The AAC-RERC partners were saddened by Colin Portnuff’s death last month. We count ourselves as among the fortunate who knew and worked with Colin and we would like to recognize his many contributions to people with complex communciation needs and to those who live and work with them.
Colin Portnuff served as a member of our Advisory Board. He also was the vice chair of the Oregon Telecommunications Device Access Program Advisory Committee, and Council in Portland Oregon. Diagnosed with bulbar-onset ALS in the fall of 2004, Colin was an active participant in last year’s AAC-RERC State of the Science Conference in Los Angeles. He made important contributions to the AAC community on ACOLUG, wrote insightful articles, including one co-written with his sister and published in the ASHA Leader, and prepared a webcast for families and practitioners, now available at www.aac-rerc.com [ http://www.aac-rerc.com/ ]. Always with a twinkle in his eye, Colin saw the bright side of things and was a genius at helping, supporting and influencing others in positive ways.
He was also an innovative user of AAC technologies and a strong advocate for individuals with all types of disabilties, especially those with complex communication needs.
We’ve put together a short list of websites to honor his life and his work and keep his memory alive.
1) Colin’s memorial service: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe6lEft3t9Y
2) Colin’s gift: A "Thanksgiving" video" available in a multi-step process at http://www.waveone.tv/
Click on the "launch" link and then look under "Community Stories” for "Colin's gift" -- it's about halfway down the list
3) AHSA Leader articles:
http://www.asha.org/about/publications/leader-online/archives/2006/061107/f061107b.htm.
Portnuff, C. (2006, Nov. 7). A partnership for communication: A personal journey through amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The ASHA Leader, 11(15), 8, 32-33.
Also, you can read article by his sister Gail Venable.
Venable, G. P. (2006, Nov. 7). A partnership for communication: How a sister (and SLP) learned the right questions to ask. The ASHA Leader, 11(15), 9.
4) Colin’s AAC RERC Webcast: http://aac-rerc.com/pages/news/Portnuff_webcast.htm
