Supports Coordinator Training Series

• Text response: I participated in this training because…
• 5-point Likert Scale (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree)
  • I understand what constitutes a technology solution.
  • I understand the barriers that prevent the people I serve from obtaining appropriate technology solutions.
  • I know how to identify technology solutions for individuals I serve based on their personal goals.

• 5-point Likert Scale (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree)
  • I am satisfied with the training or assistance I received.
  • My attitude about this topic improved.
  • I can apply this knowledge to my practice.
  • I understand what constitutes a technology solution.
  • I understand the barriers that prevent the people I serve from obtaining appropriate technology solutions.
  • I know how to identify technology solutions for individuals I serve based on their personal goals.

SHEA TANIS: Hello and welcome to the Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator Supports Coordinator Training Series, Session 1, 2026. Today our session is titled The Self-Directed Model for Identifying Technology Solutions for Individual Goal Attainment. 

My name is Dr. Shea Tanis. I am an associate research professor at the University of Kansas Center, Lifespan Institute, and I lead a project called the State of the States in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. It's a project of national significance that tracks what is expenditures for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and the supports and services they receive across the nation. 

As part of that worked, we have ventured into Technology First systems change. And this project, what you are receiving training through is the Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator. The goal of the Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator is to expand awareness of and access to assistive technologies and remote technologies in Pennsylvania to build capacity for users and measure effectiveness around use, access, and services all across the Commonwealth. 

This partnership is led by the Office of Developmental programs and Office of Long-Term Living through American Rescue Plan Act funds. It is a contract to Temple University, who has partnered with us at the University of Kansas Center on Disabilities to bring you this specific training session. 

So today we're going to go over some of the areas, really developing the model by which you follow and identify technology solutions for individuals with disabilities. But understanding why we are engaging in these conversations comes back to what is Technology First systems change? The investment where Pennsylvania has made investments since 2018 and has expanded those investments as a part of the Tech Accelerator. 

Now, Technology First really began in Ohio as a first movement but has transformed into systems change as more and more states have adopted practices that are aligned with implementation science. And the definition follows. It's a framework for systems change where technology is considered first in the discussion of support options available to individuals and families through what is person centered and directed approaches to promote meaningful participation, social inclusion, self-determination, and quality of life. 

This work has really been going on since 2017. Our program has been involved in the initiatives in Technology First since 2010. Really, we initiated a lot of research and practice in cognitive access and launched in 2015 the rights of people with cognitive disabilities to technology and information access nationally and internationally, adopted by the Federal Communications systems and endorsed by many national associations on disability. 

And so we have traveled through this process and seen the promising practices. And Technology First has really come out of those promising practices and where people are looking to make their investments and see innovation. 

Now, as we go through this training session, we're going to be using certain terms. You now have been introduced to what Technology First is, systems change. It is not a practice. It is not a single program. It is an integration of a series of different elements that lead to systemic and cultural change. 

We're also going to talk to you about technology solutions. And this is a level set to ensure that we are all on the same page when we are talking about technologies, because technologies are constantly changing. They evolving over time. And we use the term in our practice and throughout this training series, we use the term technology solution. 

And we use that term for a series-- for a number of reasons, because we've been tracking the policy and practice across the nation, particularly in home and community-based services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, where we have seen multiple definitions. And those definitions change. 

And so when we talk about technology, we talk about technology solutions. And that is really an innovation applied in the environment to address what is a mismatch in the cultural, social, and contextual demands that are placed on individuals? The benefit of using this term is it addresses many of the common challenges we face with traditional technology terms. 

This term is really an umbrella term that captures both mainstream, assistive, and enabling technologies. You'll hear that term, enabling technologies in other states. The term technology solution also allows for the inclusion of what are multifunctional and diverse technologies? 

For a long time in the field of assistive technologies, we looked at technologies that served an individual function or mediated the impairment for an individual. It did one thing, may have encouraged or supported what were functional needs, vision, hearing, sensory needs. But as technologies have evolved, they have become multifunctional. 

Think about your smartphone. It doesn't only allow you to communicate. It allows you to use it for reading, for other services, for games and leisure. And more and more technologies are multifunctional. And we've seen our traditional-- what our traditional descriptions and traditional definitions restrict adoption. And so we use the term technology solution because we know it can encompass these multifunctional and diverse technologies. 

The term also implies a person directed and goal oriented approach to identification, acquisition and ongoing training of technologies. By talking about it as a solution, not a mediating impairment, it demonstrates that we are looking to involve the interaction between the individual and their environment to support someone to achieve their goals. 

And this full session is really around how to do that in practice. How do we outline a process by which individuals can and their support coordinators can go through and identify technology solutions using the goals that individuals have as the guiding criteria? 

The term also supports, as I said, this mismatch between the person and the environment. This is our social context of disability. That is not the person, but it is truly the mismatch between the individual and the demands placed on them from the environment. 

And finally, the term allows for the inclusion of emerging and future technologies that have not yet been identified and allows the agility within policy and practice to adopt these new and emerging technologies. 

So some may imply really that by using the term solution, it implies that there is a problem to solve. Oftentimes, and when we want to make sure that you're aware of, is oftentimes the solution that someone's looking for may not need a solution. It may actually be the wrong question or the wrong-- there may not be a problem to solve. 

Oftentimes, we see people introducing technologies because of their own individual interest rather than the person they're supporting. So we have to emphasize looking at the problem statement or what an individual is motivated to solve in their own environment. So certainly, knowing that the problem in the investigation is where we start, not with the solution. 

So even going back to Yale professor in industrial engineering, we see that if I-- and often, this is misattributed to Albert Einstein, but the quote is really, "if I had only one hour to solve a problem, I would spend up to 2/3 of that hour in attempting to define what the problem is." That is what we encourage you to do before you jump to a technology solution. 

So important to understand from research and practice, prior to looking at solutions are the barriers, the barriers to technology access for individuals with disabilities. And there are a number of them. And these may prevent individuals from even having a technology or long-term sustainability. 

So usually, first we start with equal opportunity and support coordinators as well as direct support professionals play a really critical role in being able to provide opportunities for individuals with disabilities to explore technologies. 

And unfortunately, often the case or sometimes is the case is that it is not that the individual does not want to try or utilize technologies, but it's the discomfort of the support or caregiver with those technologies that prevents events access, essentially creating a gatekeeper issue where it's not the individual. It's not their own advocacy that is preventing access. It's really the discomfort of those around them in using technologies. 

The other thing we see are attitudinal barriers that remain with access for people with disabilities, that they may not utilize technologies. There's a lack of universal design or accessibility features built into technologies and the peer design of those. 

We find a lot of our research points to the lack of knowledge of available technology solutions. The challenge with this space is that technology is ever evolving, and it's very difficult to keep up with the evolving and emerging and newly introduced technologies. 

No one person can do it. And it really takes a community of practice or a community, which we encourage you to develop within your network, to be abreast of all the new innovations that are coming out and may be applicable to your clients or those that you're supporting. 

We do see that there is a lack of digital literacy and technical skills for caregivers, for individuals themselves and practitioners. We're going to talk in session 4 around some of the digital literacy barriers and things that we can focus on in digital literacy to help the adoption of technologies. 

We have seen that many times when individuals already do acquire their technologies, that as we all know, there are many updates, upgrades to technologies, and there may need to be technical support. 

Now, we're very good at acquisition, but we are not good at providing sustainable technical support for those technologies. Knowledge translation and how to use technologies or how to gain support in them in cognitively accessible ways. Being able to use those technologies in social contexts. We've seen systemic barriers, such as policies preventing access to different types of technologies. And the one that I like to highlight specifically is this failure to access use worthiness alongside usability. 

Now, this was a term-- useworthiness is a term that was coined in New York by a researcher in assistive technology in acquisition, who noted that we can have a technology solution that works. It solves the problem in terms of function, but sometimes motivation plays into whether someone wants to use it. 

The example I like to give is a wheelchair. A wheelchair can get you from point A to point B. The function of it is to help you travel. But if that wheelchair is ugly, clunky, and the individual doesn't want to be seen in it, then it is not used worthy. It's not worth using. So those two items need to be considered in tandem when identifying technology solutions, both useworthiness alongside usability. 

And then finally, I will note economic barriers. Our team does the evaluation of what our financial supports for technology solutions across the nation and within the states. And I list this lesson. And that is because it is always the first thing that people say is the barrier, but yet we know that there are so many solutions to it. It is not a barrier of whether the resources are there. It's whether people know it. 

But we do want to acknowledge that certainly for the field of disability, for people with disabilities, there is a cycle of poverty that prevents them from being able to access using their own funds and their own capacity that prevents them from accessing services and supports. And that is truly the cycle of poverty. And it can be a barrier to technology solutions. 

The other thing we've done research on is looking at what are the barriers that prevents advancement of access to technology for people with disabilities from the provider perspective, so providers of supports and services? The first one, as I noted, is always around financial resources. 

In our most recent study with the American Network of Community Options and Resources, ANCOR, the national trade association for IDD service providers, they identified that 64% of their membership or those who responded to our survey identified financial resources as the primary barrier. 

The secondary barrier, which aligned with funding, was reimbursement of services, reimbursement of different types of services like the installation broadband needed, the hardware itself. 63% of those surveyed identified reimbursement of services as a barrier. 

Again, knowledge of available and emerging technologies, 57% occurred both in the individual and the provider side and training available on those emerging and nuanced technologies. 50% of providers indicated that. So there is a lot of barriers we have to address, but that is where systems change comes in. But systems change in our model is really focused on the individual. And what's beautiful of this is you can't have Technology First without person-directed and person-centered practices. 

Over the years, there have been many terms that have addressed person-centered or person-directed approaches to being able to support individuals. Charting the LifeCourse is one approach, Circles of Support, Identity-First. Lots of these have been identified over the years, but the foundation is clear. It is all individual directed, meaning that you may have person centered, but individual should be directing those practices. And it's a positive approach to the planning process for supports and services based on what that individual's aspirations, needs, preferences, and values. 

Now, one thing we do-- I think often gets forgotten in some of these practices is that many individuals may not have had the opportunities to even know what their aspirations, needs, preferences are. And so being able to introduce or provide opportunities for what are new experiences but placing those new experiences in self-direction, making sure that self-direction is at the core, the individual is directing what is occurring within their environment. And this is where we will focus. We will focus on a self-directed approach to technology identification. 

When we look at person directed, we also know that individuals are asking for technology. Technology has become ubiquitous in our environments. Just to exemplify the ubiquity of technology, we know that 393 billion emails are sent daily. 97% of money in circulation is now digital. We see e-learning markets growing across the world in terms of individuals being able to access new information, social media. So social connectedness has grown to 5.24 billion users globally. 

We see employers allowing still continuing, although this is closing down a little bit now, individuals to work remotely. So using those technologies. Probably the biggest thing that will continue to rise is the utilization of time spent on devices. So on average, Americans are spending six hours and 38 minutes per day on the internet. And the advancement of the internet of things or connected devices is predicted to increase to $20 billion worldwide by 2025. So lots of growth here. 

It's hard to argue that technology isn't an integral piece to our everyday living when you look at some of these numbers, yet we do see what is this gap between users with and without disabilities and accessing technology. But we also need to comprehend-- we can spout out the statistics and why people want them. 

But there is psychology behind why individuals seek out technologies themselves, not just because they're there, which is a piece, but there is a psychology behind technology solutions. In fact, it's called cyber psychology, the connection between human mind and technology. And includes really the multi-intersecting disciplines such as human-computer interaction, computer science, engineering, and psychology. 

I really love this Medieval historian T.J. Rivers, who stated "technology doesn't cause the need rather, it's the effect of our ability to use technology to satisfy needs that are necessitated by human conditions or human choice." 

So we're seeing this growth, that we are creating more needs for technology and yet preventing folks with cognitive disabilities or disabilities in general from accessing. But they have the same demands. They seek technology solutions for several reasons. And this is research-based normalization. How many times have you heard that we all use technologies, and you see those technologies when you look around in the world you're interacting with? 

So normalization or being part of the community is a key reason why people seek out technology solutions. It feels very difficult if you're in a room with everybody looking at a smartphone and you don't own one. You feel left out in that environment. 

Technology has suddenly become a status symbol. For a very long time, money or your wealth was considered a status symbol. Now we're looking-- younger generations are looking at nontangibles that provide status. Consider what are influencers on social networks? Consider how many likes individuals have. 

The new commodity for social status becomes your presence on the internet. It's no longer tangibles but the ability to interact with those online or to be seen by those online. That has become a new symbol of a status that many are seeking in our environment with younger generations. 

Also, community, we talk of our foundations are in community living, home and community-based services, but what is the community? It's really being able to belong and contribute to a group, to an environment. And it is truly a component-- when we look at community and belonging, it's a component of happiness. Or if we look at the principle and theories behind happiness, it is one of the things that leads to happiness for individuals. And it's being part of that community and being able to meaningfully contribute. 

And so social and interactions are very much engaged now online or in digital community forums. We even see community being built through platforms like Nextdoor, or those that are in the neighborhoods of individuals to connect. And so technology solutions are really becoming the tool for connecting to and building community. 

And finally, motivation. Motivation plays a big role in everybody wanting to use technology solutions, both that normalization but also wanting to use it. What we're seeing is there used to be-- when you look at motivation-- motivation also drives which technology solutions you choose, one over another. Does it have more features, or does someone else I know use it? That motivation plays a critical role in long-term sustainable use of technology solutions, but it is a reason behind why we seek out technologies. 

So when I talked about our team at the State of the States collecting national data, we're fortunate to have the partnership with the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disability Services, NASDDDS. And now we have been working with NASDDDS since 2018 to track longitudinally the issues around policies and practices in the United States, in technology solutions. And here's one of the things we're finding. 

While many people will say that technology can't be funded, or we can't find funding, we're seeing the diversification of funding sources as well as the diversification of the types of technologies that are funding growing. So while we started with the three-- actually, we would call them the four big technology solutions in our field, adaptive aids and equipment, assistive technology, durable medical equipment, and personal emergency response systems. These technologies have really been in the books for policy and funding for many years. 

Newly emerging and newly utilized during the pandemic was electronic or remote supports monitoring that increased significantly, but we're seeing while those four funding sources-- or four types of technologies have been funded for a long time, we're seeing diversification of things that are funded from state agencies, things like what? Our wearables, smart home technologies, video conferencing services, technology based or virtual companion care. 

Ongoing technology training was a big one that has occurred, recognizing that you can't just acquire a technology, but you need to be trained to use it. And then also vehicle modifications, which has also been on the books for some time. But we're seeing this real diversification of the influence of New and emerging technologies and supports and services. 

So ultimately, the conclusion here really is that the ubiquity of technology is changing the world around us. And it's not only changing the world, but it is really influencing how we interact with one another, how we survive economically, also health wise, and how we thrive within that world. And those are three key words I want you to think about when you think about the applications of technologies, interactions, surviving, and thriving. Because so much of what we do is digital now and information. 

All of those features are really being driven in the digital environment for people in everyday living. And what we seek to do is ensure that people with disabilities have the same and equal opportunities to interact, survive, and thrive within our world. But unfortunately, what we see in some practices is, as technology solutions are being introduced, they're introduced because they're bright and shiny. They're introduced because there's someone who said, hey, this looks great. Joe should use this technology solutions. 

And it's the problem of the bright and shiny syndrome, often called SOS, shiny object syndrome. And it's a challenge that we face, particularly with technology. Lots of technologies look bright and shiny. They look exciting. We have early adopters, but the sustainability and the maintenance of those technologies, if that's the goal, then we have to move on beyond what is the bright and shiny syndrome. 

And we really need to look at technologies as the bridge and accelerator to allow people to identify their goals and solutions. And so this is a great time where we see that what is really our social model here is this mismatch between the person's competence, their skill sets, their strengths, and the environment. 

What technology solutions really do is they bridge and accelerate the individuals' opportunity to fit within their environment, using those as tools to find where the mismatch may be. And that is where we're going to start in our process. So you've heard a lot about technology, you've heard about what the barriers are, but we need the solutions. We need to know how to do it. And we're going to walk you through what is the self-directed model for identifying technology solutions for goal attainment. 

This research and practice is really based on the self-determined learning model of instruction. It's what we use and what's evidence based for students with disabilities and being able to set their educational goals and being able to problem solve to achieve those goals. 

