Improving assistive technology economics for people with disabilities: Harnessing the voluntary and education sectors
Assistive technology (AT) describes any device or other solution that is used by people with disabilities to assist in performing tasks or activities. While potentially useful, the availability of appropriate AT for people with disabilities can be problematic due to high costs, limited funding sourc...
| 主要な著者: | , |
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| その他の著者: | |
| フォーマット: | 論文 |
| 言語: | en_US |
| 出版事項: |
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
2010
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| オンライン･アクセス: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59829 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6982-9800 |
| _version_ | 1826204984895602688 |
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| author | Li, William Sellers, Clara |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division Li, William Sellers, Clara |
| author_sort | Li, William |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Assistive technology (AT) describes any device or other solution that is used by people with disabilities to assist in performing tasks or activities. While potentially useful, the availability of appropriate AT for people with disabilities can be problematic due to high costs, limited funding sources, and a lack of expertise on what solutions might exist for their needs. This paper explores the potential power of technical volunteers in collaboration with the education sector to address the problem of high AT costs for certain classes of assistive devices by providing a volunteer force of skilled engineers, designers, and other technicians who donate their time and goodwill to building appropriate, low-cost assistive devices. It presents a number of case studies on AT-related volunteer organizations and post-secondary educational initiatives, and discusses the possible growth of such initiatives. We propose a path forward to build a social movement of volunteers, modeled after the success of organizations such as Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Canada, Teach for America, and CanAssist at the University of Victoria to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:05:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/59829 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:05:15Z |
| publishDate | 2010 |
| publisher | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/598292022-10-01T12:55:44Z Improving assistive technology economics for people with disabilities: Harnessing the voluntary and education sectors Li, William Sellers, Clara Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division Li, William Li, William Assistive technology (AT) describes any device or other solution that is used by people with disabilities to assist in performing tasks or activities. While potentially useful, the availability of appropriate AT for people with disabilities can be problematic due to high costs, limited funding sources, and a lack of expertise on what solutions might exist for their needs. This paper explores the potential power of technical volunteers in collaboration with the education sector to address the problem of high AT costs for certain classes of assistive devices by providing a volunteer force of skilled engineers, designers, and other technicians who donate their time and goodwill to building appropriate, low-cost assistive devices. It presents a number of case studies on AT-related volunteer organizations and post-secondary educational initiatives, and discusses the possible growth of such initiatives. We propose a path forward to build a social movement of volunteers, modeled after the success of organizations such as Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Canada, Teach for America, and CanAssist at the University of Victoria to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities. 2010-11-05T17:30:38Z 2010-11-05T17:30:38Z 2010-04 2009-09 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 978-1-4244-3877-8 INSPEC Accession Number: 11229813 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59829 Li, W., and C. Sellers. “Improving assistive technology economics for people with disabilities: Harnessing the voluntary and education sectors.” Science and Technology for Humanity (TIC-STH), 2009 IEEE Toronto International Conference. 2009. 789-794. © Copyright 2010 IEEE https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6982-9800 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TIC-STH.2009.5444391 IEEE Toronto International Conference Science and Technology for Humanity (TIC-STH), 2009 Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE |
| spellingShingle | Li, William Sellers, Clara Improving assistive technology economics for people with disabilities: Harnessing the voluntary and education sectors |
| title | Improving assistive technology economics for people with disabilities: Harnessing the voluntary and education sectors |
| title_full | Improving assistive technology economics for people with disabilities: Harnessing the voluntary and education sectors |
| title_fullStr | Improving assistive technology economics for people with disabilities: Harnessing the voluntary and education sectors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improving assistive technology economics for people with disabilities: Harnessing the voluntary and education sectors |
| title_short | Improving assistive technology economics for people with disabilities: Harnessing the voluntary and education sectors |
| title_sort | improving assistive technology economics for people with disabilities harnessing the voluntary and education sectors |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59829 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6982-9800 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT liwilliam improvingassistivetechnologyeconomicsforpeoplewithdisabilitiesharnessingthevoluntaryandeducationsectors AT sellersclara improvingassistivetechnologyeconomicsforpeoplewithdisabilitiesharnessingthevoluntaryandeducationsectors |