The ADA is celebrating its 25th anniversary

By: Anna Tuckett

After many years of providing people with disabilities with equal rights, this year the Americans with Disabilities Act is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

The ADA became a law in 1990 and was the first law to establish a clear ban on discrimination on the basis of disability. 

Sachin Pavithran, director of the Utah Assistive Technology Program, has worked to improve the rights for people with disabilities for many years with the help of the ADA.

“The law ensures equal access,” Pavithran said. “It allows people with disabilities to have equal employment opportunities, as well as equal access to public areas and information.”

Allowing for equal employment opportunities among all job candidates has been an important contribution to the fight for equal rights for people with disabilities. 

“Unless the person is unable to do the functions necessary for the job, under the ADA, the employer cannot deny employment based on disability alone.” Pavithran said. 

In addition to preventing discrimination in the workplace, Title One of the act ensures persons with disabilities the necessary assistive technology needed to do their job. 

“In Title One, it talks about the reasonable accommodations,” Pavithran said. “If accomodations can be provided, they should be.”

Although the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act is helping to improve the rights of people with disabilities, there are still plenty of problems to be solved and further legislation that can be passed to lessen discrimination.

“The ADA has been around for 25 years but is still not perfect,” Pavithran said. “More legislation can be passed to help persons with disabilities, we still have a long way to go.”

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for information on the Americans with Disabilities Act and how it works. 

The ADA's influence on the field of telecommunications

By: Anna Tuckett

The March theme for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is telecommunications. This act has allowed for improvements to technologies that better the lives of people with hearing and other communication disabilities by making them more accessible.

Since the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, it has brought to the surface the changes necessary to make technology more accessible to people who have impaired speech or hearing.

Mitch Moyers, Outreach Specialist for the Utah Sanderson Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, has years of experience helping people with hearing disabilities find resources.

“The ADA has helped people receive support when they otherwise wouldn’t,” Moyers said. “It has also brought the needs of people with impaired hearing to the public eye more and more.”

To further promote the recognition of people with hearing loss, the Utah Sanderson Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing helps people with impaired hearing to receive the assistive technology they need. From apps to hearing aids, they provide the resources necessary to give people opportunities for better technology.

“We are an open resource.” Moyers said. “We provide lists of agencies to help people find what they need, as well as training on how to use their assistive technology properly.”

Recently, technology has improved in many ways that have benefited people with disabilities, especially with smartphones, internet, etc.

“In the last 10-15 years, smartphones have made information much more accessible for people with hearing loss.” Moyer said. “With this has come even more of an incentive to help improve current software and technology.”

There are many hearing applications and technologies that have come from the expanding field of assistive technology development. The Americans with Disabilities Act has influenced the expansion of accommodations for people with communication disabilities by bringing recognition to the necessary improvements needed to make technology more accessible.

If you are interested in learning more, follow us on Facebook and Twitter and receive updates on what’s new in telecommunications technology.

Utah Assistive Technology Lab Experience

By: Zach Waxler

 

 

Clay Christensen, Assistive Technology Lab Coordinator for Utah Assistive Technology Program, has been busy with repairs and modifications for power chairs and other products for persons with disabilities. The clients of UATP are very grateful for these low-cost repairs.

 

“A lot of people come in with special modifications being made on their power chairs and scooters to make them more assessable,” Christensen said. “Right now there is almost an epidemic in trying to get wheel chairs repaired because manufacturers want to just replace the part instead of just fix it.”

 

Christensen said that in the last few months, the type of work he has been doing has changed.

 

“I’m adapting chairs and other products to better fit the person’s individual needs,” Christensen said. “Lately, I have moved into repairing a lot more power chairs for people, which is normally not what I do.”

 

For UATP, the experience of the client is first and foremost the most important aspect.

 

“Sometimes people aren’t able to get a new chair because their insurance either won’t pay or it’s too costly to take it anywhere else,” Christensen said. “I will never turn anyone away, so if there is a problem with being able to pay, we will work it out and get their chair fixed.”

 

Christensen said the experiences with clients are rewarding.

 

“The fact that with every person, on a daily basis, I get to do something for someone and see just a bleak smile on their face,” Christensen said. “When you make that repair or adapt that device, it makes their life so much easier and gives them that freedom that they didn’t have. That’s a pretty rewarding aspect of what I do.”

 

The client reaction when getting their power chair or assistive product back is the most important aspect to Christensen.

 

“It’s not uncommon to see a tear come across someone’s face,” Christensen said. “You get tons of things like cards when sometimes they can’t afford to pay, but, I’ll have people come by and bake me some homemade cookies or just something small as a token of gratitude. That just shows how grateful they are and that is just so rewarding for me.”

 

To learn more about Utah Assistive Technology Program, visit www.uatpat.org. Also, follow us on Facebook/Twitter at Utah Assistive Technology Program.

Alternative Spring Break Students “CReATE” a Little Breathing Room for Wheelchair Rehab Program

Stripping donated wheelchairs for parts is a dirty and hands-on job that CReATE relies on to provide recycling income and usable parts for refurbished wheelchairs. 

But this month, CReATE (Citizens Reutilizing Assistive Technology Equipment) received help from eleven community-minded students from Minnesota colleges as part of a trending phenomenon known as Alternative Spring Break.

Alternative Spring Break students from Minnesota show off their pile of recycling at CReATE.

With the volunteer support of the students, eight donated wheelchairs were stripped and loaded for recycling. The pile totaled 2,400 pounds, which was heaved into a trailer to be taken to the recycling center.

The students also cleared and painted a storage room and a bathroom as well as helped rearrange some very large desks. 

Each of the earlier tasks on this list would have easily taken the regular staff two to three days to take care of, but with a two month backlog there has simply not been an opportunity to take the time. 

Thanks to these eleven students who decided to get their hands dirty rather than sit on a beach, CReATE is operating more efficiently for the benefit of the community. 

iPad apps for struggling readers and writers

This handout was made by Alyssa Marinaccio, Assistive Technology Coordinator at Keene State College, for the 2015 International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference. 

UATP director elected Chair of the U.S. Access Board

The U.S. Access Board unanimously elected Sachin Dev Pavithran as its new Chair on March 11. Pavithran of Logan, Utah is Program Director of the Utah Assistive Technology Program at Utah State University's Center for Persons with Disabilities. He was named to the Access Board by President Barack Obama in 2012.

Sachin Pavithran, newly elected as chair of the Access Board.

"It is an honor to chair an agency that has done so much over the years to make equal access for people with disabilities a reality," Pavithran stated. "Our buildings, transit systems, and information and communication technologies are more accessible and inclusive because of the work of the Board and the guidelines and standards it has established."

In addition to his membership on the Access Board, Pavithran directs the Utah Assistive Technology Program, and serves on the Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs National Board, Senator Orrin Hatch's (President Pro Tempore) Disability Advisory Committee, the Research and Development Committee of the National Federation of the Blind, and the National Multicultural Council of the Association of University Centers for Disabilities.

The Board is structured to function as a coordinating body among Federal agencies and to directly represent the public, particularly people with disabilities. Half of its members are representatives from most of the Federal departments. The other half is comprised of members of the public appointed by the President.

CReATE helps young Utahn get a new wheelchair after his was stolen

CReATE helped one young Utahn get a new wheelchair after his was stolen. 

Now he plans on going to prom at his high school in Kearns where he can bust out his dance moves. 

CReATE technician and program coordinator, Tom Boman, helped make the connection to the family after seeing the initial news story about the stolen wheelchair. 

Read and see a video about the story on KSL.com.