Vol. 1, No. 2 Sept/Oct 1993	Previous Issues Subscribe to AT Messenger Download PDF Viewer
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DATI Annual Conference Registration Underway!

Registrations are now being accepted on a first-come, first-served basis for the annual Delaware Assistive Technology Initiative’s conference for consumers, teachers, caregivers, therapists, or anyone interested in what’s happening in assistive technology. The two-day conference, being held on October 4th & 5th at the John Clayton Conference Center on the University of Delaware’s Newark campus, will highlight sessions on the use of AT in recreational and leisure activities. Landscaping and gardening, playing with adapted toys and games, participating in water and racket sports, performing computer-based music, and creating your own adapted home workshop are all interests that are now accessible to individuals with disabilities--sessions on each of these hobbies will tell you how others have used AT to enjoy them!

Other sessions will provide information on funding, telecommunications, AT inclusion in IEP’s, and ergonomic modifications in vocational settings. Consumers will also play a large part in presenting their “trials and triumphs” in acquiring and using AT every day.

This year’s conference boasts an even larger array of product and information exhibitors than previous DATI conferences. The Exhibit Hall will be open on October 4th from 8:30-5 and on October 5th from 8:30-Noon for browsing through 26 booths containing information on AT products and services. Exhibits Only registrations are available for $5.

Registration forms must be postmarked to the DATI Central Site office by no later than September 22, 1993 to be guaranteed accessibility accommodations and the lower registration fees. Please call (302)651-6790 for a complete conference schedule and registration form. See you in October!

EXPRESS YOURSELVES

A fundamental focus of the DATI has been to be responsive to the needs and interests of Delawareans with disabilities as they relate to assistive technology. In keeping with this emphasis, our second annual conference, More Power To You, will close with a Consumer Advocacy Workshop where consumers can speak out about what they feel are the most pressing issues affecting access to assistive technology in our State. This will be an intensively interactive session in which participants identify specific problem areas that hinder them in getting the technology they want and need. Additionally, participants will recommend potential solutions to these problems that they personally can help implement. The intended outcome is the establishment of a formal action plan that identifies weaknesses in the current service delivery system and proposes strategies to deal with them. The DATI will use this action plan and work with those that have developed it to effect improvements in the service delivery system. Anyone with an ax to grind about poor services and/or limited resources and who has ideas about how to improve access to technology is encouraged to attend this meeting. The Conference is scheduled for October 4-5, and the consumer workshop is slated to begin at 1:30 p.m. on the 5th.