Perkins eLearning online class

September 19, 2022 - November 13, 2022

“Discover the joy of making assistive technology (AT) with your own hands.

The “A.T. makers movement” throughout the US continues to grow. This “hands-on” online course will explore tools, materials, techniques, and resources for making hundreds of assistive technology solutions for reading, writing, self-care, life skills, leisure and recreation, tablets, smart phones, work tasks, upper and lower extremity impairments, vision loss, communication impairments and more.

According to the World Health Organization and the 2020 Census, the number of individuals with disabilities in the US and the world continues to grow. Lack of funding and time are the two greatest barriers to obtaining needed assistive technology solutions to perform essential tasks at home, in school, at the workplace and in the community. In addition, assistive technology has a very high failure rate and abandonment rate due to the unique needs of individuals needing quick custom or adapted solutions. This course teaches students methods, materials, tools, and resources for quickly fabricating low-cost assistive technology solutions for specific functional limitations and specific activities across the life span.

This course embraces the “ABLE” principles of creating devices that are adaptable, adjustable, reusable, collapsible, repositionable, expandable, and portable. You will learn how to repurpose everyday items into useable assistive technology solutions. These principles support the need for quick solution development while recognizing that creating effective solutions often use a trial-and-error process.”