And so we applied this model to technology solutions, not just setting the goal but working through a problem-solving method to ensure that the goal is achieved. And so this follows our model, that you will see next, follows what is the problem-solving construct, how to attain goals using problem solving. 

And so this is a lot of our model. And you will hear different people take different approaches to technology solutions. We believe based on research and practice and evidence base that you begin with the individual setting the goal. What is it you want to achieve? 

If you think about your own experience in identifying technologies, you start the same way. If you're looking to purchase a new technology, you start with what you want to do with that technology. You're not going to select what is a remote support monitor. If you're looking to walk outside the home. If your goal is to create more steps, you're looking at technologies that fit that. 

Now, one of the biggest challenge we hear from people is there is so much out there. We don't even know where to start. There's so many different technology solutions that we can't narrow it down. 

Well, if you use this approach, you naturally narrow down the field of the available options, and it really allows you to start with a handful of technologies versus billions of technologies, because you're honing in on the function and the needs that those technologies start with. And so we begin with the individual goal. What are they trying to do? What is the gap? Then we look at the person's strengths. 

So part of being able to know where the mismatch is is being able to leverage the individual's strengths first and use technologies that also leverage the individual's strengths. So what are the personal strengths and assets that are going to help the individual achieve that goal? It is then when we look at the demands. So we look at the demands on the environment that creates barriers to goal attainment. 

So the goal cannot be attained because A, B, and C barriers within the environment. It is only then that we begin to search for technology solutions that eliminate the barriers, eliminate what are those environmental contacts that allow the individual to accelerate their strengths and do the things they want to do. 

And so again, we encourage folks not to start with the technology, but have technology be the fourth step in your process. Let me give you an example. Example is Jimmy lives in a home with three other middle-aged adults as roommates. He would like to prepare his own breakfast but needs support in doing so. 

He often forgets to turn off the stove. He also likes a lot of variety in his meals, which is hard on staff who do not have time to identify new recipes and shop for various groceries. The question is, what technologies could provide Jimmy with the support to independently prepare his own meal? 

Now this is a time where I'm going to put up what is the model. I want you to think about and take a couple of minutes to consider, what are the pieces that need to be in place? So starting with one, step one, what is Jimmy's goal? Step number two, what are the strengths and assets that Jimmy has to achieve his goal? 

Step three, what are the barriers in Jimmy's environment that prevent him from achieving his goal? And number four, with that knowledge that you already have, what are the technologies that you would search for to help Jimmy support his own meal development? 

A lot of times what we hear, those that engage-- and I'll give you a moment to think about what potential solutions would help leverage his engagement. Now, there's not a lot of information here about some of the other strengths he may have, which would be mobility and use but just considering what his passions are and the environmental barriers. 

So we look at the environmental barrier of first turning off the stove. That's an environmental barrier. So what technology solutions are available? And there are a number of different technologies solutions available, things like smart appliances or even attachments that go on new appliances to turn stoves off automatically. That's one technology solution that might be available to Jimmy because right now, if he is not able to turn off the stove, my guess is he's being prevented, or there's fear that he cannot cook on his own. So solving that first issue in the environment. 

The second challenge that we see is his staff may not have time to identify new recipes and/or shop for various groceries. So that's an environmental context. The motivation for him to is there. He likes a lot of variety. So what are ways or what are potential technology solutions that could help him discover or solve that issue with lack of access to information, which is really what it is, and identifying new recipes-- [SNEEZES] excuse me-- and then shopping for various groceries. 

I'll give you some examples. Some examples of solutions may be online catalogs that he could read or have read to him, picture catalogs of recipes, and also making lists, making lists of the potential grocery items that he may need. He could have home delivery if that is a resource for him, but at minimum, being able to identify what are the ingredients for particular recipes that he's interested in and putting them together in a list. There are technologies that can support in doing so. 

So what you've seen here is we started with not what type of cool technologies are out there for him to cook but what technologies fill the gaps to allow him to most independently achieve his goals. So in considering what your technology solutions are, I'm going to help even further narrow your scope. Because again, one of the challenges we hear is there's too many things available. We don't know where to start. 

So we've given you your very first starting point, which is going through the self-directed process. Then there are other things to consider to help narrow your scope. And there are a lot of-- we often call this the out-of-the-box problem of you can have a technology solution, but lots of things influence whether someone uses it. 

One of the challenges and things that isn't brought up frequently enough is cultural expectations of technologies. Different cultures have different perceptions of technologies, the utilization of them, and any solution has to take into full consideration what those cultural expectations are in that person's environment to use technologies. 

Funding can be an issue. Are you looking to utilize waiver funds or additional funds? So you may have some limitations in funding sources that narrow your scope. Accessibility features, another consideration that often is ignored is the accessibility that is built into technology solutions already on the market. 

As a provider and as a supporter of individuals with disabilities, you should be looking for the most accessible products on the market. And in fact, Medicaid does reinforce and has guidelines that even in digital forms, you need to be looking at the most accessible products available. And there are accessibility features. Often, it's simply easy enough to when you're looking at a new product, look for the term accessibility features and see what's listed there. 

Policies and programs may prevent or influence the type of technologies you can use. Feature matching-- and when we talk about feature matching, that generally when you're working with your Assistive Technology Act programs, that is usually where they're looking. They're looking to see, is the individual's sensory, physical mobility needs match the device? 

So we're going to select different devices if individuals have access to only one part of their body, if their vision or hearing or sensory needs are different. That's going to narrow the scope. So feature matching is a process by which we look at a technology solution and make sure it matches the individual. 

The environmental fit, making sure that even though you may have selected something that works in that environment is an environmental fit. Meaning is the environment going to allow for that to be used? We've seen challenges with technology solutions being used in group settings and needing to make sure that the group in that environment is comfortable with some of those technologies that may be interfering or interacting with them in that environment. 

Acquisition time, sometimes that is a barrier or something to consider often-- or there may be waitlist times for certain technologies that make them out of reach for time period. And then certainly, you want to make sure that the individual is motivated and desires use. It's great to identify technology solutions for an individual, but if they aren't interested in using it, if they aren't interested in trying it, you may be looking at something else. Might be a different problem to identify. So making sure motivation and desire are there. 

One thing we do know, too, is that families and those engaged with the individual on a regular basis play extremely critical role in the acquisition, maintenance, and sustainability of technology solutions. We often call this our auxiliary market because they have so much influence on the type of technologies that individuals with disabilities use, that they often become the primary market by which vendors are looking to attract attention. So think about those family plans that come out with phones or products. 

Often, it's going to be technology solutions that those in the environment the family is already familiar with. So family members are critical to producing successful outcomes. We talked about what are considerations of cultural, linguistic, behavioral preferences of those technology solutions. You also want to consider the entire family unit. We call this collective family empowerment. And the reason we use that term is because collective family empowerment focuses on the family as an entire unit. 

You move one piece of that, and that's where the wind chime picture on the screen comes from. You move one piece, and it has a cascading or ripple effect amongst all others. And so you have to consider not just one individual within the family. You should be considering the entire family unit. And they have been-- family members are often drivers and will be able to show you some data of the technology solutions use and learning those technologies. 

From our National Research on the State of the States, we track how many people live with family members. On average, it's about 70% of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities live their adult lives with their family members. 

So you can see why family engagement is a high level of importance when you're considering technologies and also consider the family supports or supports to families to use those technologies and train on them. Because when service providers are not around, the ones that pick up and are engaged with the individual are often the family members. 

We also want to encourage you to think about-- when you're identifying technologies in an individual service plan is that you don't just have a single checkbox. You don't just ask a single question. You really take the technology first approach, which is if you are not looking at technologies, why are you not looking at technology solutions? 

We worked with Missouri, which was the first state to introduce this in technology first within their individual service plan, where it's not just are you not using tech, but they expect within the individual service plan an explanation of why technology is not being used within the individual goals. And so we encourage you to think about that when your goal setting or working with individuals. 

So you will see now that we've given you the baseline on where to start and what to do. And now there are going to be evolving expectations for you. Lots of what the technology Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator did was set the high bar of expectations and provide resources for those within the Commonwealth to advance technology solutions. 

So really, how can you specifically look and advance technology efforts? Well, we're going to give you some deliverables. We're going to give you some takeaways, things you can do today that you can walk away with. The first is really looking at joining or initiating systems change efforts. Much has been going on within the Commonwealth to advance Technology First. Communities of practice are being built. Collaborations are expanding. 

Joining that conversation is something you can do. And if you haven't already established network and technology, you can start one yourself, starting with looking at advisory councils, advisory councils within your own network to do so. We really, truly believe that no one can keep up with technologies on their own, and so communities of practice become a primary resource for those to look at implementation, barriers they're facing and share problem solving. 

We do look at modernizing policies and collecting data. Data is one thing that will help you to advance technologies, starting with who wants to use it, what do they want to use, and why, looking for opportunities to combine activities. We see pilot programs, and we see a lot of overlap because technology can be used in any domain of living. 

We encourage you to look at where can new technology solutions be applied? Many times we see it in vocational rehabilitation or employment settings, independent living plans, education. Technology has the opportunity to be embedded across domains, so looking for opportunities to combine the use of technologies within a different domain. 

We also have lots of partners. About 27 states are working in Technology First, many of which are already partnering with the Commonwealth to identify new solutions. But there are lots of people you can learn from that have already started down this path to modernize and advance policies but also look at practice. 

Look at greater efficiencies and sustainability. We do not want the flash in a pan of technology solutions. One great solution we have seen is learning labs, technology learning labs, where folks can look and test technologies and then try them before purchasing them. This is a best practice in assistive technology, but applying it across the board is another way to have greater efficiencies of expenditures but also sustainability and utilization. 

And finally, we encourage folks and providers and individuals to begin to build a culture of innovation and environment that really supports exploration, it supports new ideas, and opportunities to partner with who may be the next series of innovators. 

One of the things that we did within the Commonwealth under the Technology Accelerator program was create a provider readiness assessment. This was intended for providers of supports and services, both aging and disability, across the Commonwealth. It was developed by those providers, getting direct feedback from them and really evidence-based strategies and organizational and culture change. 

So we outlined what are the pieces that need to be in place to advance a culture of innovation, gave recommendations based on what is our technology for systems change, and help organizations really set a strategy for them to align with new policies and practices. 

The final thing we want to remind you is that we really want to have these realistic expectations in driving action. There should be some of the foundations. People with disabilities should have the opportunities to be technology enthusiasts. Those who get excited about new technologies have information about technologies, but we need to provide a culture and environment by which they can have those opportunities. 

People with disabilities really have the right to be able to access technologies across all living domains and should have access to those technologies. They should be trained to be the next generation of technology solution specialists. 

You're fortunate to have several of those individuals trained within then the Commonwealth, but they are the ones-- really, if we look at inclusive design, the best technology products have been designed and developed by individuals with lived experience, and they should be trained to be that next generation, influencing the policies and doing the advocacy across the state and across your organizations. 

They should be educated on their own data agency and have control of their digital footprints, things that are assumed on their behalf without them being engaged now. These are very realistic expectations available. People with disabilities should be those co-designers of personalized ecosystems or environments. And finally, they should be used to develop new environments and products that adapt to people with disabilities, not the other way around. 

So now it's time for you to take some action. We encourage you to be action oriented. You have now been given many of the tools to be able to advance and begin your practices. 

Please come join us for our next training session. The next training session will be number two, Technology Solutions Specialist, Leaders and Peer Mentorships, things that we believe is integral to the success of technology solutions. And you can see the other training series topics on the slide here. 

Please stay in touch with us in our team as well as those at ODP and OLTL who are advancing this initiative. So much has occurred in the Commonwealth, and we look forward to you taking on the next step. Thank you for your time and have a nice day. 

• Text response: I participated in this training because…
• 5-point Likert Scale (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree)
  • I understand the value and benefits of technology solutions for people with disabilities.
  • I know how to leverage the knowledge of self-advocates in advancing technology access and initiatives. 

• 5-point Likert Scale (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree)
  • I am satisfied with the training or assistance I received.
  • My attitude about this topic improved.
  • I can apply this knowledge to my practice.
  • I understand the value and benefits of technology solutions for people with disabilities.
  • I know how to leverage the knowledge of self-advocates in advancing technology access and initiatives.

KALEY DAY: Hello, and welcome to the Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator Supports Coordinator Training Series. This is training number two in a series of six. And our topic is the Technology Solutions Specialist, Leadership and Peer Mentorship. 

My name is Kaley Day, and I'll be your trainer today. I'm a sibling to an older brother with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and a research project coordinator for the State of the States in IDD, largely focusing on technology-first state initiatives across the nation. The State of the States in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities is a longitudinal data project of national significance, and has been collecting data on state expenditures on IDD services for over 40 years. The State of the States is housed within the University of Kansas Lifespan Institute and the KU Center on Disabilities. 

The Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator is a project made possible through American Rescue Plan Act funds and investments made by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, specifically the Office of Developmental Programs and the Office of Long-Term Living. The State of the States joins Temple University's Institute on Disabilities and TechOWL as partners in this important work to advance awareness of and access to technology for people with disabilities and aging adults across the Commonwealth. 

Many of the initiatives in the PA Tech Accelerator fall within the model of technology-first systems change, which seeks to implement long-term and sustainable change in access to technology through advancing state policy, capacity building, and research. I'll read a quote from my principal investigator, Dr. Shea Tanis, who you'll hear from in other training sessions in this series and who's a national leader in technology for systems change. 

"Technology first began as a movement, but has transformed into a framework for systems change, where technology is considered first in the discussion of support options available to individuals and families through person-centered approaches to promote meaningful participation, social inclusion, self-determination, and quality of life." Next to this quote on our slide is a photo of a woman in a wheelchair who looks forward while another woman places a virtual reality headset over her head. 

Throughout this presentation in our training series, you will hear us use a term technology solution. We define this as an innovation applied in the environment to address a mismatch in cultural, social, or contextual demands. In other words, technology solutions create that needed bridge between a person and the demands of the world around them. We use technology solutions as an umbrella term that captures all technologies, including mainstream, assistive, enabling and supportive technologies, without limiting that scope. It allows for the inclusion of multifunctional and diverse technologies. It implies a person directed and goal oriented approach to the identification, acquisition and ongoing training of technologies, a topic you've hopefully heard more about in our first training session in this series on the self-directed model. 

The term supports the development of new and innovative solutions to eliminate the mismatch between a person and their environment. And finally, it allows for the inclusion of emerging and future technologies not yet identified to be supported through policy and practice, ensuring that progress in technology-first systems change is not hindered by outdated technology definitions or applications. 

I'd like to set the stage for this training by looking at a few pieces of data. As part of the Tech Accelerator, we conducted a statewide survey in 2025 with ODP and OLTL-licensed service provider agencies looking to gather baseline data around how agencies were or weren't implementing technology solutions and initiatives for the individuals they support, what barriers existed towards those efforts, and what resources could support their successful advancement. 

595 agencies participated, representing all 67 counties of Pennsylvania. To the left on our slide is a bar chart titled "Supports and Structures Needed to Advance Tech." And we see the options of responses listed from greatest response to least response, starting with understanding the value and benefits of technology, access to technology solutions, training for staff, access to technology solutions, training for the people our organization supports and their families, addressing staff fears, misconceptions, and resistance to technology, organizational culture to embrace change and take risks, engaging of staff across departments, transparency and planning and implementation, executive leadership, support and involvement and other. 

Through our work across the nation, we've come to expect those common responses, such as needing training on technology solutions, addressing those attitudinal barriers and resistance to technology and other elements required for organizational change. What really surprised us here was 290 agencies, or nearly half of our 595 respondents, noting that in order to advance technology initiatives for the people they serve, they needed a better understanding of the value and benefits of technology. What this data really tells us is that in order to see increased access and successful use of technology solutions, we must start by building a solid foundation of understanding and provide really clear insight into how technology benefits and improves the lives of people with disabilities. 

The next piece of data I'd like to share came out of the Oklahoma Wearables for Wellness Project. This was a partnership between the State of the States, the Oklahoma rd council, Oklahoma State University and able tech, which is Oklahoma's AT Act program and was funded by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. The Wearables for Wellness Project looked at how people use health data generated by wearable technologies such as Apple Watches and Fitbits to self-direct their health goals and guide their own health care. 

As part of that effort, we conducted our technology needs and barriers survey. This survey is deployed through a cognitively accessible and validated online survey tool, and captured data on people with disabilities, interest access, and barriers to technology throughout different life domains. One of the questions, which is illustrated by the bar chart on this slide, look at access versus interest. 

