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There is a universal design approach to handling the barriers of fall and winter, but the reality is that it requires real customization and thought long before the barrier appears. Since it is early fall, I thought I’d summarize the universal design approach before expanding the possibilities with a social support approach I ran across…

By Laura Hall, MSW,  MATP Staffer Happy Labor Day!   You might wonder why I’m working on Labor Day and talking about stress.  Isn’t work stressful enough?  Sure it is.  Everyone experiences stress in their lives, and sometimes it is magnified when you have a disability and can’t be as independent as you want to be. …

By Jen Gosett, BS, CTRS, MATP Staff Picture this: you’re at your local grocery store and you have a full cart of groceries.  You picked out some healthy things, some treats, and some multi-purpose ingredients.  You did good and know you won’t have to go on a big grocery trip again for a while (hooray!).…

By MATP Staff Laura Hall, MSW Recently, I had to take a leave of absence from Michigan Disability Rights Coalition due to a illness.  Normally, I am an extremely organized person, but in this case, all of that went out the window.  During that period and even now, assistive technology has been my saving grace.…

By Aimee Sterk, LMSW, MATP Program Staff I was recently reminded of the RESNA (Rehab Engineering Society of North America) annual conference I attended in Indianapolis a couple years ago. There I met representatives from Scootaround who told me about a program I hadn’t heard of—Total Mobility Management for Airlines—they help people whose wheelchairs and…

Introduction There is a small but growing movement among people with disabilities, engineers, students, families, and others who cherish personal independence and freedom of choice to take access to Assistive Technology (AT) to its next stage. This is an opportunity for all of us to gain control over the tools we need to support ourselves…

  By Aimee Sterk, LMSW, MATP Staff Society urges people with hidden disabilities, like me, to deny we have a disability.  From the time we are born, we are bombarded with messages that disability is a negative thing – something to be avoided and feared. Our society teaches us people with disabilities are less capable,…

By Jen Gosett, BS, CTRS, MATP Staff For any of us who enjoy cooking and baking, we know that time is a key ingredient of many recipes.  How long we need to bake cupcakes for, boil water & noodles for, fry an egg, etc. can mean the difference between delicious and disgusting!  The built-in timers…

Amazon’s second generation Dash Wand is out. What potential does it have to support personal independence for members of our community? The Wand is an example of the use of a technology platform (Amazon’s Echo/Alexa) to reduce the friction in accessing products of all kinds. While the technology is not specifically aimed at people with…

  By Jen Gosett, BS, CTRS, MATP Staff If you come into my kitchen and look on the counter tops, open the dishwasher, and peek in the drawers & cabinets, you’ll find a common theme: most of my utensils & kitchen tools are the OXO brand.  From the pizza cutter to the salad spinner, whisk…