AT in Action

Real World Users

Assistive technology comes in many forms to fit a lot of different contexts. To get a clearer idea of what some kinds of assistive technology look like, please watch the two videos below:

• Video profile of Elle, who communicates with others through assistive technology. In this case, Elle uses a tablet device with software to assist her in communicating her thoughts.
• AT Hackathon video profile of Team Lilly, who uses a walker. Although a walker may not seem as complicated as an electronic device, the video shows how much room for improvement and good engineering there was to help create a walker that would suit Lilly's needs.

Though AT comes in many forms, we will focus on mechanical devices in this class. So, we will focus on designing physical objects/tools, like Lilly's walker, rather than an electronic device or software like the ones that Elle uses.

Research

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) hosts a podcast Milestones, in which they feature research into child health and human development. In this episode, Dr. Alison Cernich (director of NICHD’s National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research) talks about different kinds of research into assistive technology. We would like you to listen to this episode of NICHD Podcast: Boosting Mobility for People with Disabilities. (The website includes a transcript of the podcast as well.) We would also like you to take a look at "NICHD Resource: What are some types of assistive devices and how are they used?" for a few more examples of assistive technology.