Asking participants whether or not they had access to a technology within a specific domain area, and then whether or not they would be interested in using that technology if it was accessible. In five out of seven domains, participants indicated greater interest in a technology than actual access to that technology. This included technologies across domains like reading, writing, money management, transportation, and healthy living. It's not quite as surprising that lower interest than access was indicated in two areas, including completing chores and medication management, as I'm willing to bet that many of us aren't as interested in completing those tasks with or without supports. 

What this data really tells us, overall, is that people with IDD don't have access to technologies for key support areas, but would use them if they were available. This leaves us with the question of how to reconcile the gap between disability service and support providers not understanding the benefits of technology, while people with disabilities await access to those technologies that they know will benefit them. 

This is where we see the technology solution specialists. And leaders with lived experience come in as the invaluable guides and resources on the benefits of technology solutions for people with disabilities. So why are self-advocates needed for this work? Well, we know that the gap exists between provider understanding and user desire. 

And we know that people with disabilities want technology. It's evident through the data out of our needs and barriers survey. It was evident through the 20-plus applicants to the technology solutions specialist program across the Commonwealth, and evident through the testimonies of self-advocates throughout the PA Tech Accelerator, such as the lived experience and assistive technology user panels at last year's technology summits. 

Self-advocacy is also needed because we know that peer and family trainer models work. As a family member myself, I can attest to the power of a recommendation or support from other families. In my home state of Colorado, we had the Families at the Forefront of Technology, a group of self-advocates and their families who had implemented technology in their own lives and experienced those vast benefits firsthand. These families went on to share their stories not only with other families, but with service providers and case managers, attesting to the impact of technology solutions and advocating for more dialogue and access across systems. 

Another great model of peer training comes from an incredible group of young technology leaders and innovators out of the Ability Beyond Agency, the TIP squad in Connecticut. The TIP, or Technology Innovators for People squad, is an educational training program for people with disabilities where they learn how to set up, adapt, and build technology to assist their peers as well as clinic staff. The TIP Squad pilots and implements mainstream technology into the lives of their peers with a variety of disabilities. 

And finally, we know that self-advocates act as an integral and key leader group in technology-first systems change. On this slide, there's an illustration from the International Disability Alliance that shows a group of diverse people with a range of disabilities. Above them is the self-advocacy sounding call, nothing about us without us. 

Effective, inclusive, and sustainable systems change requires that people with disabilities are not only at the table, but have a key voice in the development of technology, policy, resources, and training. And I promise that you will be hearing directly from some of those specialists throughout this training through their video stories, through legislative testimony, and through some advice specifically for supports coordinators. 

Another piece of the puzzle, and what we'll call the technology benefits knowledge gap, lies in the power of storytelling. Disability service systems can promote and prioritize policies, data, and best practices all day long. But the stories and experiences of self-advocates and the communities directly impacted by those policies, data, and practices are what give true meaning and context to the work. 

Some research out of Stanford found that stories are remembered up to 22 times more than facts alone. And calling back to that importance of self-advocacy, we can't ignore that people with disabilities have historically been reduced to statistics and talked about, but not with, masking their needs, desires, and demands as humans to the decision makers and gatekeepers around them. The power of individual storytelling is evident through successful initiatives, like the Arc's IamMedicaid Campaign, that put faces, names, and unique, complex stories at the forefront of the fight against Medicaid funding cuts. On this slide, we have an image from the Arc US of someone who participated in that campaign. And we can see a man standing on a lawn and front of a government building holding a bright yellow sign that says, "I am Medicaid, don't cut me." 

This foundation in the necessity and power of self-advocacy and storytelling leads us to the development of the PA Tech Accelerator Technology Solutions Specialist Program. The program sought to build capacity for and engage the leadership of people with lived experience in technology-first systems change. Eight self-advocates were recruited from across the Commonwealth to participate in six months of paid training, leadership, and public speaking opportunities, and collaborative resource building. 

The specialist program curriculum was really unique in that it was truly an intentionally a living and collaborative partnership between facilitators and participants. Core curriculum included storytelling and public speaking, finding and using technology resources online, creating accessible technology resources, understanding the accessibility features in mainstream devices, peer technology expertise, funding technology with public and private resources, policy advocacy, and legislative testimony. 

Within those topics, the specialist guided further discussion and deeper dives into the technologies they were personally interested in, and provided expert insight into the kinds of resources needed by the community. On this slide, we see two excerpt slides from different specialist training presentations. The first says, what does a technology solution specialist do? and outlines core skills, including public speaking, peer mentorship, advocacy, and leadership. 

The second slide, which was in a session focused on effective advocacy and consulting on the accessibility of technology itself, says that knowing how to talk about accessibility makes you a better technology advocate, and provides tips, including be specific about what is difficult or doesn't work, and offer ideas and suggestions for how to fix it. The specialist curriculum sought to not only develop participants skills as technology advocates and peer mentors for the state, but really to support their future career pathways in technology, engineering development, user testing and consultation. 

Throughout the program, specialists dialed in their individual technology stories and worked with facilitators to film personal video stories on the technologies they use and the impact on their everyday lives. On this slide, we can see a few stills from those video stories, including. At the top, we have Andre, who's a jazz musician who uses technology like QR codes to share his music and AI to understand complicated contracts. 

We see Quinn in a classroom who uses her laptop and a Livescribe pen as a college student and at Misecordia University. And we can see Joseph walking down the street using noise canceling headphones to help him focus in busy environments and to access his community without that sensory overload. We'd like to share a clip from specialist Gretchen Laudenslager's video story with you now. 

GRETCHEN LAUDENSLAGER: My name is Gretchen Laudenslager. I live in Quakertown. That's in Pennsylvania. I'm a lead power coach with Self Advocates United as 1. 

I use Google Nest for my morning alarm and input all my activities and address for the week. Check Google Calendar for the day activities. I will set alarms on my phone to stay on time. 

I put on my Fitbit that helps me count. I get text messages on my Fitbit. On my iPad, I search for things to do. Fun activities-- input the info into my calendar. I look up things I don't understand or things I'm interested in. 

I also use social media, Facebook, to keep up with my friends. I've taken a cooking class online, watch news on my iPad, and TV shows on a smart TV. I do a Yoga class online. For safety, I have a keypad to get into our garage. My favorite is my cell phone. I like it for my daily life so I can look up things more and set alarms. 

KALEY DAY: So if you can't tell, Gretchen really loves technology, and her entire day is supported by tech. And so I'm willing to bet that it's pretty hard to see even the small snippet of Gretchen's technology story and to still not understand the value and benefits of technology. One barrier we often hear from disability support providers is the lack of training and information available for people with disabilities to actually learn about different solutions. 

To address this gap and to support their own peer mentorship efforts, specialist guided the development of eight accessible technology one-pagers, sharing key beginner information and tips around technology topics that they were interested in. The one-pagers developed include mainstream accessibility features for both Apple and Android devices, artificial intelligence, Augmentative and Alternative Communication, or AAC, smart home technology, switch access, taking care of your device, and how to stay safe on the internet. 

Specialists not only guided the information shared in each resource, but provided extensive review to ensure these resources were easy to access for as many people as possible through plain language writing and accessible design. On this slide, we can see two examples from our one-pagers. We see the first page of AI, the good and the bad, which answers questions like what is AI and how can you use AI. And we see the first page of staying safe on the internet, tips for safe web browsing, which includes tips for safe browsers and antivirus software, how to create a strong password, keeping your devices and apps updated, and being careful when visiting new websites. 

After learning how to tell their own technology stories, specialists have deployed those skills and presented on statewide, national, and even international platforms in the last year. On this slide, we have a gallery of pictures of specialists on stage and in the field across the nation. Starting in the top-left, we can see Matt Smith, who presented at the 2025 National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disability Services, or NASDDDS conference. 

And he is leaning over a table consulting with a representative from Uber Health. So during his conference travels, Matt actually had the opportunity to use Uber for the very first time. And then he provided direct feedback on the accessibility of the app and his experience with Uber. Moving clockwise on the slide, we have the logo for the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, where several specialists had the opportunity to present virtually to the Disability and Technology Affinity Group, with disability researchers from across the globe present. 

The next three photos show the specialists at the 2025 PA Tech Accelerator technology summits, which were hosted by Temple University in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The specialists participated in panel discussions, answering questions about technology in their daily lives, what the future could look like with better tech access, and how they envision their roles as change leaders in this movement. 

The stories shared ranged from their experiences using technology to pursue college education, to work remotely, to lead self-advocacy initiatives, to communicate and connect socially to use telehealth and many more. They answered questions from the audience, including how employment focused organizations can use technology to better support job seekers with disabilities, and what advice they would have for developers in creating accessible technology. 

Finally, in the bottom-left of the slide, we see specialist Robert Evans and his mom on stage at the Provider Alliance's 2025 conference, where Robert shared the critical impact of technology in his life and his independence as a wheelchair and AAC user. These opportunities to truly be the experts and the voices on stage, speaking to the importance of technology access has made impacts, quite literally, across the world and sets the bar for inclusion. Specialists remain engaged and at the ready to be the next speaker at your agency event or staff training. 

Two of the specialists had the opportunity to really be policy change makers at representative Joseph Hohenstein's 2025 disability summit and technology first legislative policy hearing. Chris Moore and Nae Vallejos, along with other Tech Accelerator leaders, spoke to a panel of legislators on the impact of the specialist program and the need for continued state investment in technology-first initiatives. We'd like to show you two short clips from Chris and Nae's powerful testimonies, starting with Chris Moore. 

CHRIS MOORE: So when it comes to access to technology, I believe it is essential. But I believe that many people with disabilities and their families may not be aware of the tools available, or they just assume that the technologies are just too expensive to obtain. My work at Self Advocates United is 1 focuses on promoting these technologies so that individuals can access them, improve their quality of life, and achieve greater independence. 

I feel that many people, especially in the disability community, don't necessarily know how accessible and impactful technology can be when used right. People with disabilities and providers should know how to use certain technologies to make the individuals' lives easier. I also believe that self-advocates and people with disabilities should be the technology champions and should be included in the discussions of legislation, because our voices are just as important as those that are working on the legislation of the bills that are being passed. 

What I've learned from the Tech Accelerator program is that technology can be important from all aspects of life, and there are plenty of resources for which technology can be promoted. And all of this wouldn't have been possible without the State investing in technology first and prioritizing self-advocates. Passing a technology-first bill would help this work continue into the future. 

In closing, technology has not only shaped my career, but also has been transformative for Pennsylvanians with disabilities. And I urge that the assembly continue investing in inclusive technology innovation, strengthen support for digital accessibility legislation, and expand public private partnerships to ensure that Pennsylvanians lead in building a digitally equitable future for all people, including individuals with disabilities. Thank you. 

[APPLAUSE] 

KALEY DAY: Next, we'll hear from Nae Vallejo. 

NAE VALLEJO: Cheers, everyone. My name is Nae Vallejo. I use they/he pronouns. I have light brown skin, short black, curly hair, and tattoos visible on my arms, head and neck. I'm wearing a blue geometric patterned shirt and arrowhead necklace, and a shark tooth earring dangles from my left ear. Roadie is a black Labrador retriever wearing an orange harness with various working identification patches attached to it. 

I'm a Black native, autistic, and hard of hearing service animal guardian. I'm also an accessibility strategist, experiential archivist, and a technology solution specialist as part of the Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator statewide initiative. I live at the intersections of many access needs, not as theory but as daily reality. When technology fails, my access collapses. When technology is resourced, I get to belong fully. 

Access is not abstract. It is textured, felt in the body. For me, technology was once a hearing aid that let me catch the tunes to my father's laugh. It is now captioning that makes public hearings like this one possible. I notice the difference in my whole nervous systems when captions are missing. My energy drains quickly, my comprehension dips, and my ability to participate just vanishes. 

Simple things like captions, something no one has probably thought of maybe until the point of my mentioning, restore not just information, but dignity-- the difference between being a full participant or an afterthought. Technology is also the ways I navigate my own body. When mobility and dexterity in my hands shift, I rely on voice control across my phone, iPad, laptop, any device that will take a voice. 

These features are not luxuries. They are what allow me to send an email, finish a report, or simply connect with comrades. Technology is also deeply relational. My service dog, Roadie, is trained to assist me with many different tasks, one of which is to alert me to sounds I cannot hear. But it is only through technology, vibrating alerts, captioning, voice control that I can pair Roadie's presence with the digital tools I need to move through the world, as vital as any ramp or curb cut. 

Technology is not extra. It is infrastructure. It is as fundamental as ramps, as water, as electricity. And when legislators prioritize technology-first approaches, they are not offering luxury. They are building belonging. As technology solutions specialists, much of our work happened in peer groups, bringing together people with lived experience, service providers, advocates. In this process, what I like to personally refer to as village care revealed the conditions, stories, and access gaps that policy must be built around. 

One of my most valuable takeaways was learning directly from my peers, other neurodivergent and autistic folks. I discovered accessibility features across devices-- iPhone, Android, iPad, laptop, features many of us aren't even shown by providers who are also uninformed. We explored voice-to-text dictation, magnification and zoom, captioning, screen readers, text size adjustments, dark mode, shortcuts that make daily navigation smoother. 

I also learned so much from others' lived practices. One specialist shared how vital his communication board is for expressing needs, while another comrade showed me her Livescribe smartpen that records her lectures so she can return to any point she needs. Learning from one another showed me how simple shifts in design and training or tools can open whole worlds. It reminded me that accessibility isn't just about technology existing. It's about people being resourced, trusted, and invited to share what they know. 

KALEY DAY: So we hope that, by now, you have been thoroughly convinced by the incredible expertise, perspectives, and skills of the technology solutions specialists. As I said before, this program was intended to live beyond its initial timeline. And we really hope to see these leaders continue to receive paid opportunities across Pennsylvania to share their stories, support others in finding and using technology solutions, and create change throughout the disability service system and technology sector. 

If you'd like to connect with any of the specialists, you can visit our site to download the specialist brochure and speaker profile seen here. They are available for speaking, consultation, peer mentorship, and other opportunities around technology. The technology solutions specialist resource library can be accessed by clicking this link in the presentation slides, or by visiting the site at stateofthestates.ku.edu/technology-solutions-specialists. So we'd like to close this training with some advice from specialist Robert Evans, who reminds us that successful technology matching starts with the person. 

ROBERT EVANS: My name is Robert Evans, and I live in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, about one hour from Philly. Throughout my day, I use an Accent 1,400 and a Dell desktop to check my email with the app, which it reads my emails to me and my work I have to do throughout my day. And I have the iPhone 17 Pro Max for making phone calls and texting people. 

KALEY DAY: What advice do you have for support coordinators who want to support people with finding and getting technology. 

ROBERT EVANS: --to see what they need from you, to see what technology they need in their homes to live their everyday lives, because they don't want to go to group homes or a state-run facility to live. They want to stay in their homes. 

KALEY DAY: So we hope, through this training, you see the value of our technology solution specialists and are able to access some of those resources, like their video stories and their one-pagers to support your own technology journey. And we hope that you continue to develop your skills and supports through the supports coordinator training series. 

After it, we have four more trainings following this one, including accessibility and why it matters, technology agility, resilience and literacy training for users and professionals, technology-related services, waiver policies, and resources for technology acquisition. And finally, innovative and emerging technology solutions for community living. 

We welcome you to connect with our team at the State of the States with any questions or requests for more information you might have. If you'd like to connect with any of the specialists, we're happy to make that introduction. You can email my principal investigator, Dr. Shea Tanis T-A-N-I-S @ku.edu. 

You can email me, Kaley, K-A-L-E-Y-D-A-Y @ku.edu, or our general email at stateofthestates@ku.edu. You can also visit our website to find all the specialist resources and to see more about technology-first systems change initiatives happening across the country at stateofthestates@ku.edu. Thank you for joining. 

• Text response: I participated in this training because…
• 5-point Likert Scale (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree)
  • I can define the term ‘accessibility’.
  • I can identify up to five accessibility features built into mainstream products.
  • I understand where accessibility plays a role in the identification of technology solutions for people I support.

• 5-point Likert Scale (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree)
  • I am satisfied with the training or assistance I received.
  • My attitude about this topic improved.
  • I can apply this knowledge to my practice.
  • I can define the term ‘accessibility’.
  • I can identify up to five accessibility features built into mainstream products.
  • I understand where accessibility plays a role in the identification of technology solutions for people I support.

SHEA TANIS: Hello, and welcome back to the Sports Coordinator Training series for the Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator Project. This is training number 3-- "Why Accessibility Matters." 

My name is Shea Tanis, and I am your trainer for today. I'm an associate research professor at the University of Kansas Center on Disability and lead for the State of the States in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Project. Our team also is the national lead in technology for systems change, under which many of the activities in the Tech Accelerator fall. 

The Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator program was initiated by the Department of Human Services, Office of Developmental Programs, and Office of Long-Term Living, and was funded through the American Rescue Plan Act Funds. It is a partnership across the State, Department of Human Services, Temple University Institute on Disabilities, and the Kansas center for disabilities, mainly the State of the States and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Project. 

We're very excited to have you back in this third session focused on support coordinators. We are targeting really support coordinators because we believe you play a critical role in ensuring that people with disabilities get access to the technology solutions that they need. 

So today, we're going to focus on accessibility, generalized accessibility, and why accessibility should be considered in your thought process as you identify technology solutions for people with disabilities. But accessibility has a long history, and it starts with some of the history that actually occurred in our home state in Denver, Colorado, in 1978, where the Gang of 19 threw themselves in front of buses until our RTD, or the Regional Transportation District, was willing to talk about the absence of accessible buses for people with wheelchairs to be able to ride and get transportation throughout the state. 

The Gang of 19 used the slogan "we will ride!" as they began, really, what was the Americans with Disabilities, the ADA Act, in ensuring that people had access to engage in all aspects of their lives. But if you haven't had an opportunity to see the story of the Gang of 19, we invite you to do so, because it inspires us to. Why accessibility became part of the national conversation and part of the disability rights movement. 

In general, when we're looking at accessibility, accessibility has a lot of different meanings and is interpreted in many different ways. But globally, when we talk about accessibility, we talk accessibility as that it provides the opportunities for all to engage in the experiences, environments, services, information, and tools so that all can equally participate, regardless of physical, cultural, linguistic, age, disability, or status. 

The real goal of accessibility is to eliminate barriers for folks to participate in everyday activities, and the ones that they choose to participate in. But we can go a little deeper into accessibility. And we look at accessibility of environments. We look at accessibility of tools. 

Today, we're really going to speak to the accessibility of technology solutions. And we've talked about what we define as technology solutions in some of our previous trainings, really looking at any piece of equipment or accommodation that will allow someone to participate using these tools and solutions. It's part of what we define in Pennsylvania. You're looking at assistive technology and support technologies. 

But there are really some different component aspects to what is accessibility when we start to talk about technology. This is really this the five A's of accessibility. We're really conceptualized by Penchansky and Thomas when they started looking at health care and equity to health care. But it really applies to what is access or the things to consider of access when we're thinking about technology as well? 

So the first area of technology access that we talk and we hear the most about-- in fact, it is still deemed as the number one barrier to technology access by providers, as well as consumers, which is that affordability-- the financial resources needed to be able to integrate and obtain technology solutions. 

The second A in our access is Availability. Is there a sufficient volume and/or variety of the technology solutions that someone is looking for? So knowing whether it's available to be able to get your hands on that technology becomes one of the access points. A third that we're going to talk the most about today is the accessibility of that. Can you obtain that service? Can you find it? Are you sure where it is? 

We talked in one of our sessions around resources. You're going to hear more about the resources in another training session. But really, can you obtain it? 

The third or the fourth area is around accommodation. Are the technology solutions tailored to fit an individual's need? Do they have the features in the solution that are needed for that individual? And we're going to talk today about some feature matching, which is a conceptual value and a necessity as assistive technologies are identified for individuals. 

And then, finally, and the one that cannot be ignored but often is acceptability. And that's the individual's motivation and trust to use those technology solutions. So as you're considering technology, and you're thinking about are these solutions that are accessible, it's important to think about the five A's in your considerations. 

There are going to be other things you're going to want to consider as well that are part of accessibility. And the big ones are around universal design versus accessible design. So as you're considering technology solutions, most of the time when we talk about accessible technologies, we're talking about universal or accessible design. Universal design was really coined by architect Ronald Mace, thinking about how do we identify environments and products that are aesthetically and usable to the greatest extent of possible by everyone, without a need for adaptation or specialized design. 

Now, there are some important principles that have been defined under universal design. There's actually seven principles defined under the universal design project. One would be equitable use. Two, is flexibility in use? 

Three, is the product simple and intuitive? Four, is it perceptible in the information it defines? Five, are there high levels of tolerance for error? Six, does it require low physical effort to be able to use the product? And seven, in size and space for approach and use. So is there enough size and space to be able to use those designs? 

So these are the big concepts or big principles under universal design. You hear a lot about universal design. And really it is that it's designed for the greatest number of people possible. 

Now it kind of implies that there is this one-size-fits-all, but there is not. We know that there's no one-size-fits-all solution, and we look to making sure that these products and services also have accessible design, which means that they have the most adaptations and accommodations for disability, so that when you have a product, it can adapt to those needs. 

So it means that we've built in to a product or a solution as many ways in which it can adapt to an individual's need. And we know certainly, that the population we work with the most are those on the edge, those who really require things to be adapted and modified for full use. This really is related to an equitable experience through different means of utilization, rather than this one-size-fits-all. We start to think about what kind of tools we use that can fall under both universal design and accessible design. These are two of the important concepts for you to be thinking about when you're looking at technology solutions. 

The other thing that's real important to think about when we consider universal design or accessible design, or those products that are designed for the most-- as we imply, and we know through the person-directed process or person-centered process, is that we really have to look to the individual needs. And even though we can select what are considered universally-designed or accessibly-designed products, it does not eliminate the need to really focus on the individual, and that is the role that you play as you're looking at technology solutions. 

And one of the things that comes up that is important to address is a concept called access friction. And access friction is really the conflict when accessibility needs for one may interfere with the accessibility needs of another. Sarah Silverman, out of Queen's University, talks real clearly about these ideas of access friction, and gives some wonderful examples around access friction and how they apply in everyday experiences. 

But what we see is folks, that when you're looking at technology solutions to apply for an individual, there's the mistake of saying, well, I'm going to seek the most universally designed product, understanding that even when it's universally-designed and accessibly-accessibly designed, it may cause access friction. So let me give you some examples of access friction that have come up. 

Early on in thinking about accessibility of websites, there was the feature of the hover text, something where you would hover your mouse over text, and it would have pop ups of text that would help describe either the image or more about the information on the page. Well, one of the clear access friction points was while this was deemed cognitively accessible to inform individuals of what's going on the page, or it may have helped for Alt text reading or reading those pop ups so people could describe an image, what we found is the access friction point was for people with cognitive disabilities. The hovering over something and then having an item pop up was distracting. So while it may have helped some to perceive the information, for others, the pop ups became distracting and eliminated the availability of the person to conceptually understand what the message was really implying. 

Another example of access friction is in visual impairments. So oftentimes, you will see-- or sometimes you will see that having bright lights can support someone to be able to see contrast in environments based on a visual impairment. Whereas others on the other hand, may have light sensitivity. This is where you can see access friction. 

So for one, having bright lights is helpful to be able to see or interpret what is going on in the environment. For others, it is a distraction and is sometimes painful for those for photosensitive epilepsy that can interfere with engagement. So that's a second example of access friction. 

A third example of access friction is often auditory sounds. So for an individual who may have hearing impairments or maybe deaf or hard of hearing, the challenge is that the volume is not audible. It's not loud enough. The audibility is difficult. So sounds is increased for that individual to be able to hear. 

However, for others, loud sounds can be distracting and/or painful. Using noise canceling devices supports cutting down on the loud tones in environments. So you have two individuals who have accessibility needs, but the results, the solution to those accessibility needs are in conflict. So that for one it may be helpful, but for the other it may not. 

So while we consider universal design trying to create devices and systems that are adaptable through accessible design to the most people, it truly is important to consider what the individual needs are when thinking about accessibility because you may think you're getting a very universally-designed product, when, in reality, it may be a product or system that causes access, friction, or has friction for the individual you're trying to support. So these are important concepts to consider when thinking through accessibility of technologies. 

And when you're evaluating technologies, part of the way to do so and where we most commonly see accessibility is looking around the functional needs or the functional features of technology solutions. And really, when we look at the way that technology solutions and accessibility are broken down, they are often broken down by functional need. And they fall into what are the broad categories of cognitive, visual, auditory, motor or physical, and speech. So often, when you're looking at accessibility features, they are categorized into to these areas of functional need. 

We also wanted to highlight that, as one of the examples, or one of the things to do that can be helpful when you're thinking about accessibility as an experience, is thinking about where you can look to those. And I wanted to have as a activity for you to do, and we're going to actually give you some time to do this. 

We're going to give you about four minutes to do this. Whether it be on a computer or it be on a smartphone that you have, one of the things we know is valuable in learning about accessibility is exploring accessibility of common devices and features. So what I'd like you to do now is I'd like you to take a moment and look at either on your computer or in your smartphone or any device that's around you. 

Most of the smartphones and devices have an accessibility button under their generalized settings. I want you to take a moment and look at what those accessibility features are. I think you will be surprised when you take a moment to see those accessibility features and explore how broad they are. Again, you will see them broken down by functional need-- cognitive, visual, auditory, motor, and/or speech. 

So for the next three minutes, we're going to allow you to take some time to do some of that exploration. So we'll start right now, and we will reconvene in three minutes as you do that exploration. 

Welcome back. So we hope you've had an opportunity to look at some of the accessibility features, either on a smartphone that you have or the computer that you're working on. As you are attending this training, nines time out of 10, when we complete these trainings, we understand that people have not had an opportunity to even explore their own devices, to find out what the accessibility features are. We've had the opportunity to do some trainings. And most times, people walk away now applying some of the accessibility features because they didn't realize they could be utilizing those accessibility features. 

The beauty of accessibility, as we know, is that it doesn't only serve people with disabilities, it serves everyone. Everybody has preferences. Everyone has an opportunity to make things or customize them to their liking. You may have found that you could increase the size of your text or the color of the background, or it could have noise canceling in your phone new features, or even haptic and gesture models that we've seen built into new solutions. But understanding that the beauty behind accessibility is accessibility is not for one, but is for all, which is why it's become so popular in trying to ensure that we have all the aspects built in to all of the products and solutions. 

So when you think about, or you have explored some of your accessibility features, you may have found some of the following-- TTY is for visual impairments and communicating. Sign language is certainly another way of interpreting communication-- Braille, wheelchair, and what are physical supports or technologies to move around. Different things for guided animals or support animals, haptics and white canes for blind and low vision, closed captioning, large print, audio descriptions, interpretation, low vision, assistive listening, volumes, fingerprint-- all of these are features that can be built in or are built into solutions for accessibility. And lots of these are things that you're looking for and making sure that they are considered when you are looking for technology solutions for individuals that you're working with. 

And not only is accessibility good for everyone, it's also a requirement. So when we think through the legal considerations of accessibility, you had seen the gang of 19 supporting or initiating what is the Americans with Disabilities Act, which really prohibits discrimination based on disability and requires businesses to provide equal access to digital services. You have Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act that sets specific standards for technology and web-based applications used by federal agencies. And we'll talk a little bit more about some further requirements that you should be considering in any digital or information communication technology. 

You also have Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, where individuals have equal access to federally funded programs. So accessibility is a practice, but it also is a requirement, legal requirement by which you should attend to in your practice. But these are all big concepts. 

But how do you make it happen? How do you address accessibility as a practitioner in your role as a sports coordinator? Well, we talked about what is the process for identifying technology solutions-- the person-directed, self-directed process in our session one And where you start to apply accessibility is really in that fourth step. Once you've gone through the individual's goals, their personal strengths, the environmental demands, then you're looking for technology solutions. 

And one of the items of narrowing down searches that can be incredibly helpful is using accessibility, making sure that you're looking at accessibility as a primary feature when looking at the matching process. And it must be, if you are applying federal funds, consideration of any technology consideration. 

And in fact, when you think about procurement, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services outlines making sure that all CMS-funded sources are accessible to people with disabilities. They guide you into something called the VPAT that I'll discuss in a moment. But you have to procure accessible information and communication technologies at CMS and under CMS. So ensuring that is important. 

And we use that as a tool to narrow down the technology solutions under evaluation. We actually use something called the VPAT, the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template. Now this is what-- this actually was designed by vendors or industry leaders in technology to help promote what is accessibility features and a standard for ensuring that accessibility is considered in the conversation around federal procurement of technologies. 

So the VPAT, or the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template, really looks at accessibility specifications and features from information and communication technologies. Ultimately, it devises what is an Accessibility Conformance Report, which talks about the details of conforming to the World Wide Web Consortium's- the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. You'll hear this called WCAG. 

And right now, I believe we're up to WCAG 2.2. These are standards that are required for accessibility websites. And the VPAT, or the Accessibility Conformance Report, has the vendor or the industry partner, the technology provider, evaluate how they are meeting those standards. And if they are unable to meet those standards, what are their remedial actions to be in compliance with what are federally mandated standards of web accessibility? 

So we encourage both our state partners and our vendors and practitioners to look at and request a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template, or the ACR report. Anytime you're looking at a technology, this is an opportunity for you to narrow down and ask those vendors what they are doing to ensure their products are accessible. So it is a piece that you can use as you're looking through. 

If you do not see that there is a VPAT or ACR, or a product doesn't even list accessibility features, that's an indication that accessibility may become a problem, or it's not something that is considered by that vendor. And so if there are problems with accessibility moving forward, when you have the individual using that, you may run into more challenges because accessibility is not baked in to their process of evaluation or long-term kind of quality in their products. 

And part of why accessibility is also so important is this idea of sustainable use. So we know that over the years since the 1980s, when assistive technology was funded through the Assistive Technology Act, that the abandonment rates of technology solutions can be rather high. There's lots of research and information that we'll talk about, the abandonment of specific technologies for users. 

But generally, the rates of abandonment can be rather high. In fact, the highest area of abandonment comes from hearing aids at nearly 78% And there are a lot of reasons for abandonment, but these should be part of your considerations as you're looking at technology solutions. One area of abandonment is design and functional issues. This is the challenge of the feature matching, where it wasn't truly matched to the individual as they were identifying that. 

Two really great resources, and what you'll often hear practitioners talk about, are feature matching tools. PaTTAN in Pennsylvania, as well as TechOWL, have tools that can be used to identify what is the individual's need and the technology features. And that's really where we make sure there's a match between the individual and the technology. 

But sometimes, when technology is just selected, we identify that the design and the function is not really match to the individual, and that's a high reason for abandonment. And that's why the Assistive Technology Act Programs, as well as any assistive technology supporter or program, really thinks to feature matching in the end process to ensure that there's a right connection between the individual and that technology. 

A second reason for abandonment is individual motivation. Unfortunately, we see introduction of technologies when an individual didn't want a technology. There wasn't a motivation or need to even use the technology. Therefore, it was identified by practitioners or family members or others in the circle of support as a potential option. But the individual did not have any interest in using it, and that can cause high abandonment. 

Also motivation can be influenced by the product itself. We talk about usability in terms-- and whether when you think about usability, you want to make sure that the individual uses it, and it serves the function. But we also need to think about whether the individual wants to be seen with that device, wants to use that device in certain areas. That can also be a motivational factor. 

Key-- what we and it's partially why you are receiving this training-- is that insufficient end training and support of how to use technologies increases the rate of abandonment. Unfortunately, we see a one-stop shop where you go in. You get a technology. You have a single training, and then that's the training you've received for long term. 

As we've seen technologies get more sophisticated, certainly, digital technologies have constant upgrades and updates. Not only do you need that initial training, but you need ongoing facilitation and support to use your technologies. At minimum, you need to know who to go to identify those type of technology supports. And when you don't have that, when there's an upgrade or update and the individual doesn't know how to use it, or you as a user don't know how to use it and adapt to those updates, we often see abandonment as a reason that that device or system is no longer used. 

Expectations-- sometimes there's a mismatch between the expectations of where and how the technology is going to be used. There's visions of these great expectations of applications. But in real practice, those expectations are not met. There may be limitations in what was perceived to be the outcomes or the functions of that technology. 

It's why there is so many options, or why the best practice is for people to test out a technology before they actually buy it. You will see that TechOWL, your assistive Technology Act Program, has built in one of their core functions is to have a lending library or loan library. This is to decrease the abandonment rate based on some of the expectations that one may have prior to using a technology. 

