TechACCESS of RI: Winter 2003 Newsletter

Message from ATAP's Project Director:

ATAP recently participated in a national summit on technology and people with disabilities. We were one of only ten AT projects from around the country selected to participate in this national work group. In all, fifty individuals from academic institutions, consumer organizations, technology experts and the AT projects considered the current status of AT in employment, health care, education, telecommunications, and community living and what progress should be made in these areas by the year 2020. This work will result in a "white paper" on technology and people with disabilities to be promulgated among policy makers on the federal, state, and local levels.

Regina Connor

A Look Back as We Look to the Future

"The role of government is not to create wealth, the role of government is to create an environment in which the entrepreneur can flourish, in which minds can expand, in which technologies can reach new frontiers." – President George W. Bush

President Bush announced the New Freedom Initiative on February 1, 2001, as part of a nationwide effort to remove barriers to community living for people with disabilities. Approximately 20 percent of the people in the United States (54 million) are currently living with a disability. The President's New Freedom Initiative is intended to help Americans with disabilities by increasing access to assistive technologies, expanding educational opportunities, increasing the ability of Americans with disabilities to integrate into the workforce, and promoting increased access into daily community living.

As part of his New Freedom Initiative, President Bush offered a comprehensive package of initiatives to increase research in, and access to, assistive technologies, including: increasing funding for Rehabilitative Engineering Research Centers; increasing funding for low-interest loan programs to help people with disabilities purchase assistive technology; and making Federal Information Technology accessible to people with disabilities.

The successful work already underway by the Rhode Island AT project and the plans for future activities mirror many of the concepts in the President's New Freedom Initiative. Much work has already been done in Rhode Island and will continue to be done to increase community awareness about AT, to further outreach and training, to train and provide technical assistance to consumers and providers regarding assistive and universally designed technology to enhance integration into the community (i.e. implementation of the U.S. Supreme Court's Olmstead decision), to provide training and technical assistance to individuals who need AT for employment, and by advocating for strong election reform. ATAP, the Assistive Technology Access Partnership, has been involved on the state level advocating for strong election reform following Rhode Island's model of 100% physical access of polling places and availability of Braille and tactile ballots.

In 1988, the Assistive Technology act was enacted, reauthorized in 1998 and is now up for reauthorization again this year. In 1993, The Assistive Technology Access Partnership (ATAP) was first established. In the last ten years since ATAP was established, much work has been done but there remains much more to do. Since the original law was enacted in 1988, the development of new technologies has literally exploded. New technologies are opening opportunities for even those with the most severe disabilities. As the National Council on Disability has stated " for Americans without disabilities, technology makes things easier. For Americans with disabilities, technology makes things possible."

For more information, contact the ATAP Central Resource Center at TechACCESS at 1-800-916-TECH or 401-463-0202.