprehensive evaluation report. By simply selecting the features of an AAC device that would benefit the client, the therapist clicks on one button and the database is searched. A report is presented in just moments sorting the devices in order of the number of features matched, with a listing available showing exactly which features were and were not matched by each device. Device Information sheets can be printed for inclusion with a report that shows all the features of the devices selected.
The newest weapon in the Doug Dodgen and Associates arsenal of tools to help the AAT professional is the AAT Assessment Tool. It is a report writing program that provides the service of organizing report data, easily entering pertinent information, and printing unique evaluation reports. The tool reminds busy professionals to examine each necessary area, without forcing the professional to enter the information in any particular order. By prompting for information about the client's attributes in each key area, the program can intelligently format the data into a unique comprehensive report much easier than the AAT professional could write the report directly.