We also see some social mismatch. Unfortunately, because of high rates of poverty or in the cycle of poverty for people with disabilities, they may not get those high-end or what are most modern technology solutions. And that may cause a social mismatch where they have flip phones as opposed to smartphones. And those aren't the things that need to be used in social context. 

Also we see some of the features that may not be socially matched to the person's environment. Augmentative and alternative communication systems sometimes have this social mismatch where the messages coming out don't match the environment. So those can cause a mismatch which lead to environment or abandonment. 

Cost and maintenance, unfortunately there is funding often built into Medicaid and Medicare, that focus on acquisition, but they don't focus on maintenance. And once something breaks-- and I'm sure you have this experience where you have at your own technology that breaks. And finding someone to fix it is more of a burden than us using it, and so you end up abandoning that technology. So maintenance is a big issue to consider. How much maintenance will a certain device or system cause? 

And then the final one is the changing needs of the individual. There are systems, certainly with artificial intelligence and scaffolding and what are considered, quote unquote, "smart systems," they do adapt to the changing needs of individuals. But sometimes, those needs just don't match the technology in and of itself anymore. And so thinking through, are there technologies that are able to be sustained long term and over time? 

So will the device or the system potentially change with the person's needs over time? Can it adapt? Does it have enough features that will allow it to be used in multiple environments over time? 

And so these are considerations when thinking through devices and systems that you're selecting or identifying for individuals. Even using this as a form of a checklist to think through have you addressed the common reasons for abandonment before selecting a device? 

One of the, again, biggest barriers we here-- It's usually in the top five of barriers to technology solutions is not even knowing what's out there or available. But once you find out what's the resources for how to find them, there's often too many. We hear people say, well, there's so many I don't know how to select. Well, these are some of the ways in which you can narrow down your search and narrow down the devices that you have selected to ensure that there are good match for the individual. 

And so as you start to think about the future of accessibility and the future of devices that are selected, it is really an expectation that you should have when selecting or considering systems for individuals. It's an expectation that you should embed in your practice. So for so long, accessibility was considered baked in, or we retrofitted accessibility. 

So it was great. You wanted a particular device, but you had to figure out a way to use it or retrofit what were speech-to-text into that device, or have a secondary device to adapt to it. More and more with the development of accessibility, with industry adopting accessible standards, we want to see that accessibility is baked in. And when we say that, we mean that, upon purchasing or using a device, that all those accessibility features are already built into that solution. Don't have to go and retrofit it. 

We also acknowledge that accessibility is everyone's task. It's not just a task for the person selecting the device or the support coordinator. It's the developers. It's the individuals that participate. It's the family members. Thinking through accessibility is part of everyone's role. 

When you think about websites, it becomes a single person's task. No, in fact, it is everyone's task to ensure that all products and systems are devised devices that are as accessible as possible. Accessibility should be built into your process. When I say that, it means, as you're identifying those technologies, accessibility is a piece of the identification process, which means that it also is built into conversations. 

Conversations when you think about policy, conversations when you think about environmental adaptations, accessibility needs to be built into the conversation. Has it been considered in the design of either program services? And if it is not, you should be asking about that. 

We often ask for the VPATs of products that we are identifying. We want to know have people considered accessibility in their service delivery? These are things that need to be built into the conversation as the expectation because what we know is it leads to more inclusive environments where there's greater opportunities for individuals. 

So accessibility not as an adaptation, but rather an expectation for the things that you do in your work. And we do it because we know that people with lived experience really need the accessibility to be built into the things that they purchase and use because it is part of our environments. It is part of community living. 

And as we listen to those with lived experience who say things like, my friend has a cell phone why can't I have one Is it not that it's accessible Is it not that I can achieve or utilize it because technology and the help of others can help me become more independent in the things that I do. This comes from one of our self-advocates. 

And requiring that accessibility be built in is the opportunity for them to participate in environments. And again, accessibility is not for one, but it really, truly is for all. And as you start to become the next generation of accessibility advocates, we've heard for years in industry, there's even what are considered accessibility evangelists. That was one of the titles, job titles of individuals in one of our industry partners. 

You can do so as well. One of the most common ways to do that is to join something called GAD, or the Global Accessibility Awareness Day, a simple day that you can promote accessibility in your organization or in the things that you do, sharing information and sharing the importance of accessibility. It is always the third Thursday of each-- I'm sorry, of each May is Global Accessibility Awareness Day. And the purpose of GAD is to get everyone talking, thinking, and learning about digital access and inclusion and the more than one billion people with disability impairments across the globe. So thinking about that third Thursday of each May as you begin to become the next accessibility advocate. 

So with that, we are going to close out this training session, keeping in mind that you are going to have other items you've heard already, the self-directed model of identifying technology solutions for individual goal attainment. You've heard about the technology solutions specialists setting the tone for technology leadership and peer mentorship. 

Coming up, you'll be hearing about technology, agility, resilience, and literacy training for users and professionals, technology-related services, waiver policies, m and technology acquisition, and, finally, the innovative and emerging technologies for community living in the future and ones coming out today. 

So we thank you for your participation. If you have questions, you may contact our program at the University of Kansas, myself, Shay Tanis, or Kayle Day, our project coordinator, to learn more about activities and under the Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator. Thanks for joining us, and we look forward to seeing you at the next session. 

• Text response: I participated in this training because…
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  • I can define technology agility, resilience, and literacy.
    • I can identify technology literacy skills.
    • I know how to embed considerations of technology resilience, agility, and literacy in the person-centered plan.

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  • I am satisfied with the training or assistance I received.
  • My attitude about this topic improved.
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  • I can identify technology literacy skills.

SHEA TANIS: Hello, and thank you for joining us today. You have joined the Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator Supports Coordinator Training Series. This is training session number four-- Technology, Agility, Resilience and Literacy Training for Users and Professionals. 

I am your trainer, Dr. Shea Tanis. I'm an associate research professor at the Kansas Center on Disability Life Span Institute. I am also the principal investigator of the State of the States in intellectual and developmental disabilities, a ongoing longitudinal data project of national significance tracking what our expenditures of IDD services and supports across the nation for over 40 years. 

As part of that project, we have been investigating and working in the field of technology since 2010. Really began our strong policy initiatives with the launching of The Rights of People with Cognitive Disabilities to Technology and Information Access in 2015, followed by The Beginning of Technology First. And you will hear more about that. 

But as we work with Pennsylvania across the Commonwealth to identify technology, this project, The Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator, funded by the Office of Developmental Programs, Office of Long-term Living, and with the partnership of Temple University, our team has worked on several initiatives of which this training series is one that has occurred using American Rescue Plan Act funds in Pennsylvania. 

As I mentioned, this is based on Technology First systems change. And what is Technology First? You hear the phrase, but I'm not quite sure what it is. It's not a particular policy. It's not a particular program. It is not a culture that gets embedded into what is a provider association. 

What Technology First is, is it began really as a movement towards advancing technology, but now is a systems change effort that is embedded within implementation science. That technology is considered first in the discussions of support options available to individuals and families through person-centered, person-directed approaches to promote meaningful participation, social inclusion, self-determination and quality of life. 

So really, it is based on implementation science. It has multiple component elements. Capacity building for those engaged in supports and services for people with disabilities, such as support coordinators, that is an integral piece to the systems change model. 

If you joined us in our previous session, you will have heard about technology solutions. While in the Commonwealth the terms that are used are assistive technology and remote supports and remote monitoring. When we talk about at a national scale technology, we use the term technology solutions. And so I want to be on the same page as we walk forward so you know exactly what we are talking about. 

And a technology solution is an innovation applied in an environment to address the mismatch in cultural, social, or contextual demands. So we apply technology solutions for people with disabilities globally, aging, and disabilities. This is an umbrella term. We use it for several reasons. 

One, is it's an umbrella term, which allows us to capture what other terms you may hear referencing technology-- things like mainstream technologies, assistive technologies, and sometimes you'll hear the term enabling technologies. We like to use the term technology solutions to encompass all of these entities as we're doing practice and as we're embedding new policies. 

The other benefit of using the term technology solution is it addresses what is a principal barrier or parameter around some of our other definitions that are very specific to one type of device or system. Oftentimes, when we talk about this challenge, it refers to assistive technologies that, by definition, have to mediate an impairment. And multiple devices that are being used every day have different functional features. If you think about your smartphone, your smartphone is something that has multiple functions, while policy and practice may not allow for funding because it is multi-dimensional. And so we use the term technology solutions to get around what is a consistent barrier we have seen in policy and practice. 

We also use technology solution because it implies a goal-oriented approach to the identification, acquisition, and ongoing training of technologies. The term also supports the development of solutions to eliminate the mismatch between the person and the environment. Some might imply that using the term solution implies that there's actually a problem. And oftentimes the solution is that you're looking at the wrong question, or that there is no problem to be solved. 

With technology solutions, it is driven by the individual as to what is the goal of that technology? That's what makes it a solution. It is something that the individual is driving. And so we really focus on this idea that when we are looking at technologies, we want to look at a solution, as engineers do, really looking at the time it takes to identify that problem rather than solutions-oriented approach or the solutions-first identification. 

So the final reason we like and utilize this is because it aligns with our engineers and with those that are developing new technologies. So it allows for the inclusion of these new and emerging technologies that we don't know are available. Things we need now are very agile, policies and practice, to be able to adapt to the future technologies. And that's why we like the term technology solution. So we will be using this term throughout our training series, which is why we come back to this, to remind you of the phrase and make sure everyone is on the same page. 

So today, we're going to talk a lot about the acquisition process, but what's more is the sustainability of technologies. So for many years when we start to think about technology solutions for people with disabilities, we always begin with this whole acquisition process. That it's about identifying, selecting, and making sure that the person has that technology in hand. 

We put a lot of emphasis on the front end of that acquisition. But over time, what we have recognized is that it's not just about acquisition. Sustainable utilization of technology solutions requires a lot more. 

It really begins-- acquisition is just one piece of the stable utilization of technologies. We begin, and if you refer back to session 1, the self-directed goal setting model for identifying technology solutions, then we go into feature matching, making sure that the features of the technology that has been a selected matches the person's sensory, physical needs and other motivations. One of the best practices really has come out of the assistive technology field is that you need to trial the technology to ensure that it will be maintained and sustained over time. 

Unfortunately, we've seen a lot of technologies purchased without trialing them first and then finding that it's not a good fit for the individual once they have it in hand. So the best practice is to have an opportunity to trial a new technology before it is purchased. It is only then that we move to the acquisition phase, where the item is acquired and given to the individual. But even after the acquisition, there are several steps that help for maintenance and sustainability. 

Training-- through the American Rescue Plan Act, we had seen a huge introduction of funding to provide training, like this one, for technology solutions, because it is such a critical component to the long-term adoption and utilization. So training not only for the individual, for case managers, for direct service providers, for families, and support coordinators. Understanding the entirety of the process and everyone being trained in a consistent way really helps to support the long-term utilization. 

The other piece that has not historically been a challenge, but with nuanced and emerging digital technologies, is becoming more and more of a challenge, is the updates and upgrades to technology. Many of our policies only pay for this first acquisition of a technology. It doesn't provide training or support for upgrades or updates. And in order to maintain that technology, there has to be an integration of updates and upgrades built into the process. 

So as many of you, I'm sure, get frustrated when you have a new update to your smartphone because you weren't ready for it. Those changes and shifts are even more challenging for folks with cognitive disabilities and disabilities as they become very familiar with their devices and systems. And unfortunately, we see abandonment of technologies simply because of an upgrade and lack of training. 

The other thing that can be of tremendous value in this process-- and when we train, we tend to train for a single environment. For long-term adoption, you want to generalize where that technology can be used, applied in different settings. And now, we're seeing opportunities for interoperability, or for those technologies to communicate with others, so that it becomes an entire ecosystem of using a technology. 

And then we return. This is a cyclical model. We return to goal setting attainment for individuals to revise their goals and maybe revise technologies. I invite you to think about the number of different types of technologies and the iterations of those technologies you have had in your life. You're not expected to use a single phone, for example, for your entire life. 

Unfortunately, that is the proposition that we provide to individuals with disabilities with our fundings and policies sometimes, where they have the opportunity to acquire one device, but there is no evolution in both their skill sets, their growth, their development, and the advancements in technology that may solve different problems. So this is what we identify of our process or the model for sustainable utilization of technology solutions. And this comes out of our research and practice out of the state of the states in intellectual and developmental disabilities in our Tech First activities. 

So you know the sustainability, so this is the process by which you have to follow. But there's also the individual guidance, individual directed. As we said in the first training, all of this needs to be person-directed. And some of the things that are not considered or some things we encourage you to consider is that there actually is research and practice behind technology adoption. What types of technology adoption there is, is based on individual's comfort level. And they actually have a scale. 

And this is the technology mood meter, the scale of acquisition. You have different attitudes towards technology. You have these folks who are technophobic, do not want to touch technology, are fearful of the things that they have technology, they're frightened in that environment. Then you have these tech newbies. These are folks that are interested, curious around those technologies. Little nervous but can be introduced. And often, these are the folks that are swayed by others stories about their utilization of technologies. 

And you have these comfortable techies, which is kind of in the middle range. Folks that get nervous, but they're very optimistic and willing to try out new things. Next, you have these technology professionals, those that are excited about technologies. They are optimistic. It does give them energy to try something new. These are the folks who have multiple versions of different technologies in their lives because they're trying on new models to see how they fit. 

And then, finally, you have your technology enthusiasts. Those that have enough knowledge in the technology field to know what's new, what's upcoming, are training others on technologies, and very optimistic about the opportunities that technology can provide. These technology enthusiasts are also knowledgeable enough to know where the threats may be, to know where there may be benefits and risks with using those technologies, but they have numerous opportunities to engage with technology. And this is a range at which it's important to consider where the folks that you're supporting are in this what is valid-based technology adoption scale. 

Where do you fall? Because how you intervene, how you introduce a technology has a lot to do with where someone may sit, both culturally and in their own comfort level with technology, to ensure long-term adoption. So as you think about long-term maintenance of these technologies, thinking about where a person sits on this scale can be incredibly helpful. It also is helpful with looking at training sessions. Who provides the training can be influenced by where someone sits on this scale. 

So you've recognized that we have this entirety of a process that has many influential factors, not just acquisition. And like I said, for decades, we've really focused on what is the first step, getting that tech? 

We start to see challenges now with the long-term maintenance. And it's why we started to do research and practice in technology literacy, resilience, and agility. These are three areas of nuanced research and practice that we have been looking at to ensure that people maintain those technologies. And so we begin with really what is technology literacy. What do you know about technologies? 

Well, first of all, what is technology literacy itself? Well, the definition of technology literacy is having the skills you need to live, learn, and work in a society where communication and access to information is increasingly through digital technologies. We find when you look at technology training, what are component elements of technology literacy, that actually that technology literacy can differ as most models of learning and knowledge do across different populations. 

Oh and colleagues really started to look at the evaluation of digital literacy among older adults and found that there are really, truly age-appropriate digital literacy skills that can be trained at different stages on an individual's life. When looking at digital literacy for older Americans, making sure there's information about data literacy, what does it mean? What are the components? 

Critical is communication around technology and collaboration with others, and learning about technologies. Creating content is another area. For older Americans, how do they create-- not just be a passive observer with technology or digital content or technology content or use, but also, how do they create or engage with those technologies? 

Safety, generally a big concept or an area of need, privacy as well. And then problem solving ability. We're going to talk a lot more about problem solving ability within technology solutions. So we know that technology literacy, like data literacy, relies on component elements. So what are some of the approaches to support individuals in advancing their technology literacy? 

Well, we look at several areas. Where to find information. And this is really focused on more digital literacy, but still pertains to hardware and software. But information on how to access, how to use, but also how do people interpret the information that's being provided to them? 

One of the biggest challenges we are faced with in terms of allowing people with disabilities to access technologies is that the information is not provided in an accessible means. So the information is not cognitively accessible. It's too complex. And so, to understand technology, we need to make sure the information is provided in a way that population can understand and apply the information. 

The other thing about approaches to improve technology literacy is collaboration and communication. What are the platforms and formats that one can use to communicate? Lots of collaboration around technologies occur in groups with people learning and sharing from one another, communities of practice. 

Understanding how to communicate through technologies. We don't have a lot of training on social etiquette and styles in technology solutions, but also managing one's own digital footprint and identity when engaging with technology solutions, again, with more and more of these technologies becoming digital in their platforms. 

Again, we're going to talk a little bit about creation. So you can receive information, but you need to be able to create it. How do you express the information? What is integrated into this is also accessibility features. So many of our products and many of the solutions, technology solutions, have accessibility features built in. Things like large text, speech to text, text to speech that help with accessing information and content and posting information and content. And so understanding that format, understanding the different ways in which you can interact and share information, such as publishing information, is part of digital literacy. 

Problem solving. We're going to go in much more depth into the problem solving, which is technology, agility, and resilience. And then that safety component-- privacy, security, information translation. How is your information being captured, translated, curated, utilized? What are the vulnerabilities that may be in place? And how do we support people to be knowledgeable-- not to close out technology, but to help people be knowledgeable of the risks and where to find local supports. 

And so when we start to look at some of the barriers to technology acquisition and for vulnerable populations or those that have caregivers interacting with them, there is a lot of valid conversations around privacy and security. But we encourage people, again, not to be the gatekeepers, but to help people weigh the benefits and the risks. If you're familiar with self-determination, which comes out of the intellectual and developmental disabilities community, what we're really looking for people to be self-determined. 

Self-determination is not simply a choice. It's understanding what the repercussions and the consequences are of actions. So to make an informed choice, you have to know what that choice means, what the outcome will be. And so it's our job to help people understand how to weigh the risks and the benefits of technology. 

So some of the benefits that we hear is certainly access to information and services. That's clear. You probably are receiving this digitally. So you are receiving information through digital formats, through technology. Consumerization, you can engage in what are the purchasing and normalization of those technologies. Many technologies provide convenience and simplicity. 

In fact, when you look at the most prevalent sources or technology solutions, they are targeting simplicity and convenience for their customers. And certainly, the recognition of diversity across those type of technologies. Lots of technologies are custom built for different groups. 

And then, finally, the inclusion. We know that technologies are all around us. And being able to engage with those technologies helps one engage with their community. 

So those are some of the benefits. What are some of the risks? Some of the risks include data privacy, information security, where your information is and who gets to see it. 

One of the largest concerns our team has, or our researchers have in self-determination, is around this idea of excessive automation. That if we use too many technologies, we are taking away people's opportunities to self-direct, to have opportunities, to risk, to be able to fail. So it may be taking away choice because there is presumed incompetence by communities or for people with disabilities. And that excessive automation may take away opportunities for choice and selection. 

We've heard the risk of isolation and loneliness for technologies. That they isolate people by not having individual human contact. Social construction, meaning that these environments can be constructed and biased in their design to keep people out. And then, again, certainly discrimination. Technologies-- we look a lot to AI, where we know that there is discrimination applications that are built into AI models often. We now have solutions to that. 

And I'm going to go through some of that, some of the areas specifically to AI. What we hear everywhere is the key term AI. How are you building in AI to your platforms? How are you using AI to be more efficient and effective in your organization or in your group? 

And a lot of times, we have to weigh the risks and benefits of AI. So what are some of the risks? We're going to go through-- what are some of the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence? And we're going to use the broad term artificial intelligence. There's many different narrower categories of artificial intelligence. We're going to use the broad range. 

Some of the risks. Well, we find that for people with disabilities AI models can be biased. We've seen demonstration that it reduces job candidates opportunities. It can weed people out based on their funding models of housing applications. And it's because AI systems that are built on aggregate information and crunching lots of data are built on norms. They're built essentially on the normal curve of the most frequent experiences that happen based on their database. 

The challenge is that people with disabilities are not frequently in the database. Therefore, the algorithms and the models that are built do not address edge-use cases. Which we generally know in the field are people with disabilities who are outside of the norm are considered edge-use cases. And so these AI systems have a challenge, because there's not enough data for people with disabilities or not enough representation of information on that population, to feed the models. It can create bias. 

We also know that because these models are built by humans, humans are innately biased. And so that's a consideration. We may see challenges with the AI screening that is essentially silent, meaning you don't see it happening. And it may be hard to detect. But there are some strategies based on what we know about building of AI models. 

Some of these biases that are built in align with stereotypes of wealth, value, function. And it impacts the most diverse individuals, the furthest on the edge, but it does in the most significant ways because they never seem to fit. What are these models that are being applied across various domains? 

We've even seen the bias contributing to health and social inequalities that really contribute to what is the cycle of poverty for people with disabilities. Things not being able to get a loan because they don't fit within the general funding structures or savings models. 

The final challenge that we see with some of the AI solutions is because people with disabilities are on the fringe or don't fit what is the normal curve, that it's easy to identify them. It's no longer anonymous data, because you can identify who are the people within the model that may have a disability? And so the risk of exposure within those models can be really great. The risk of having the model weed you out can be incredibly great. 

So these are some of the risks of AI. And yet, we have to balance the risks and the benefits. What are some of the benefits? Well, certainly, we have seen AI be built into all sorts of different capacities. 

We can see solutions that are helping the individual bridge the gap between their environment and the things they want to do. Very simply, using a switch, maybe a ring that could turn on and off lights, really helps functional needs and impacts people's lives with disabilities. 

AI can help with one of the most significant challenges for cognitive disability, which is executive functioning. And can help navigate across life domains, mostly navigating information-- being able to narrow down, specify, and validate information. And be able to set forth what our tasks and activities using that navigation can be extremely helpful using AI models. 

We've even seen people with cognitive disabilities benefit as different models of speech recognition. Closed captioning have a wider range of application and different types of models can interpret different types of speech and language with growing data. 

Finally, the huge area that we've seen growth are AI agents, or conversational agents, that offer value support for many individuals. This is being able to, on demand, answer questions. What's the temperature today? When was the last time I changed the milk in the fridge? A lot of these models are helping people answer those questions, be personal assistants to sense to individuals. 

There is a little fear that some of this will restrict data collection if we aren't doing these personal assistants would prevent progress moving forward. So not understanding what people with disabilities need contributing to the data models is a big challenge. But if we are able to do this well, the more information, more contributing information from communities to help build equitable and ethical models becomes a huge benefit. 

So how do you weigh these risks and benefits? And this is really what we talk about when we're talking about individuals with disabilities or aging having self-direction. And so one of the things we have to acknowledge is that by simply refusing to participate with these technologies, it also risks the potential benefits because these models and lots of technology are built based on experience. And if you're not part of creating the solution, then you're going to be part of not obtaining the benefits of that solution. 

So we know by better models of diverse populations would help us develop better solutions. So the more people engaged in the creation of these solutions, the better they will be. We even have researchers out of Canada, Jutta Treviranus, who has been able to apply data of folks with disabilities. 

And show that by actually including the data and information of more diverse populations, the actual algorithm performs better. Meaning that it performs better for everyone, very much like universal design. That it doesn't benefit one, it benefits many who didn't anticipate being able to benefit from those solutions. 

So asking a system to report outliers helps us to develop actual better models for the future. So part of our challenge is not keeping this information isolated, but being transparent about what the risks and the benefits are so individuals can make their own decisions, rather than having gatekeepers. 

Understanding that there are trade offs between privacy and security. For many of us, by participating in virtual environments, we have exchanged some of our information for the benefit of the service or for the benefit of using the solution. 

So we have already made that decision that we are willing to trade off some of the information, some of our privacy and information, for the benefit of the solution, because it makes our lives easier. But yet, we don't introduce that trade off or educate around that trade off often enough. Rather, it ends up being an all-or-nothing submission of using technologies. 

But the reality is, we apply what has been for decades and often forgotten is the idea of dignity of risk. And while we don't read lots of quotes in our presentations, this one is worth reading. If you're unfamiliar, Robert Perske wrote early areas of normalization and dignity of risk for people with disabilities. And this was in the book called Hope for the Families. It really talks about the importance of risk. 

"Overprotection may appear on the surface to be kind, but it can really be evil. An oversupply can smother people emotionally, squeeze the life out of their hopes and expectations, and strip them of their dignity. Overprotection can keep people from becoming all that they could become. Many of our best achievements came the hard way. 

We took risks. We fell flat. We suffered. But we picked ourselves up and tried again. Sometimes we made it and sometimes we didn't. Even so, we were given the chance to try. Persons with special needs--" and mind you, this was written some time ago, "need these chances, too. Of course, we're talking about prudent risks. 

People shouldn't be expected to blindly face challenges that, without a doubt, will explode in their faces. Knowing which chances are prudent and which are not, this is a new skill that needs to be acquired. On the other hand, a risk is really only when it is not known beforehand whether a person can succeed." And so what we need to do is return to this idea of dignity of risk, giving people the information to try and explore new types of technologies in the face of applications for those with disabilities and aging. 

So that's the bit around technology, what is technology literacy. Now, we move into technology resilience. And this is a new area of consideration that we begin to think about with the emergence and ubiquity of technology. And technology resilience is really knowing what to do if something goes wrong with your technology. Learning from experience in a tech-driven world. That we need to know how to recover from challenges that we encounter by technology. 

The classic example that we return to time and time again is what do you do when your computer stops working or a technology stops working? What is the first thing you do? Take a moment and think about it. If your technology is not working, what's the first thing you do? 

Well, the first thing that you would do if you called an IT support person that they would tell you to do is have you turned on and off your device. That is a skill. To know that is the first thing you do when you run into a problem is part of technology resilience. And these are areas we are not training individuals with disabilities or aging on these very basic areas of technology resilience. 

How do you recover? It is something we have begun researching and investigating. And one of our projects, called the Wearables for Wellness, that is funded in Oklahoma by the Department of Health and Human Services there, we investigated what is some of the technology resilience of folks that were identifying wearable technology for health promotion. And what we know for all technologies is that some of your resilience comes from knowing who to ask questions to and being able to identify and know immediately who you are going to go to when you have a problem with your technology. 

And what we found, not surprising, is that family and friends were the dominant folks that people went to when they had a problem with their technology. It often wasn't a service provider. If they were in school, it could have been a staff or teacher, but dominating were family and friends. And so that's when we start to talk. And you heard me in another session talk about the auxiliary markets, which are family and friends of people with disabilities and aging. This is one of the areas. Because we know that to be able to continue to use those technologies, to be able to problem solve when something goes wrong, you have to have someone you go to. Otherwise, those devices and those items become fully abandoned. 

And when we talk about abandonment of technology, it is really directly tied to resilience. So how do people prepare for problem solving? What are the strategies that are built in? What to do when the technology is not working? What is your first step? Who to ask help for when it's not working? And making sure that there's more than one person for someone to ask those questions to if the first one is not available. What other solutions can be tried. 

Unfortunately, when we run into challenges with technology, we may only know a single solution. And that can reduce our use or increase the rate of abandonment. Knowing how to consider multiple solutions to problems, or at least acknowledge that there may be multiple solutions to the problem is part of technology resilience. One of the challenges we see, certainly with cognitive disabilities, is disruption in technologies, disrupt utilization. So one thing that can be tremendously helpful in resilience, or knowing how to problem solve, is to know when you're going to have a problem. So knowing when there may be expected changes in the platform or the technology and update, that can help reduce frustration and increase resilience by knowing what the problem may be and when it could potentially occur. 

Also knowing who may have similar experiences. Beyond family and friends, where can you go? Who's using those types of technologies to apply them and identify when there are problems? And when you return to a system if it hasn't been working. 

So many of our systems-- and I invite you to consider in your own home how many devices you have purchased or technologies you've purchased that you tested but didn't quite use, and then it sat on a shelf. Or you didn't have the time to figure out how to make it work and it still remains on a shelf today. Keeping in mind that you can continuously return or having a plan of action to return to a device or system helps with the problem solving and resilience. 

And finally, we're going to talk a little bit about technology agility. And as we've seen technology advances, this has become more and more valuable because of the interoperability and the sheer amount of technologies that are available to people. So what is technology of agility? Well, it's the ability to move quickly and fluidly across different technologies and tools. So not just one. In some of our research, when we look at this, we're finding that people may only have one device. But being able to use multiple devices helps with your agility and problem solving. 

So technology needs and barriers surveys that we have helps us identify how many users have one or two or three technologies. Your long-term maintenance will be also a contributing factor is how many technologies are already using. We also know that technology agility is increased when you use products from the same company or manufacturer or designer. 

That is because you become familiar with their products. They become a trusted source. And you're able to manipulate multiple devices. So think about the large tech companies and the suite of devices they have that do different things. That suite of devices or systems is enhanced because individuals have already identified one solution that works for them, and they know how to function within it. And so they're looking for a newer solution with those same functionalities and familiarity. So we see lots of technology agility across devices by the same producer. 

And so when we look to agility we really are hoping to support what is standard functional technology settings and problem solving across all technology solutions. You're hearing more and more, and you will into the future, around interoperability across different companies to ensure that they can enhance their consumer base because of this agility function, being able to move across devices or have partnerships across companies. 

We have a group of technology solutions specialists out of Pennsylvania that have focused in on this technology agility, being able to function across different devices. They produced, and you can find them on the Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator website and through ODP or the Office of Developmental Programs, these one-pagers that were designed by and for individuals with cognitive disabilities around different types of technologies. 

What are they? The features that they have across different companies that you can identify within a company. Once they have accessibility features, you will often see across those devices. And so your technology agility can be enhanced by learning just the simple software features. 

In other states, our program has focused on what is the technology, resilience, agility, literacy, and questionnaire, Tech-RAL Q for short, to be able to help our field understand where is the emergence and where are the programs lacking in understanding not only basic skills, but long-term maintenance and sustainability through resilience and agility. 

And so why do we introduce this topic to use as support coordinators? Well, it's important for you to understand the breath. To be able to understand when approving services, when approving different funding lines, or looking for new solutions that you understand the acquisition and long-term maintenance of these products, thinking about their applications. And now, it is also because we understand that technology is so ubiquitous in our environment that without technology-- and I love this quote, "without technology that promotes access, connectivity, and community participation, people with intellectual disabilities may not access the services in the community like people without disabilities. This could lead to loneliness." 

So lack of technology, whereas you see this on both sides of the coin, "This could lead to loneliness and dependence on care provided in devolved institutions." Essentially, what we are creating without providing people with access to technology solutions or opportunities to engage are digital institutions, creating digital walls of communication and lack of access, devolved environments where they are not part of our community or engaged with what our community living practices, that all of us take for granted every day. 

So with that, I want to say thank you for joining us for this session four of the training sessions. To go back, we do have three other previous training sessions that this is built upon, the first being the self-directed model for identifying technology solutions for goal attainment. This is the first step when identifying technology for individuals. 

We talk about, because it is such an integral piece, the technology solution specialists in the Pennsylvania area, as well as those across the nation that are leading technology innovation and peer mentorship. We talk about why accessibility matters, why it is important to look at those features and functions within devices because of what it does, both culturally, socially, and for individuals. After this session, you will hear about technology-related services, waiver policies, and resources for technology acquisition across the Commonwealth. 

And finally, you'll hear about new and emerging technology solutions for community living. What are the technologies we are seeing now that can be adopted and invested in for the future? So what are the beginnings? What are the new areas? What are the disruptive technologies of tomorrow? 

So, again, we want to thank you for your time. Please do contact us. This is my email, Tanis@ku.edu. Kayey Day, part of our team who has been on these sessions. You can contact her as well. She is our coordinator for States and Technology First. And you can always visit our website, TheStateoftheStates.ku.edu to learn more about what other states are doing in technology, practices, policies, as well as funding. So thank you, again, and we look forward to seeing you at our next training session in the Technology Accelerator Training Series. 

• Text response: I participated in this training because…
• 5-point Likert Scale (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree)
  • I understand Pennsylvania HCBS waiver specifications related to technology.
  • I know where to go to identify funding for technology for the people I support.
  • I am familiar with two or more technology-related organizations to support the identification of solutions for the people I support.

• 5-point Likert Scale (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree)
  • I am satisfied with the training or assistance I received.
  • My attitude about this topic improved.
  • I can apply this knowledge to my practice.
  • I understand Pennsylvania HCBS waiver specifications related to technology.
  • I know where to go to identify funding for technology for the people I support.
  • I am familiar with two or more technology-related organizations to support the identification of solutions for the people I support.

