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What It Is
Technology Use refers to how families and individuals affected by disability, and professionals who work for them, can use various technologies (such as the internet or assistive technology) to improve the quality of life of a person with a disabilities and his or her family.
What We're Doing
Beach Center researchers are engaged in multiple efforts to address issues that limit the use of technology, particularly electronic and information technology, by people with intellectual disabilities. With funding from the U.S. Deparatment of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), researchers at KU and the Beach Center are partnering with technology developers, consumer and advocacy groups, and other researchers. The purpose of these partnerships is to develop solutions to access problems and to document the importance of technology in promoting self-determination, school and community inclusion, and quality of life.
This project will conduct multiple activities to examine what features of technology design meet the needs of people with mental retardation and other cognitive disabilities, what gaps exist, what state-of-the-art technology is emerging, and what modifications will enhance community inclusion and integration into the workplace.
This project focuses on cognitive technologies used to promote self-determination skills and is funded through the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for the Advancement of Cognitive Technologies (RERC-ACT). RERC-ACT is funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Resource (NIDRR) and the Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities.