communicATor

Happy fall from all of us at CIDE, and welcome to this issue of the CommunicATor.

As I think about the work our team has done this quarter, two themes stand out. The first is that assistive technology (AT) often works best when it’s built around one person. In our clinic, that can look like a graduate certificate student designing and 3D-printing a part we can’t buy. It could also look like a clinician setting up a temporary wheelchair for a 10-year-old so he can get around while he waits for surgery.

We want more people to be able to do this kind of individualized work, so we’re offering a free webinar series for educators, clinicians, and anyone else who wants to learn to 3D-print adaptive equipment. If building your own AT isn’t an option, our holiday gift guide points to accessible gifts you can buy for people of all ages.

The second theme, which is near and dear to my heart, is partnership, especially with industry. Our accessibility team helps companies, from certification exam providers to medical device and power wheelchair manufacturers, test their products with people with disabilities so they work for customers of all abilities. And with winter on the way, we’re working with Xcel Energy to help customers who depend on medical equipment at home prepare for power outages.

Our community programs are built on partnership too. For more than 20 years, Tech for Tykes, our program supporting the use of AT among young children, has worked closely with Early Intervention Colorado. Recently, the state’s first AT guidance for infants and toddlers pointed early intervention teams to our newly redesigned interactive guide for adding assistive technology to a child’s family service plan.

Both of these themes come back to our mission: getting better technology to people with disabilities and people aging into disability, whether we’re building it for one person or working with partners to reach thousands.

Thanks for reading,

Cathy Bodine, PhD, CCC-SLP
Director, Center for Innovative Design and Engineering
University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz