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Promoting Success in Agriculture for People with Disabilities
and Their Families
State Project Feature:
Overview of Mississippi AgrAbility Project
Mississippi has a diverse mixture of agricultural occupations, thus bringing an equally diverse group of clients to the Mississippi AgrAbility Project. From the Delta over to the hills and down to the coast, we have helped those working with numerous agricultural commodities and varied operations, such as cattle, bait supply (worms), turf grass, poultry, ducks, soybeans, cotton, custom hay, power-take-off safety cover manufacturing, and logging. Our clients deal with retinitis pigmentosa, diabetes, amputations, various levels of back injuries or paralysis, vision impairments, complications from stroke, cerebral palsy, and cancer.
Our partnership—the Mississippi State University Extension Service (MSU), the T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability (TKMC), and the MS Department of Rehabilitation Services (MDRS)—provides clients with an array of resources to meet their varied needs. The county Extension personnel are key in soliciting local donations of materials and labor when assisting a client; and Extension state specialists provide further help with financial planning, production management, and equipment modification. The TKMC staff provides case management and evaluations for seating, driving, and various types of assistive technology. MDRS offers assistive technology evaluations and provides most of the funding to help the client achieve his/her occupational goals.
The TKMC joined the AgrAbility team as the non-profit partner at the beginning of the second 4-year grant. Several of its staff, however, had already worked with AgrAbility clients. The 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.
In 1997, at the beginning of the initial grant period, Mississippi AgrAbility entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with MDRS; their Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) joined the AgrAbility staff as subcontractors in 2001. Services offered by OVR are designed to assist eligible individuals in overcoming the limitations imposed by physical or mental disabilities while maximizing their potential for employment. Local vocational rehabilitation counselors have been a vital source of referrals for AgrAbility.
Over the past seven years, we have worked to develop and strengthen relationships with agricultural organizations and disability service providers. MSU’s Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity has been instrumental in providing volunteer labor. AgrAbility staff members are currently on a state ‘tour’ of hospitals, presenting AgrAbility to therapists in the rehabilitation units. Two statewide training workshops (in four locations) have been held, primarily targeting Extension and MDRS personnel.
We join the Tennessee and Missouri AgrAbility Projects each year to exhibit at the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show and reach neighboring non-AgrAbility states by setting up the display at the Sunbelt Expo in Georgia . AgrAbility staff will participate in the 2004 Mississippi Rural Health and Safety Summit designed to develop safety and health initiatives and intervention strategies in order to reduce the number of rural injuries and incidents.
The Mississippi AgrAbility Project has helped numerous farmers and their families reach their agricultural goals through equipment modifications and task restructuring. As one client stated, “Disabled does not mean no ability, just different ability.”
Mississippi AgrAbility Project Staff
Herb Willcutt , AgrAbility Project Principal Investigator since 1997, is an Extension Professor and Specialist of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Mississippi State University (MSU). He uses his agriculture and farm machinery systems expertise in assisting clients with design/redesign of hand controls, gaining access with lifts to agricultural machinery, and in advising clients about alternative agricultural enterprises and using additional Extension resources when needed. Herb was born in Tuscaloosa County , Alabama , and grew up on a small, diversified farm. He received both a B.S. and M.S. from Auburn University.
Emily Knight , AgrAbility Program Assistant, has worked with AgrAbility since 1997 and provides outreach and coordination services to the project. Emily grew up on a small farm in north Mississippi and worked in the Agronomy soils laboratory during college and at MSU research station for two summers. She received a B.S. in Agronomy and M.S. in Agricultural & Extension Education from MSU.
Janie Cirlot-New has been at the T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability (TKMC) since 1996. As a speech-language pathologist and augmentative communication specialist, Janie established the augmentative and alternative communication program at the TKMC to include evaluation, training, and research. Janie became Director of the TKMC in 2001. She received a B.S. from the University of Southern Mississippi and a M.S. from the University of South Alabama.
Judy Duncan coordinates case management services for the TKMC and for AgrAbility at MSU. She received a B.S. from Mississippi University for Women and a M.S. in Counselor Education from MSU.
Cliff Dedeaux began working at the TKMC in March 2003 where, along with the other clinical staff members, he conducts client evaluations for the appropriate applications of assistive technology. He focuses primarily on evaluations for adaptive driving and vehicle modifications, seating and mobility, and adapted farming; he also provides assistance in evaluations in the areas of home and jobsite accommodation and switch access in relations to augmentative communications. Cliff received a B.S. in Occupational Therapy from the University of South Alabama.
Gary McFadyen joined the TKMC staff as Senior Rehabilitation Engineer in 1995. Gary ’s professional memberships include RESNA, Biomedical Engineering Society, National Rehabilitation Association, and IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Gary received a B.S. in Engineering Science from Trinity University and a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Texas A&M University.
Kris Geroux is the Interim Assistive Technology Coordinator with the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services (MDRS). He has been employed with the Assistive Technology Division of the MDRS since 1999. Mr. Geroux evaluates clients across the state of Mississippi in the areas of seating and mobility, home modification, jobsite accommodation, vehicle modification, and agricultural accommodation. He received his B.S. in Biological Engineering from MSU and completed the requirements for a Certificate in Assistive Technology from Louisiana Tech University. He is a certified Assistive Technology Provider (ATP).
Jimmy McDaniel joined the AgrAbility team in December 2003. He has been a rehabilitation technologist since 1993 and was a rehabilitation counselor for the blind 18 years prior to that. He began working with MDRS as a social worker, and throughout his career has been awarded Outstanding Counselor of the Year several times. He also holds the distinction of initiating the first supported employment job placement in the state of MS. He works from the MDRS office in McComb, MS. Jimmy received degrees from the Southwest MS Community College and the University of Southern MS, and attended MSU.
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From left: Cliff Dedeaux, TKMC; Jimmy McDaniel, MDRS; Emily Knight, MSU Extension Service; Herb Willcutt, MSU Extension Service |
Kris Geroux, MDRS |
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