Close Menu

Two-Way Radios as Accommodations

Consultants' Corner: Volume 01, Issue 09

Introduction

Move over cell phones and beepers! There’s a new personal communication tool: the two-way radio. This product can be purchased for under $100, and there is no monthly service fee. The two-way radio is battery-operated and is lightweight. It has a communication range of several miles, and provides conversation security. Families and friends use two-way radios to stay in contact at shopping malls, amusement parks, and sporting events. But, have you ever thought to use the two-way radio as an accommodation? These people have:

  • A teacher with irritable bowel syndrome needed to arrange supervision for her classroom while she took a bathroom break. She wanted a discreet way to alert her building supervisor. A JAN consultant suggested using a two-way radio to communicate quickly and quietly with the front office.
  • A juvenile detention officer with epilepsy worked in a mile-long ward. He needed to communicate with his coworker in the event he has a seizure or other medical emergency. A JAN consultant suggested using a two-way radio to communicate with his partner on the ward.
  • A set designer with a sleep disorder frequently works alone in a large warehouse. She sometimes falls asleep, and her coworkers cannot find her. Her employer wanted an alerting device that would wake this employee, and could also be used to locate her in the warehouse. A JAN consultant suggested the use of a two-way radio so the employer can talk to the employee to wake her, and she can talk back to disclose her location.
  • A forklift driver with a learning disability has memory deficits and cannot remember what items to pick to fill each order. A JAN consultant suggested using a two-way radio as a way to communicate with the loading dock manager to confirm the order prior to picking it.

Two-way radios can be purchased anywhere electronics are sold. 

two way radio