SHEA TANIS: Hello, and welcome back to the Sports Coordinator Training Series. This is Training Number 5, Technology-Related Services, Waiver Policies, and Resources for Technology Acquisition. Again, my name is Shea Tanis. I am your trainer for today. I'm an associate research professor at the Kansas Center on Disability at the Life Span Institute at the University of Kansas. I also lead what is the State of the States in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, that for 40-plus years has been tracking the expenditures of IDD services and supports across the nation and leading technology-first efforts. 

This project and these trainings are an effort by the Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator program. That was an ARPA-funded program initiated through the Office of Developmental Programs and Office of Long-Term Living out of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, and includes a partnership between the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Temple University Institute on Disabilities, and the Kansas Center on Disabilities State of the States in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities project. And we're excited to be here today with you. This is part of a concerted effort to really look at and expand awareness of and access to assistive technology and remote technologies, to build capacity of users, and measure effectiveness around use, access, and service across the Commonwealth. 

It is also part of what is our larger national initiative towards Technology First systems change. Technology First systems change really began as a movement back in 2017 in Ohio, but it's transformed into a national framework for systems change, where technology is considered first, and the discussion of support options available to individuals and families through person-centered approaches to promote meaningful participation, social inclusion, self-determination, and quality of life. 

Throughout this training and all of our other trainings, we talk about technology very broadly. Instead of using specific technology terms like the remote support technologies, assistive technologies, we use the term Technology Solutions. And Technology Solutions, defined by our team, is really an innovation applied in the environment to address a mismatch in the cultural, social, or contextual demands. 

There are several reasons why we choose this term. It is really an umbrella term that captures mainstream assistive and enabling technologies, some of the more frequently used terms you will hear. It also allows for the inclusion of what are multifunctional and diverse technologies, technologies that don't serve a single function, but, like smartphones, can do many other different things. The term also implies a person-directed and goal-oriented approach to the identification, acquisition, and ongoing training of technologies. We like it because it supports the development of solutions to eliminate the mismatch between the person and environment. 

It is also in alignment with developers and engineers that are looking to technology solutions. That's the term that they use as they are developing new tools and new strategies. Finally, the term allows us to look to future technologies by eliminating that clear definition of a specific technology. It allows us to apply this term to what is not already developed and those that support through policy and practice, making our terms more agile, to be able to apply to multiple solutions. 

So you will be hearing us use this term, Technology Solution. But as we've done our investigations, there are so many terms out there, and what we know about technology terms is they evolve and they adapt based on the technology innovation, so they can change as the technology advances. And so you'll see different terms emerge and develop as a result of new features and new innovations. 

When we look across the spectrum of HCBS, or home- and community-based services, definitions that vary across states and across waivers, there are a multitude of different technology definitions and different types of Technology Solutions. And I'm going to give you some idea of those solutions now, or some of the categories that they use. Historically, we've heard of adaptive aids and equipment that help people in activities of daily living. Assistive technology, which is really defined as any item, piece of equipment, software, program, or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capacities or capabilities of persons with disabilities. A newer technology solution that we're hearing more and more about is companion care, more or less virtual companion care, that it provides social and emotional supports to an individual through different technology platforms. 

Another historical term that has been built into waivers is durable medical equipment for health care providers. And we have seen various definitions and evolutions of what used to be remote monitoring, now more termed electronic or remote monitoring or supports, using electronic equipment to support a person from a distance. Enabling technology is a newer term that has been adopted. That term falls under our Technology Solution umbrella. 

It can be methodologies that, in combination with associated technologies, allow support for independence in homes and community. Environmental accessibility aids, these are more like ramps for health and wellness and safety of an individual. Personal emergency response systems safely monitors an individual. Smart home technology, equipment that controls, automates, and optimize functions in a person's home. 

We've defined and we've done research in the space of telehealth, telemedicine, or telecare using virtual assessments for diagnostic consultation, supervision in health care provision, video conferencing services, what you're probably using today. And then finally, wearable technologies that remain on the body for someone to use for health and well-being, most often. So lots of definitions around technology that are continuing to evolve and emerge. 

But in your state, in the Commonwealth, the two terms that are used specifically are assistive technology and remote supports. Supportive technology, and these are under the umbrella of supportive technology, is defined "As any piece of equipment, device, or product that is used to acquire, improve, or maintain functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. And so the ODP, or the Office of Developmental Programs, waivers funds these two types of supportive technologies, assistive technologies that can be used by individuals with disabilities in order to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or impossible, and remote supports. Remote supports allow an off-site direct service provider to monitor and respond to a person's health, safety, and other needs using live communication while offering persons more independence in their home. 

The remote supports in Pennsylvania are approved within all four of the Office of Developmental Programs waivers, Consolidated P/FDS, community living, and adult autism. It was previously a subcomponent of what was assistive technology, but now, it has become a stand-alone service. So it really looks at using a remote provider of supports, rather than that in-home, in-person supports. 

So that's been an evolution. Another evolution in the applications of technology across the Commonwealth, and this is new as of January 2026, is the idea of performance-based contracting. In this picture, or in this slide, you'll see an image of the person-centered practices developed by the Pennsylvania Health and Human Services, and they define what performance-based contracting is surrounding person-centered practices, specifically sustainability, workforce, clinical capacity, and responsiveness. 

Within the performance-based contracting from the state, they have embedded technology to really emphasize the importance of technology throughout the Commonwealth, and they do this through something called Pay-for-Performance, or P4P, where providers have an added incentive payment that comes to providers that deliver high-quality and cost-efficient care. They have measures that they use for that to provide that Pay-for-Performance, and they are available for the use of remote supports and support technology, in addition to other areas. So really, what the State has attempted to do through these Pay-for-Performance, and including technology, is reinforce the utilization of technologies for providers that have not been able to do so in the past. So there's this additional incentive, financial incentive for providers to be able to embed and test out new technologies. 

So these are some of the waiver and services within the Commonwealth that adapt to Technology Solutions or supportive technologies, but what we wanted to do is we wanted to give you a whole bunch of resources, both in the state as well as outside the state, for technology acquisition and use. And you've heard, in our other trainings, our use of accessibility and the five A's that come from Penchansky and Thomas. And we're going to frame the resources for you in these three areas, so really try to come to practical applications of accessibility in your identification of technologies. And so we'll go from affordability, availability, accessibility, accommodation, and acceptability, which are the five A's of access outlined. 

One of the key components and the key resources, and we've been fortunate enough within this program, within the Technology Accelerator, to work with the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University, is the Assistive Technology Act program, or TechOWL. So this is within the 21st Century Assistive Technology Act, and it really focuses on assistive technology. So the Assistive Technology Act established in the 1980s really looked at ensuring that every state had an Assistive Technology Act for being able to acquire technology solutions for people with disabilities. 

The Technology Act within itself has, really, some core activities. And on the screen, you'll see what is the Assistive Technology Act program outline, or service flow of assistive technologies, so understanding how to acquire assistive technology devices for family members, clients to enhance life, work, and play. So really, they do a couple things around their four or five core areas. 

First is information assistance. They provide information about AT devices and usage, then they do demonstrations, or device demonstrations. This is the educational piece, where they'll demonstrate different devices according to particular needs. This happens across the regional centers within the Commonwealth. There's also a device loan program that allows individuals to look at the catalog of devices, rent them out to test them at home, school, work, or in leisure. So the device loan program is a very robust program, with different types of technologies to test out, which is considered a best practice in AT acquisition. 

Then you have the acquisition. They will support with identifying those technologies and how to purchase them. They also have something called a reutilization program, where you can purchase already-used programs at little or no cost. And finally, they have state financing options. They can help guide you around, what are the different types of state finances for different types of technologies across the Commonwealth. This is specific to your state. As I said, all states have an Assistive Technology Act program that helps with these core activities. 

So one of the biggest challenges we know about, and we just brought it up, it's why one of the core activities of the AT Act, is affordability, or one of the first-- the big A in Access. Our team at the State of the States, in partnership with the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disability Services, have been investigating the state financing or funding authorities that have been used for technology solutions across the states. We did this longitudinal, or begun this longitudinal analysis of different funding authorities on technology in the year 2019. 

We repeated the survey back in 2023, looking at, what are the state and federal funding authorities for technologies across the states. On this screen is a bar chart that lists about 12 different funding authorities that have been identified by state agencies that are utilized for technology purchase for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, specifically. What we have found is really, there are 12 different ones that include things like the Medicaid HCBS waivers, state plan funding, Community First Choice, home health benefits, the Federal Communications Commission Funding, Assistive Technology Act program, vocational rehabilitation, state general funds, Money Follows the Person, and Balance Incentive Program. And finally, the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA. 

The bar graph shows a comparison of those funding authorities that have been utilized between 2019 and 2023, and what we've seen is not only an increase in the diversity of the technology solutions used, but also an increase in the number of states that have used those, with the three dominant funding sources being the Medicaid Home and Community-Based Waiver system, vocational rehabilitation, and state general funds. Those are used across a number of different states, but the HCBS Waiver, for example, increased from 30 states in 2019 to 39 states in 2023. Vocational rehabilitation had 16 states using it in 2019 and 28 in the year 2023. And the increase, again, was substantial in those using state general fund in the year 2019, with 12 states and more than doubling in the year 2023 to 27 states. 

In addition to capturing the diversity of funding authorities, we also capture what types of technologies are utilized by, or funded through, these sources across the nation. So again, in partnership with the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disability Services, we had seen growth in the number of states funding the diversity of different types of technology solutions between 2019 and 2023, with the greatest growth in funding for what was remote support technologies. Again, in that category, more than doubling from 16 states in 2019 to 33 states in 2023. 

We saw significant increases in the number of states funding adaptive aids equipment or environmental accessibility aids, assistive technologies, durable medical equipment, electronic or remote supports, as I mentioned, personal emergency response systems, wearables, computer tablets, assistive technology evaluations, smartphones, video conferencing services, technology-based companion care, and also initiation fees for broadband or internet access that occurred. So lots of different funding authorities that are identified by state agencies also funding a number of different services, so these are important trends to notice across the nation. 

Understanding affordability has also been a primary concern and focus for Pennsylvania, and these have changed, based on advocacy of providers within the state and consumers within the state. So effective as of January 1, 2026, there were changes to the asset limits or the limits for people enrolled in Consolidated, Community Living, Person/Family Directed Support waivers on Assistive Technology, ensuring within the consolidated waiver that $10,000 lifetime limit on Assistive Technology is replaced with a $3,000 annual limit, which is a significant change. Also, knowing that you can request additional funding through a variance process through that limit, that asset limit, or the limit needed on the cap for purchasing tech is huge. 

And then, in the Community Living and Person/Family Directed Services waiver or Supports waiver, there is no longer a general limit on Assistive Technology, although Generators still have a $5,000 lifetime limit. Assistive Technology is included in the overall annual waiver service limit of $47,000 for the Person/Family Directed Supports waiver and $97,000 for the Community Living waiver. ODP has a webinar on these amendments that you can link to within the slides and resources. 

Additionally, we've been able to, through some of our work, identify what are the resources of funding that providers outside of the service delivery system have identified. If they haven't been identifying those funds with state agency funds, how are they identifying funds? Well, based on our work with ANCOR, the American Network of Community Options and Resources, again, we do a national survey out of the State of the States at the University of Kansas on this, and the top areas of resources for funding by providers of IDD services and supports, number one is fundraising. They use fundraising as an option outside of traditional state-oriented services. 

Many of the providers have foundations that they've used. They've used external foundations for grants and supports, public/private partnerships with industry and technology developers, and then finally, personal funds. Individuals use their own funds. If not able to purchase them through their waiver services or by the provider, many people are using their own personal funds, because technology has been a priority in the solutions that they want to use in their everyday living. 

Some real specific tools that you can use in identifying funding resources, first is the Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation released your Assistive Technology Guide, a guide to funding resources in Pennsylvania for Assistive Technology. Additionally, the Disability Rights of PA has an Assistive Technology Guide on how to fund the device you need. And then finally, the PA Tech Accelerator has a webinar, this goes through our colleagues at TechOWL, describing the funding. Again, as I mentioned, it is one of the Assistive Technology Act programs' core responsibilities across the states to identify what those technology funding resources are within a state, so you can go to that funding webinar as well. 

So we talked a little bit about affordability. Then we look at availability. How do you identify availability of those type of technologies? Well, we recommend going directly to the source, and that means looking at the Assistive Technology Industry Association, if you're looking specifically to Assistive Technology. They have a wonderful membership directory that will allow you to identify technologies by category, and they will then point you to those categories of technologies and the vendors where you can identify, really directly, where you can get that technology. 

You can find the funding for it, alternatively, through the sources, but knowing whether it's available, we suggest going right to the source. Another great resource that we like to share for technologies is BridgingApps. BridgingApps is out of Texas, out of Easter Seals, and it's a group of family members who have been cataloging, what are apps that people with disabilities have identified, and they actually have a system that rates those apps. They have experts. They have panels of experts that come in and rate their apps so you can find, again, based on functional needs, you can sort through different categories of apps. But we suggest, again, going directly to the source, and they allow you-- they have a link directly to every single app source. 

Another way of identifying availability is going through the TechOWL programs, or your regional Assistive Technology Act program sites. You can get devices through any of their programs. They have a series of different programs, such as the Free Phone Program, the iConnect for DeafBlind, the Reused Equipment Program, Connect With Tech, which is tablets, and CreATe together, which is 3D printing, and then again, the Guide that they have on funding, but you can find availability through working with the Assistive Technology or TechOWL programs. 

They also have what is called the DOGS tools, Devices Offering Great Solutions, where they have over 60 categories of devices, like adaptive gaming, pet care, switches for access, and more. It allows you to go through that, and what's beautiful about the library of resources is they will list those different resources and companies within-- once you've gone through the process of identifying where you want to see those technologies, they will give you recommendations for further research, including, how do you find out more about funding, where can you find it, and related links to do so. So this is a wonderful resource that is available to you through TechOWL. 

How about accessibility, which is really looking at the design or providing an environment that is without barriers or discrimination? One of the things we worked on through the Tech Accelerator program was the Provider Readiness Assessment. This assessment is for providers of IDD services and supports and aging, so it's built for aging and disability. But really, it is a self-administered evaluation of building a culture of innovation. 

So are you building an environment in which technology is adaptable, adopted, and supported at the organizational level? Call that a culture of innovation, using best practices and research, also devised by providers themselves to be used as a strategic guide in planning their organizational transitions to support the adoption, utilization, and maintenance of technology solutions. Let's move into accommodations, or making adjustments for equal participation. 

We talked in our last training a lot around accessibility features, and this is something that, as resources, you want to be able to look to, understanding what the cognitive accessibility features are. Some examples are voice activation, haptic activation, screen magnifiers, speech-to-text or text-to-speech, simplified layout, plain language content, et cetera. In a number of states, Oklahoma and Ohio come directly to mind, they have online what are feature matching tools. 

Or, really, they are checklists to go through to help identify what are different features of accessibility, or features that may be needed for a product. We also highlighted in our previous training on accessibility the VPAT, or the Voluntary Product Assessment Template, for all information and communication technologies as a way to evaluate whether there are the built-in accessibility features for digital platforms. So these are things that allow you-- these are resources for you to investigate the accommodations or accessibility features built in. 

We've also seen significant payments of training for understanding technologies. This, again, is another aspect of it, paid through the American Rescue Plan Act. But this training that you are attending right now is identified as a key need in training support coordinators around what is technology solutions. In fact, in our NASD survey, national survey, and what you see on the page, is a bar chart that compares yes or no as to whether states are providing ongoing training for technology solutions in the years 2019 and 2023. 

In 2019, eight states said that they were paying for ongoing training for technology solutions while-- or, I'm sorry, in 2019, while in 2023, 27 states were paying for ongoing training for technology solutions. Some of the trainings align with ADA compliance, and not only do we see training on specific technology legal aspects, but also training on technologies across different stakeholders in an individual's life. So training of not only support coordinators that we're doing today, direct support professionals, caregivers, friends, and family, because we know that those surrounding the individual are going to be the ones supporting in not only technology identification, acquisition, but also ongoing supports. 

So that's the accommodation. And then finally, we look at acceptability. We talked in the accessibility training around adoptions and the adoption rates and abandonment of technologies. One of the really key aspects to understand in technology acquisition and adoption and motivation is that people sit differently in their comfort levels with technology. 

And Rogers created what was called this diffusion of-- in his book, Diffusion of Innovation, the innovation bell curve, which talks about individuals in their perceptions of technology and whether they're going to be adopting those technologies. And he uses this bell curve, and that's what is the image on the screen is a picture of a bell curve that describes what are five different categories of people in their process of innovation adoption. and it talks about, on the left side, on the tail end of the bell curve are innovators. These are folks who really want to try tech new stuff, and they're about 2.5% of the population. 

