Top banner  
Design, Technology , and Engineering benefitting individuals with disabilities and older adults in the local community
October 22, 2021    
2 columns of images relating to assistive technology

Perspectives is the newsletter of the Stanford course,
Perspectives in Assistive Technology.

Updated Course Website & Finalized Guest Lecture Schedule

This newsletter issue further describes course activities and plans for the coming year.

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; a tour of an accessible inclusive playground; student project presentations and demonstrations; and an Assistive Technology Faire.

Mid-October Update

Latest News Banner

Greetings, members of the Stanford's Assistive Technology course community,

With this issue, I'll continue to present plans for this coming academic year's course.

Course News

Home logo

Updated website - The course website has been updated for this coming academic year. Major changes have been made to the syllabus and project assignments.

Course Plans

Plan image

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.

Project Suggestion Solicitation

"I need your help" - Homer Simpson

Request for student project suggestions - Project suggestions continue to be solicited.

The course is in need of additional candidate projects for students to pursue. You are strongly encouraged to submit project suggestions that 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.

Lecture Scheduling

Lecture Schedule Sign

Guest Lecturer Schedule - Here is the finalized guest lecturer schedule. For more information about the presenter and their topic, browse to the course lecture schedule webpage.

Tue, Jan 4th Course Overview & Introduction to Assistive Technology
David L. Jaffe, MS
Thu, Jan 6th Project Pitches & Team Formation
Project Suggestors
Tue, Jan 11th Creating Assistive Technologies - Understanding the Problem
Gayle Curtis
Thu, Jan 13th Bridging the Gap between Consumers and Products in Rehabilitation Medicine
Deborah E. Kenney, MS, OTR/L
Tue, Jan 18th Perspectives of Stanford Students with a Disability
Students
Thu, Jan 20th From Idea to Market: Eatwell, Assistive Tableware for Persons with Cognitive Impairments
Sha Yao
Tue, Jan 25th Designing Beyond the Norm to Meet the Needs of All People
Peter W. Axelson, MSME, ATP, RET
Thu, Jan 27th Improving Home Environments for Older Adults
Matteo Zallio, M.Arch, PhD
Tue, Feb 1st Issues of Human Interface Design
Gary M. Berke, MS, CP, FAAOP
Thu, Feb 3rd Accessible Making: Designing Makerspaces for Accessibility
Kat M. Steele, PhD, MS
Tue, Feb 8th Mid-term Student Team Project Updates
Student Teams
Thu, Feb 10th Assistive Robotics
Monroe Kennedy III, PhD
Tue, Feb 15th VA Palo Alto Health Care System
B. Jenny Kiratli, PhD & Jeffrey P. Jaramillo, MSPT
Thu, Feb 17th Field Trip to the Magical Bridge Playground
Olenka Villarreal
Tue, Feb 22nd The Design and Control of Exoskeletons for Rehabilitation
Katherine Strausser, PhD
Thu, Feb 24th Designing Exoskeletons and Prosthetic Limbs that Enhance Human Performance
Steven H. Collins, PhD
Tue, Mar 1st Assistive Technology Faire
Various Vendors
Thu, Mar 3rd Wheelchair Fabrication in Developing Countries
Ralf Hotchkiss
Tue, Mar 8th End-of-term Student Team Project Presentations
Student Teams
Thu, Mar 10th Student Individual and Team Project Demonstrations
Students

Ongoing local event:

A digital portrait of a large white woman with blue/purple dyed hair in a ponytail. She is wearing a crop top that reads "The Future Is Accessible" and a black plaid skirt. She is holding up a pen in her right hand while sitting in a wheelchair and holding a pair of forearm crutches. The background is art nouveau-inspired with purple wisteria flowers.

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.

When: Running Tuesdays to Saturdays through December 11th
Where: Palo Alto Art Center - 1313 Newell Rd., Palo Alto
Information: Art of Disability Culture Exhibition - Performance Video (1:09:30)

Please contact me with your ideas, questions, comments, and project suggestions - or just to say hello. Please continue to stay safe & healthy.

Dave Jaffe - Course Instructor

5 rows of images of course presenters and community members

To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please email Dave.