ADI: Azam Disabilities Initiative

The Azam Disabilities Initiative (ADI) is an ongoing project to assist those with disabilities to communicate more effectively and easily using PCs. Free use of Azam software is available upon request to hospital children's wards anywhere in the world. Furthermore hospital intensive care wards anywhere in the world, may use Azam without charge for the treatment and rehabilitation of comatose or brain injured patients (and their families who wish to create customized Azam recordings during treatment). Additionally, anyone with disabilities, initially in the UK, may use Azam free of charge by requesting an access code key from participating Charities, Doctors' Surgeries or Local Authorities. (If you are an NGO, Charity, Doctor's Surgery or Local Authority and would like additional information to what can be viewed on these pages and links, kindly contact us preferably via email or phone +44 (0)208 841 3777.)

The use of non politically correct expressions relating to disabilities have been used intentionally so as to enable persons worldwide to find this website. Terms such as handicapped, blind, deaf, speech impediment and mentally retarded may be the only way this page can be found (via search engines) by persons who do not use English as their first language. No offence is meant to be caused by this.

If you are a Charity or NGO wishing to take part in ADI for disabled persons: click here.
If you are a Local Authority or Government Agency with disabled clients and would like to know how easy it is to join ADI: click here.
If you are a Doctor's Surgery wishing to take part: click here.
If you are a person with disabilities and seek further information on how Azam can help you: click here.

If you have a speech disability and would like to take part in a confidential experiment to empower you to send Azam voice emails that are clearer to understand, please read the details and logic behind Andronicos' voice morphing research project.

For a summary of Phases 1 to 3 ADI, please refer below.

Charities Participating in ADI

The following Charities have agreed to manage the FREE registration to Azam for their disabled clients.

	AbilityNet
	Disabled Living Centres Council
	The Repetitive Strain Injury Association

Whether visiting this website as a casual viewer or as an Azam customer, we are sure the Charities and NGOs participating in ADI would appreciate a direct donation from you should you care to do so. Why don't you get your credit card out and link to their website today?

In November 2005, Dr Peter Grey, the CEO of Executive Development Consultants which is a subsidiary of Strontium PLC hosted a CSR (corporate social responsibility) seminar at the Dorchester hotel in London. The keynote speaker was Lord Hastings of the BBC. Andronicos was invited to give a speech on how the Azam Disabilities Initiative (ADI) is helping many disabled persons worldwide, his research in using voice filters to assist persons with voice impairments and how Azam is being used on coma patients. If you would like to view the whole seminar including Lord Hastings' excellent presentation on CSR at the BBC, please go to www.edc.uk.net. View Andronicos' (also known as 'Zed') 8 minute speech at the CSR Dorchester hotel event. 8 mins 256k 112k 56k (audio)

Summary of Phase 1 ADI

Phase 1 ADI went live in the summer of 2003. It enabled the distribution of free Azam to anyone with disabilities in the UK. As funding and manpower resources increase, ADI will be implemented in other countries. Due to the administrative logistics involved, it has been decided that reputable established Charities, Doctor's Surgeries and Local Authorities such as County Councils will provide their non chargeable copies of the Azam product to their disabled clients.

Azam IT wholeheartedly supports the EU's formal designation of making 2003 'The European Year of Disabled People'.

Azam IT Generic Letter to Charities and NGOs (2003/06/12)
Azam IT Generic Letter to Local Authorities relating to the introduction email sent in July (2003/07/07)
Azam IT Generic Letter to Doctor's Surgeries (2003/12/01)

*** Press Release ***

The links below will provide further information -

If you are a Charity or NGO wishing to take part click here.
If you are a Local Authority or Government Agency with disabled clients, click here.
If you are a Doctor's Surgery wishing to take part click here.
If you are a person with disabilities and seek further information on how Azam can help you, click here.

Summary of Phase 2 ADI

With the release of Azam Version 2, the product will be used for two innovative philanthropic causes:

Coma therapy: The families of patients in a coma, brain injured, traumatised or unconscious, will be able to use Azam to collect voice clips from anywhere in the world and produce a CD to play back to the patient via a portable player. Optionally, they can add a rich array of special effects. For further information refer here.

Deciphering the speech of disabled persons: Using Azam's voice morphing functions, people who cannot speak clearly due to physical problems or learning disabilities, will be able to produce voice recordings that are easier to understand.

View our latest research findings on assisting people with speech impediments and listen to an example recorded with Azam software.

In May 2004, Azam Version 2.1 was released which includes a very useful text to speech function. Most text files, such as Word, can be copied into Azam and the PC will read them to you!

In June 2005, Azam Version 3.0 was released with Video email as standard. This empowered the hearing impaired to send free video emails using sign language.

Summary of Phase 3 ADI

The third phase of ADI is scheduled for 2011. It entails the mobilization of schools and colleges to acquire and install pre-owned PCs in the homes of disabled people and elderly who wish to have internet access but cannot afford the equipment. The PCs will come from friends, family and local businesses who upgrade to new systems and wish to dispose of their old equipment. Phase 2 will be undertaken in conjunction with Charities, some of who already provide such a service in their area and Local Authorities. Any comments or suggestions on implementing such a large project should be sent via email to adi@azamit.com.

Technical Support Volunteers Wanted Urgently!

If you have at least 4 hours a month available and have a working knowledge of PCs, we need your help. It is possible that due to the success of our coma recovery initiative, the Azam IT support department will be overloaded with technical support email questions during peak times. We therefore wish to utilize a number of volunteers who can help out, by accepting forwarded customer emails and replying directly to the parties concerned. The installation and use of Azam in coma recovery is quite simple for anyone with an average knowledge of PCs. This isn't always the case for everyone planning to use Azam in this way. Your help will be gratefully appreciated not only by us, but more importantly by the families you will be helping who are quite often extremely anxious and worried, because their loved one is unconscious. Be part of a global project that will hopefully help comatose patients to 'wake up'. If you currently work in a software technical support capacity, have a word with your management, they may even allow you to do this during normal office hours. We do not object to a small advertisement for your company's products imbedded within the support emails you may be sending on our behalf. Is 1 hour a week too much to ask for such a worthy, philanthropic cause?

Could you or your organization make a difference?