Welcome to TEDPA!

Greetings from Montana! MTAP was created during the 1989 legislature in response to the Americans with Disabilities Act.  The program began serving Montanans in 1991. MTAP consists of a staff of four, and except for Steve Johnson (equipment specialist), the rest of us are relatively new to the program.  Barbara Varnum (director) and Julianna Whittaker (equipment specialist) have worked for the program for approximately 2 ½ years, and Lisa Gault (administrative support) who previously worked as a temp, was hired on full-time in October 2016. The MTAP main office is in Helena and Steve Johnson has an office in Great Falls, and we just recently opened an office in Missoula, which is staffed by Julianna Whittaker.  Lisa Gault works in the Helena office with Barbara. Lisa Gault is deaf and after many months, we are happy to announce that we have a video phone up and running, and now Lisa can take calls from the public.  Due to state firewalls, this was not an easy process.  Thanks to TEDPA for the encouragement, as some of you may recall, last year I asked if a VP would be possible in an office environment and received a resounding YES from TEDPA members, so again, thank you! MTAP serves individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, mobility or speech disabled.  We serve approximately 600 individuals each year, primarily the elderly population.  As Montana is the 4th largest state in the union, our equipment specialists stay incredibly busy driving across this great state of [...]