Perspectives in Assistive Technology is a Winter Quarter Stanford course - entering its seventeenth 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; a field trip to an accessible inclusive playground; an Assistive Technology Faire; and student project presentations and demonstrations. Course website.

Guest Lecturer Schedule - For more information about each presenter and their topic, browse to the course lecture schedule webpage. Community members are welcome to attend class sessions on campus. Maps and direcrions. Stanford strongly recomends masking in classrooms. There will not be a concurrent Zoom broadcast.

Tuesday, February 14th at 4:30pm PST

Abstract: Students working on team projects have chosen a problem / or challenge experienced by individuals with disabilities and have been working to research, brainstorm, design, fabricate, and test a prototype device or software to address it.

Presentation Order:

Thursday, February 16th at 4:30pm PST

Everybody is welcome to attend! Here is a map of the playground in Palo Alto's Mitchell Park. Meet at Ada's Cafe.

Abstract: Despite the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it is astounding that most playground designs still fail to consider the 1 in every 4 of us living with a visible or invisible disability today. A park outing with her whole family was behind Olenka's vision to create a new kind of playground, so she could play with both her daughters who had very different needs. The urgent need to create playgrounds that would (far) surpass ADA standards was the drive behind the creation of the Magical Bridge Playground whose goal was to bridge the gap between those with and without disabilities in a most magical way! Olenka and a team of volunteers raised over $4M to make the first Magical Bridge Playground a reality in Palo Alto's Mitchell Park. After opening in June 2015, it received worldwide recognition as the "nation's most innovative inclusive playground" and was even featured at the 2019 Davos World Economic Forum. Due to demand for more like it, Magical Bridge Foundation was created in 2016 and there are now 12 Magical Bridge destination playgrounds under way locally and around the world. In addition to the magical spaces they create, the foundation provides truly inclusive multigenerational programs for every "body" to enjoy - both on and off the playgrounds.

Biosketch: With an undergraduate degree from Pomona College and MBA from Golden Gate University, Olenka Villarreal spent 18 years working with start-up and technology companies in Silicon Valley. When her second daughter was born with disabilities in 2003, she turned her focus on improving the quality of life of those with disabilities. Olenka serves on various boards, including for AbilityPath and Life Services Alternatives. Olenka has received recognition and awards for her pioneering work on Magical Bridge and holds a few design patents for inclusive playground equipment.

• Tuesday, February 21th - VA Palo Alto Health Care System
• Thursday, February 23th - Designing Beyond the Norm to Meet the Needs of All People