ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY
9/9/2020
ACES-Talking with Doctors
If you communicate using little or no speech, you can now find ways to get your doctor to listen to you...and get paid $250! The Institute on Disabilities at Temple University's TechOWL program, Augmentative Communication and Empowerment Supports (ACES), is launching a series called Talking with Doctors. Talking with Doctors is a training series that can teach you about tools to use to make your own health decisions. You will even create your personal video to get doctors to listen so they know what is important to you.
6/8/2020
When Access Goes Viral, Tracking UA Partners' Toolkit for Creating an Accessible Online Course
University of Arkansas - Partners for Inclusive Communities (Partners), Arkansas' UCEDD, has a variety of projects that focus on accessible design. Project staff have created a website called Explore Access: Tools for Promoting Disability Access and Inclusion (exploreaccess.org) which offers several resources and toolkits. Among the target audiences for these resources are those working in higher education settings.
4/27/2020
OHSU UCEDD Research Team Featured by Bloomberg News
The Institute on Development & Disability at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) UCEDD research team specializing in Assistive Technology was featured by Bloomberg News for their groundbreaking Brain-Computer Interface work. The REKNEW lab, led by researcher and UCEDD Co-director, Melanie Fried-Oken, Ph.D., CCC/Sp, specializes in developing technology to address communication needs for people with severe disabilities, such as locked-in syndrome.
4/20/2020
Father Communication Coaching (FCC) Program for Children with ASD
University of Rhode Island
Parent involvement is critical for communication development for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, fathers are often overlooked in communication intervention and research. Fathers have unique communication and interaction styles that can improve communication skills for children with ASD. Through their interdisciplinary project, Father Communication Coaching (FCC)
2/26/2020
OHSU UCEDD to host Complex Access and Communication Webinar Series
The UCEDD at Oregon Health & Science University Institute on Development and Disability is partnering with the Assistive Technology lab at Community Vision to present a webinar series, Complex Access and Communication: A 3-Part Approach for Emerging Communicators. This webinar series will provide continuing education for professionals and caregivers to strengthen their skill set in utilizing augmentative and alternative communication methods. Webinar attendees will learn new techniques for supporting communication skills for individuals with complex communication needs.
2/6/2020
WITH Foundation, AADMD, and Ability Central Awards More than $478,000 to Foster Supported Decision-making for AAC Users
The WITH Foundation, the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (AADMD) and Ability Central are pleased to announce that more than $478,000 will be awarded to five organizations as a result of their joint RFP. These grants will fund programs focused on the development of resources, programmatic models, and/or advocacy related to Supported Decision-Making (SDM) for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). Applicants were encouraged to develop new partnerships or significantly enhance existing partnerships between disability organizations, advocates, community organizations, and healthcare providers.
2/1/2020
New App Developed by Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) to Help Pediatricians Recognize Autism Risk in Young Children
Researchers from the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (VKC TRIAD, TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) and partners from technology start-up Adaptive Technology Consulting have been awarded $1 million from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to evaluate a new mobile app designed to help pediatricians recognize autism risk in young children.
12/9/2019
50th Year Anniversary of the Institute on Human Development and Disability (IHDD)
This year marks the 50th year anniversary of The Institute on Human Development and Disability (IHDD). IHDD was established at the University of Georgia in 1969 as part of a national network of federally-designated centers now known as University Centers for Excellence in Development Disabilities, Education, Research and Service (UCEDDS).
9/23/2019
Local Partnership Leads to International Connections (MT UCEDD)
In the fall of 2018, the Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities at the University of Montana (UM) and Summit Independent Living Center hosted Ms. Nguyen Thi Van, from Hanoi, Vietnam, who was visiting Missoula, MT as a Mansfield Center Professional Fellow. Van represents two organizations that provide vocational training and independent living skills for people with disabilities in Vietnam.
8/26/2019
Adapting Books; Where Community and Creativity Connect (OR UCEDD/LEND)
This year as a LEND Fellow at the Institute on Development and Disability at Oregon Health and Science University, I was given the opportunity to spend time creating a leadership project that combined several passions of mine; community engagement, crafts, and pediatrics! With the support of an awesome interdisciplinary team through the Early Access to Assistive Technology Clinic at the Child Development and Rehabilitation Center and Oregon Go Baby Go, I was able to partner with local organizations to host "Adapted Book Nights." At these events, therapists, clinicians, teachers, and parents meet in community spaces to adapt board books for children with motor and or visual impairments.
4/8/2019
Augmentative Communication & Empowerment Supports, or "ACES"
Developed in 1990 at the Institute on Disabilities at the Temple University Augmentative Communication & Empowerment Supports, or "ACES," is a program for young adults who use speech generating devices transitioning from school to work, to help develop and refine their communication.
1/28/2019
Inclusion Today, Community Living for Life (Georgetown UCEDD)
HHS leaders had an opportunity to see this inclusive model in action and learn about the innovative partnership between the Georgetown University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) and Easterseals DC MD VA that makes it possible. HHS Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan, Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families Lynn Johnson and ACL Administrator Lance Robertson visited several classrooms and met with staff and parents at the center to hear about how the program works and the difference it has made for families.
12/7/2018
Assistive Technology Makers' Fair Brings Makers Across the Country Together in Concord, NH
On Saturday, September 29, 2018, individuals devoted to creating solutions for individuals who experience disabilities participated in the first national Assistive Technology (AT) Makers' Fair: Making AT for All Conference & Expo in Concord, NH.
11/26/2018
New Online Course for Creating Accessible Web Documents from The Center for Persons with Disabilities (UT UCEDD)
WebAIM, a project at the Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University, recently launched an online course--Accessible Documents: Word, PowerPoint, & Acrobat. In this video-based, independent-study course, participants learn how to create accessible documents in Word & PowerPoint, export them as PDFs, and optimize these PDFs in Acrobat.
11/19/2018
Think College awarded $2.5M Stepping Up Technology Implementation Grant (MA UCEDD/LEND)
Think College at the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at the University of Massachusetts Boston is excited to announce that it has been awarded a $2.5 million Stepping Up Technology Implementation Grant from the US Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs. The project will fund the development of Future Quest Island - Explorations: Advancing College and Career Awareness for Elementary Students with and without Disability.