Perspectives in Assistive Technology is a Winter Quarter Stanford course - entering its sixteenth year - that explores the design, development, and use of assistive technology that benefits people with disabilities and older adults. It consists of semi-weekly in-person discussions; lectures by notable professionals, clinicians, and assistive technology users; tours of a local medical center and an accessible inclusive playground; student project presentations and demonstrations; and an Assistive Technology Faire.

Course Plans

Important Dates

• Wednesday, December 1st - Winter Quarter student enrollment opens
• Tuesday, January 4th - First class session of Perspectives in Assistive Technology

Community Attendance - Community members are welcome to attend class sessions, but will have to attest to being vaccinated or receiving a negative COVID test result. Masking during class sessions may be required for everybody.

Request for student project suggestions - Project suggestions are continuing to be solicited.

You are strongly encouraged to submit project suggestions for students to pursue. These suggestions must address a real challenge experienced by an individual with a disability or older adult who lives in the local community that is not adequately served by existing commercial products. (Perform an internet search to verify this.) Identify and describe the challenge rather than imagining a solution. Please do this as soon as possible so I'll have adequate time to consider all submissions, edit approved entries, and post them. The deadline is Wednesday, December 1st. If I accept your project suggestion, you will be invited to "pitch" it to the class on Thursday, January 6th. If a student team selects it, you will have the opportunity to offer your advice, direction, and expertise in person, by phone, and/or by email. For more information refer to the Call for Projects Suggestions and Project Requirements webpages.

This course relies on community involvement,
so please suggest a project based upon an identified problem or challenge.

Here are the confirmed and approved team projects so far:

Projects with Abby Rain Shield Project Large Art Drawing Board Accessible Storage Solution Alert Project Leash Project Projects with Nick Z Adjustable Wheel Locks Personal Item Organization and Storage Improved Wheelchair Caster Project Projects with the Cantor Arts Center Exhibition Engagement Tool A Day at the Cantor Arts Center Project with Nick J Video Therapy Documentation Projects with Danny Belt Buckle Project Scoot Back Project Wearable Storage Pack

Guest Lecturer Scheduling Activities - Here are the class sessions that have been scheduled so far. Other presenters have been asked to submit their dates of availability. Once that information has been received, speakers will be matched with specific lecture dates and the compiled schedule will be published in a future edition of this newsletter.

Superfest Disability Film Festival is the longest running disability film festival in the world. Since it first debuted in a small Los Angeles showcase in 1970 it has become an eagerly anticipated international event - hosted by Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University. For more than 30 years, Superfest has celebrated cutting-edge cinema that portrays disability through a diverse, complex, unabashed and engaging lens. Superfest is one of the few festivals worldwide that prioritizes access for disabled filmgoers of all kinds. Check out the line-up for the 2021 festival that will run online from October 15th to 17th.

The Palo Alto Art Center is pleased to present The Art of Disability Culture: Artists with Disabilities Dispelling Myths, Dissolving Barriers, and Disrupting Prejudice. At the heart of this exhibition is a robust celebration of the diverse, personal, and infinitely varied “disability experience".

Each of the twenty artists featured has one or more disabilities, whether visible or invisible, and the exhibition centers upon their creativity, vulnerability, and unique perspectives. The exhibition celebrates how disability culture can strengthen our communities through the practices of interdependence, accessibility, and inclusion.

The Art of Disability Culture exhibition features numerous accessibility components to ensure that the broadest possible audience can experience the exhibition and related programs. Audio descriptions are available for all works of art on view and are also accessible on the website. Braille labels and audio descriptions are also available for visitors. Public programs include sign language interpretation and live captioning.