Developing an Independent Living Approach to Disability Technology: A Conference to Identify the Policy Issues, October 4-5, 1990

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Technologies, especially computer-based assistive technologies, hold promise of enabling people with disabilities to participate more and more effectively in social life. Realization of this promise depends upon the development of appropriate policies as well. This conference will address the range of issues -- ethical, social, economic and technical -- necessary to fashioning effective disability technology policies. The approach is to identify these issues through a structured discussion involving leading disability and technology scholars and practitioners and then to expand the discussion to involve "grass roots" service providers, consumers, and activists. The first day of the conference is devoted to presentation of papers and discussion among the small group of invited partipants. On the second day, the workshop will merge with the annual conference of the Resource Center for Independent Living in Utica. RCIL is a member of the National Special Education Alliance and an important provider of services for disabled persons in New York State. Funds from NSF will be used to support some administrative and organizational conference costs, as well as the participation of eleven invited scholars and practitioners. Results will be widely disseminated in appropriate journals and professional meetings. Efforts will continue after the conference, through the Project on Disability Technology Policy of the SUNY Institute of Technology. This proposal is a modest request for support to enable leading scholars and practitioners to begin to address more deeply and directly issues of equity and access to technologies for disabled persons. The principal investigators and project associates are well qualified; institutional support is very good; the conference plans are good and integrated appropriately with related activities; dissemination is likely to be broad and to reach a wide range of audiences. Support is highly recommended.