National Assistive Technology Day is April 17

Join the U.S. Congress, Maryland Department of Disabilities  and the disability community within UMBC and beyond to celebrate National Assistive Technology (AT) Awareness Day.


National AT Awareness Day honors people with disabilities who require AT to access their education, workplace, community, and recreational activities. The day also recognizes the innovation of researchers, educators, and the dedication of AT specialists and program providers who operate AT programs so that millions of individuals can acquire and use low-cost and often no-cost AT.  


Every state has an Assistive Technology Program that is a resource for its residents - information on Maryland's Assistive Technology program MDTAP is linked here.  MDTAP AT loan libraries are located throughout the state with nine community locations so people can try out devices for suitability before committing to a purchase.  Assistive Technology is in regular use on campus.


Learn more about Maryland's AT High Tech Reuse Program on June 12th via the MDoD webinar, register via this Zoom link - potentially a no-cost option for some Maryland residents.


More information about National Assistive Technology Day is available at the link below.


Blind Industries and Services of Maryland is in nearby Halethorpe and works with Marylanders and vision loss, including connecting with resources for incorporating assistive technology into daily living.  Celebrate with group of AT users this Saturday at their upcoming Brew Reveal.

#ATAwarenessDay #disability #disabilityinclusion


At UMBC the Office of Accessibility & Disability Services can be a resource for co-creating a disability-friendly community on campus (which may include assistive technology), including these processes:

A thumbnail of a laptop with braille assistive technology in the foreground accompanies this post, credit: unsplash.com
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Jerome Ellis is an Afro-Carribean composer, musician and writer whose recent performance at the Poetry Project's House Party became a feature story, Time Bandit, within the This American Life audio broadcast (transcript).  Both he and Sean Cane unpack how essential and shared the support for accommodation can be for people with disabilities.  We encourage you to take a moment and explore more through the links.

His inspiration for the performance: An author was essentially mocking a Brazilian law that supported people with speech disabilities, enabling accommodation. The conversation goes beyond his performance and becomes a deeper dive into his lived experience and how community engagement, as a support of accommodation and inclusion, matters.  The performance is supplemented with Poetry Project's transCRIPted, which is Jerome Ellis's illumination of the softer and subtler audio portions of the presentation.

He quotes Black feminist Kimberle' Crenshaw "Treating different things the same can generate as much an inequality as treating the same things differently" which is fully relevant for BIPOC experiences,  and also extends for the inclusion of people with disabilities via accommodation.  Inclusion occurs with accessible design, universal design, and accommodation.  He reached out to the event organizer - UMBC has robust options as well for people with disabilities. 

Accessibility and Disability Services and Student Disability Services work in partnership with the campus departments and event organizers to support equal access via design as well as accommodation.  We understand Jerome Ellis' frustration when people are thoughtless about how essential accommodation can be.

Disability can occur at any time, and we remind the campus of the following resources and online processes:

We encourage our entire UMBC community to be more familiar with these campus resources, and to engage with these offices for a deeper understanding of how people with disabilities are included at UMBC, including raising awareness about a concern by, or on behalf of, a person with a disability.

More on Jerome Ellis is linked here.

A close-up photo of a wired stage microphone accompanies the post.
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Diagnosed four years ago, Greta Thunberg has not let autism slow her down in her advocacy for people around the world to do their part in slowing down, or indeed ending, climate change.  She has organized student strikes, addressed Swedish Parliament, sailed across the Atlantic on a carbon-neutral sailboat, and most recently spoken in front of the U.S. House of Representatives and the United Nations.  Her ability to raise awareness about acting responsibly to end climate change has been very, very successful.  Additionally, her experience has also demonstrated possibility to others with autism and disability, as representation matters, not just during Disability Awareness Month, which starts tomorrow. Learn more about her work here:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/11/greta-thunberg-schoolgirl-climate-change-warrior-some-people-can-let-things-go-i-cant


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/09/27/teen-climate-activist-greta-thunberg-inspires-others-aspergers-autism/3778356002/


Greta's global quest continues the legacy of people with a disabilities making the most of their circumstances, standing up and speaking up for initiatives that benefit communities, nations, and the world. Below are links to people with disabilities whose focus on ability has made a difference:

Helen Keller: avoiding war and preserving peace
Stella Young:  on respect and avoiding Inspiration Porn
ADAPT has spoken up for affordable health care and Medicaid
Senator Tammy Duckworth: preserving the ADA 

Feeling inspired?  If you or someone you know is a UMBC student with a disability, we are looking for a few good student (GPA of 3.1 or better is ideal) to join UMBC's chapter of DAPi, an international honor society.Reach out to them through the linked website below.  

Additional information about Disability Awareness Month events on campus is listed under the Events tab above and summarized here:   https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/accessibility/events/60435
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