Bridging the Gap
NASA Tech Briefs
November, 1997 - page 25

A special program track featured Carol G. Cohen, program manager of assistive
technology for the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation
Research (NIDRR), part of the U.S. Department of Education.  "Solutions for
Persons with Disabilities: Bridging the Assistive Technology Gap" brought
together representatives from federal labs, NASA, R&D organizations,
industry, and the consumer market to discuss how they can collaborate to
develop solutions to assistive technology problems.  

Assistive technology (AT) is defined as "any device, item, piece of equipment
or product system, whether acquired commercially off-the-shelf, modified,
customized, or developed that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the
functional capabilities of an individual with a disability," according to the
Technology Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act
Amendments of 1994.  

A number of assistive technology-related organizations already have joined to
locate partners and collaborators to move sophisticated technologies into the
disability market. The Consumer Assistive Technology Transfer Network (CATN)
is a central network that identifies links to resources for consumers
requiring solutions to difficult assistive technology problems. The CATN also
helps developers, researchers, and engineers identify resources for
commercialization of prototypes and technology applications. NIDRR supports
the CATN as an initiative to expand consumer involvement in assistive
technology transfer. The network is funded by NIDRR and represents: 

    the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC), which consists of more than 500
    research and development federal labs; 

    the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North
    America (RESNA), which promotes the exchange of ideas and information for
    the advancement of assistive technology; 

    the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technology Evaluation
    and Transfer (RERC-TET) which works with inventors of assistive devices
    to turn them into commercial products; 

    the Department of Education, which funds NIDRR through the Office of
    Special Education and Rehabilitation Services 

    the Department of Defense, through the Computer Electronic Accommodations
    Program (GAP) which provides assistive technology to allow DoD employees
    with disabilities to access computer and telecommunications systems; 

    the Department of Veterans Affairs, Rehabilitation Research & Development
    Service Technology Transfer Section, which manages a program of
    identifying and facilitating the clinical application and commercial
    availability of R&D that impact positively on veterans' rehabilitation. 

NASA's objective is to serve as a technology resource and become a model for
effective transfer and commercialization of technology to benefit people with
disabilities, according to Dr. Alfred Pappano, manager of the Commercial
Development Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA.
Pappano is spearheading NASA's involvement through funding by the agency's
Commercial Technology Division. He stressed that NASA does not seek to enter
the assistive technology product manufacturing arena. Rather, NASA's goal is
to find ways in which its technologies can be used in the assistive device
market, and to successfully transfer those technologies to the manufacturers.  

NASA's advances in the fields of imaging, electrical stimulation, and
computer equipment already have been commercialized for use by people with
disabilities. Pappano said he hopes awareness of the potential benefits of
NASA technologies will grow, helping to get new products into the hands of
the consumers.  

For more information, contact the following: CATN at 505/989-94O9 or
http://www.rt66.com/catn.org; RESNA at 703/524-6686 or http://www.resna.org/;
RERC-TET at 716/829-3141; CAP at 703/681-8811 or http://www.ha.osd.mil;
Department of Veterans Affairs at 410/962-1800; Dr. Al Pappano, NASA JPL, at
818/354-5007.