Technology: A Vital Tool for Persons with Disabilities

Technology: A Vital Tool for Persons with Disabilities As a living tribute to the memory of a great leader in the field of rehabilitation, the National Rehabilitation Association, through its Switzer Memorial Committee, sponsors a special three-day program on an annual basis. Over the years these programs have become internationally known as the Switzer Seminars and they explore in-depth a timely subject of vital interest to the rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities. For the honor to participate in the seminar, 20 persons are selected for their achievements and involvement in the area under study and they are designated by certificate as Switzer Scholars. The proceedings of the seminar are documented in the form of a monograph designed to stimulate activity in a specific area of rehabilitation. Recommendations for action are provided in such areas a policy and program development, service delivery, research, training and legislative needs. These monographs receive wide distribution throughout the nation and abroad as well. The 13th Switzer Memorial Seminar, Technology and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, was held in Washington, D.C. from April 15-17, 1989, and hosted by the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH). Welcomes were provided by Edward A. Eckenhoff, President, NRH; John W. Goldschmidt, M.D., Medical Director, NRH; Timothy C. Muzzio, Ph.D., Director, Education & Training, NRH; and Robert E. Brabham, Ph.D., Executive Director, National Rehabilitation Association. The Switzer Planning Committee, in outlining the goals and objectives of this seminar provided the subtopics to serve as a foundation for the three days of deliberations concerning jobs, technology and their applicability to persons with disabilities. Examples of the papers written expressly for the seminar included the following along with the author-scholar: -- An Overview of Technology Today by Dennis Chamot, Ph.D. -- Policy Issues in Technology by Steven Mendelsohn. -- Technology: Training and Awareness Needs by James L. Mueller. -- Service Delivery Models in Employment and Technology by Alexandra Enders. -- Rehabilitation, Technology and Industry's Role by Clint D. Gibler, Ph.D. Comments & Observations These were some of the comments and ideas provided by the Switzer Scholars as they related to the action papers written for the seminar: * Lots of things are going on, both technologically and economically. About the only thing we can be sure of is that changes will continue to come quickly. People with disabilities, as is true of all members of the workforce, will need to learn as much as they can about developments that occur in areas of interest to them, and then take every opportunity to be prepared. Technologies to help them are being developed. Seeing that they are made widely available, and seeing that people are ready to use standard technologies to perform business functions, must be a joint responsibility of employers, persons with disabilities, advocacy groups, and where appropriate, government. Nothing happens automatically. -- Dennis Chamot * No one among those gathered here needs to be reminded of what assistive technology has come to mean in the lives of disabled persons, nowhere more dramatically embodied than in its profound impact on the range and quality of employment opportunities available to persons with every conceivable type or degree of impairment. In facilitating participation in the emerging information and service sectors of our economy, in providing the functional capabilities requisite to the performance of a wide variety of tasks, and in making workers with disabilities fully competitive in those increase proportion of jobs which utilize computers or related technology, assistive technology has already expanded the economic horizons of Americans with disabilities as significantly as any force or trend of recent history. …