Then, at 13.5% of the population, you've got early adopters. These are visionaries who want to get a head start, really like to think about new technologies and test them out. They are certainly higher on the curve. But then you come to the middle of the bell curve, which is the two groups of the majority of people. 

34% of people are early majority, or they're pragmatists that stick with the herd, which means that these are the folks, the majority, second majority of folks, that need to have evidence before they adopt a technology. It's why having peers around to share information about technology is incredibly valuable, having statistics, having stories. These are pragmatists who need to see the evidence before adopting new technologies. 

Then, that second group under the bell curve, that is also at 34%, is what they call the late majority. These are people who wait for a while to see how adoption of technology occurs, and they tend to adopt a little later, because they are not into trying brand-new things without having ample evidence, or having the technologies go through iterations of improvement, second generations. That's about 34%. 

And then finally, 16% of folks that they identify as laggards, folks who think, no way, I'm not using the tech. They're skeptics in doing this, and you have to understand that there are going to be those folks. There are going to be people that, despite your eagerness and supportive technologies, despite the stories and peers that showcase the technology, they are not interested in Technology Solutions, and so introducing them is going to be significantly harder. And so thinking about individuals, and potentially thinking about their family members, on this innovation curve is going to be critical in not only acquisition, but also long-term maintenance. 

And then finally, acceptability. We talked about that early majority or the pragmatists that stick with the herd. One of the best ways is to identify Technology Solutions by peers. In the Commonwealth, you are fortunate enough to have a group of people with lived experience who are the Technology Solutions Specialists. These are people who have been trained by our program on Technology Solutions. They have identified the technologies that they are most interested in, and not only identify those technologies, but described them through one-page tutorials around those technologies. 

So things like two different guides on Android and Apple technologies and the accessibility features built in. They have one on artificial intelligence, augmentative and alternative communication systems, et cetera. But some of the best ways to identify emerging and new technologies are what we call the auxiliary markets, or the people that live around and interact with people with lived experiences. And in fact, they can be your best resources. If you want to identify a new technology solution, a way to narrow it down is to see what folks in their environment are already using. 

The key to this is that you know that you already have inbuilt supports to be able to aid that individual if they are going to try a new technology, or they have problems with that technology. That auxiliary market or surrounding colleagues, friends, and family are going to be the first resource that they go to for help, and so by identifying the technologies that are already in use, that will help you to ensure some long-term sustainability of technology solutions. They're also going to be the solutions that they see more frequently, but we always encourage and recommend that you talk to friends, family, and peer specialists, like the Technology Solutions Specialists, around what are the emerging technologies of interest. What will be the future technologies of interest for acquisition and, really, acceptability? 

So we have gone through quite a bit here of the Technology Solutions and what are some identified resources. Throughout this training, you will have received a number of different resources, both in and outside the state. We want to also recommend that, because there is an Assistive Technology Act program in every state, they also have different types of resources. The Wyoming Assistive Technology Center has a online decision matrix or an AI-generated tool for identifying Technology Solutions. 

There are some that have different guides around types of Technology Solutions. Those are national resources that you can utilize, and also see, through their data centers, which ones are most prominent, which technologies are being used most frequently. The Arc of the US also has a technology resource technology tool, the Tech Toolbox, that can be investigated for different types of technologies and rating of those technologies. But again, we want to provide you with a lot of resources, but your best resources are going to be the local ones, the ones right at home in your backyard, both financial, training supports, which can come from both peers, families, and the Assistive Technology Act programs and schools, as well as long-term maintenance. 

So with that, we will close out this training on what are the different resources. And this is Number 5 in your training series. Again, if you want to go back, you can learn about the other topics. Our topic Number 1 was The Self-Directed Model for Identifying Technology Solutions for Individual Goal Attainment, the process by which you go through to identify Technology Solutions. Number 2 is Technology Solution Specialists. 

We just talked about them. To learn more about them, you can go to the Number 2 training for Leadership and Peer Mentorship. Number 3 training in the series was around Accessibility and Why It Matters, and how you can become the next accessibility evangelist within your organization, understanding the concepts and generation behind accessibility. 

We touched on the last session on Technology Agility, Resilience, and Literacy Training for Users and Professionals, and the final training session that you will join is Innovation and Emerging Technology Solutions for Community Living. These are the Technology Solutions of the future, the ones that are considered disruptive technologies in the year 2026. 

So again, we want to thank you for joining us today. You can contact us. My email is Tanis, T-A-N-I-S, at ku.edu. Our project coordinator, Kaley Day is K-A-L-E-Y D-A-Y at ku.edu. And you can also visit our website, the stateofthestates.ku.edu to stay in touch. 

Please feel free to reach out to our partners, who also have resources available to you, ODP on their Supportive Technology site, and of course, TechOWL at Temple University. Thank you again, and we look forward to seeing you at our last training session. 

• Text response: I participated in this training because…
• 5-point Likert Scale (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree)
  • I can identify a technology solution available across each domain of community living.
  • I am aware of other state trends in technology initiatives.
  • I understand the implications of “shiny object syndrome” in the acquisition and application of technology solutions.

• 5-point Likert Scale (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree)
  • I am satisfied with the training or assistance I received.
  • My attitude about this topic improved.
  • I can apply this knowledge to my practice.
  • I can identify a technology solution available across each domain of community living.
  • I am aware of other state trends in technology initiatives.
  • I understand the implications of “shiny object syndrome” in the acquisition and application of technology solutions.

SHEA TANIS: Hello and welcome to our last training session of the Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator Supports Coordinator Training Series. We are excited. This is series session number 6. And we're excited to bring you what are innovative and emerging technology solutions for community living, those things that you can consider as you look to innovations to allow individuals and enhance individuals' opportunities to engage in a technology-driven world. 

My name, again, is Shea Tanis. I am your trainer. I am an associate research professor at the University of Kansas. I come out of the Lifespan institute, where we also are housed within the University Center on Excellence in Developmental Disabilities in Kansas, what is KUCD or the Kansas Center on Disabilities. I also run a project of national significance, funded by the Administration for Community Living, focused on expenditures for IDD services and supports, which also includes the expenditures across the nation on technology solutions. 

We could not be here with you today for our final training if it were not for the Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator led by the Office of Developmental programs, the Office of Long-Term Living. Coming through with our partners at Temple University, this has been a collaborative effort with the goal of ensuring that we expand awareness of and access to assistive technology and remote technologies to build capacity for users and measure effectiveness around use, access, and service across the Commonwealth. And we're excited to be here with you today. 

One of the large initiatives under the Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator is to advance technology for systems change. Technology First systems change began as a movement, but is now transformed into a framework for systems change, where technology is considered first in the discussion of support options available to individuals and families through person-centered directed approaches to promote meaningful participation, social inclusion, self-determination, and quality of life. 

At this succession, you should be able to recite that definition of technology-first. If someone comes to you and asks you what is technology-first? You know that it is not a single program, that it is not a single provider, organizational structure, that it is not a single practice. It is an entire systems change to ensure that people with disabilities, and in fact, all individuals have an opportunity to engage and participate with technology. 

So today is the last wrap-up. And what we like to do with the wrap-up is introduce you to technology solutions. Introduce you to the innovative and emerging and disruptive technologies. Because we really believe that without the participation of people with disabilities, their caregivers, and their support networks, until we can embed ourselves into the emergence and development of technologies, we will not be at the table to influence what is needed in those technologies for both accessibility but also for practice. 

And so we invite you really now to think about what is the future? What are the technologies that can begin to be invested in? What are the areas of support? And how can you help to influence engineers, computer sciences, and those innovators into the future? 

So we're going to talk again about technology solutions. Again, we do want to reiterate that we use this term technology solutions. And this is really critical for those who are engineers and developers. It's because that is how they approach technologies. They use the technologies to begin with a problem statement, develop something that will solve that problem. And that is where we are seeking to address the technology solutions embedded into the lives of people with disabilities and aging. 

But we know that you cannot do technology solutions without understanding the network. So technology as building and created and a breakneck speed, new technologies are introduced daily. And so part of the challenge is that, as Mark Kelly would say, we are always newbies in technology. We will never be experts because of the rapid pace of development and introduction and innovation. We'll constantly be working to catch up. 

And so one of the criticisms, or one of the barriers we hear, about embedding technology solutions for people with disabilities is that they don't know what's available. People don't know what is something to investigate. There's too much out there. 

And so part of the things we have encouraged over time is to build a network, build a network of users, of individuals who you can connect within your discipline to investigate technologies. In one of our programs within the state of Kansas, we encouraged a community practice of targeted case managers because that population addresses very different issues than users do in ensuring they have access. 

We encourage you, as support coordinators, to do the same thing. Create a community of practice where you can problem solve and investigate and share information across a number of people. So not one person responsible for identifying all the solutions because you simply can't keep up. It really takes an entire network to be able to help to understand what is out there and what's available. 

We wanted to share with you some of our favorite resources for identifying technology solutions. And these are some of the resources we go to first once we have been through the self-directed model of goal attainment to identify technologies. 

Because we are from the state of Kansas, we begin, in our state, with our Assistive Technology Act Program. The Assistive Technology Act programs, there's one in every state. And what they do is they support the identification of technologies. They have lending libraries. They often have catalogs to review. They have minimal-- they are charged with identifying funding strategies within the state and providing training. So they are a valuable resource for you to go to in your state. 

In the Commonwealth, TechOWL is your Assistive Technology Act program funded through the federal government through the AT Act itself. So we encourage you to use them as your primary resource as you start to investigate new technologies. We want you to also understand that there are-- because there are different state resources for the Assistive Technology Act programs, they do have and will have opportunities to investigate different resources. 

So some have automated systems and catalogs. The Wyoming Tech2Connect is one of those resources where it's a automated decision tree process to identify technologies in different domains. TechOWL has the cats and dogs, which is their catalog for identify technologies across the Commonwealth. These are some of our resources. And we encourage you to use those as well. 

Another primary solution or primary group to investigate for your technologies, as you're looking at specific technologies for users with disabilities and aging, is the Assistive Technology Industry Association, ATIA. They hold a conference every year. But within the ATIA is a membership directory. And within that membership directory, they catalog their members or, in other words, vendors or producers of technology by discipline or by the domain. 

So different types of vendors are cataloged in their membership website that you can look in there and define what type of technology solution you're looking for-- maybe vision, hearing-- and narrow it down just by the vendors that showcase at the Assistive Technology Industry Association conferences. 

Another favorite of ours is CTIA, the Wireless Association's system called GARI, the Global Accessibility Reporting Initiative. In my opinion, this is one of the best and only ways in which we can keep track of technology solutions. And that is by having the developers input information about newly released products into a database. 

For the wireless association and wireless providers of phones and technologies, GARI is the system that when they go to market, they produce or put in a item into the GARI system. So you know that it is being maintained appropriately because it's maintained by what are the developers and the vendors. 

Within the GARI system, you can sort out technologies based on accessibility. They have catalogs of vision accessibility, hearing accessibility, cognitive accessibility for all of the products within their catalog. So we like that because it is up to date. And it stays up to date because the ones keeping the information accurate are the companies themselves. 

Another great resource is the Tech Toolbox generated by the Arc of the United States. The Tech Toolbox is an opportunity for users to go in and see ratings of different technologies for people with intellectual disabilities. If you're curious to know how a technology really is working for individuals with disabilities, get some feedback on that system. 

Another system I very much like that has a rating scale, in fact, one of my favorites because they are rated by external experts in the field, is BridgingApps. BridgingApps comes out of Easterseals in Texas. They were designed by family members of people with lived experience to review and catalog apps, apps for every area of domain. But they do have a very simple language, summary of the apps that are available, as well as a rating scale of those apps and how to obtain them. 

I already mentioned Wyoming's Tech2Connect. And the other network that should always be accessed, which we mentioned in one of our earlier trainings is the family, looking at families, friends, even professionals who are working with individuals. Because if they're using the technology, they're able to support the individual with using a technology. 

Direct support professionals are often not considered as resources in their technology use. But they are generally emerging leaders. They are youth leaders who are using a lot of technology and will be able to support individuals in their acquisition and maintenance. So some of your best resources, rather than looking online, are the community surrounding the individual because they will see those technologies. They will have immediate resources and supports when using them and maintaining them. 

Many of our programs, including in the States, including in the Commonwealth, you will see the integration of technology solutions across the life course. So this is charting the life course. And across each of the domains of living, you will see an opportunity to embed technology solutions because they are integral across each of the domains. They aren't specific to a single domain. They fall into each of those domains. 

And today, we're going to talk through some of the innovations based on these areas of emphasis that we have seen at the most recent consumer electronic showcase and other environments that are innovative in practice. 

We do want to note specifically that because we showcase technologies here, we are not endorsing those technologies. We showcase them as an option for your exploration. There is no endorsement from both the University of Kansas, State of the States project, or partners within the Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator. So 

While we introduce these to you, we introduce them to you for exploration and are going to introduce you to a whole bunch of new technologies. This is really the show-and-tell portion of our training series. But we want you not to have the challenge of shiny object syndrome. We want you to investigate and consider what is possible by exploring these new technologies. 

So I'm going to share just a couple of them that we had seen and have investigated. One of my new personal favorites is a portable Braille device. This is a Braille device that sits on top of a smartphone that uses Bluetooth technology to translate into Braille text messages and allows the user to communicate with the Braille setting as well. It's a great innovation that is highly needed for this community. 

In alignment with that is another keyboard that has multiple line of Braille. This allows for the individual to feel different areas rather than a single line to be able to communicate a message because how quickly Braille readers can translate the information. 

We're starting to see more and more customer service provision using sign language, American Sign Language, and being able to use it on a phone to be able to provide that customer service, as well as AI agents that can also use sign language within interpreting supports and customer service. 

We're seeing more and more different types of switches. The switches are getting smaller. We began a lot switch use with something we used to call the Big Mac. It was a big, large switch that you could tap, much like the do-it buttons. Switches are coming more adaptable and easier to use and simplistic in design. Now, we see the use of rings and jewelry being used as switches. So there was a ring that could be used simply as a mouse. So a different way to use a computer mouse rather than a traditional handheld system. 

And you'll hear more about these later. But self-driving cars are on their way. The idea of combining what is self-driving cars with on-demand rideshare is certainly on its way. So what we hear are self-driving taxis, which we know from work with our self-advocates are hugely beneficial. And they are looking forward to the opportunities to using those forms of transportation for autonomy. 

Thinking about community living, what are some of new adaptive things that we're seeing? Well, robotic navigation, robots has continued to be a high area of innovation-- different types of robots doing different things, home controls, meal preparation robots, lifting robots, many animal robots, many different robotics, social robotics. 

On the screen, you'll see a robotic navigation system that can identify different obstacles in the way of the individual and alert the individual. Or seeing adaptive shoes, shoes that are built for individuals with mobility challenges that can stop or prevent falls because they have been designed to go over or slide over what are traction issues in their environments. So looking at these adaptive shoes, we know that Alexa or [? Van ?] from cerebral palsy grows up, uses these shoes, and showcases them. 

We are seeing more and more systems that are using airport accessibility wheelchairs or mobility devices to move people around those environments autonomously and let them move through those environments. Robotic wheelchairs that have, not just mobility controls, but communication controls, reach controls. So almost these all-in-one robotic seating and positioning systems. 

We've seen one of my favorite areas of innovation is around haptics, or the sense of vibration and touch, in considering it as a modality for communication and utilization. Haptic feedback for navigating, these are clothing that someone can simply wear that will allow them to navigate if connected to another device, will alert them using GPS which direction to go based on a vibration on one side of their body or another. 

And very basic, but very necessary for folks are things like household automated blinds, things within the house that can be easier to use for individuals in everyday living. So here are some-- again, we bring these to your attention so you can think about what the future may look like if people have access to these technologies. 

Lots of technology around healthy living, the biotechnology, digital twins, and new sensors for health management, health surveillance. The wearables have really been an opportunity for individuals to track and manage their own health starting during COVID and has really catapulted in their utilization and interpretation of data for people to direct their health. We've seen insurance companies dedicating time and effort to pay for wearables for health monitoring by doctors. 

And one of these items that we've seen are for individuals who have challenges sleeping, even at-home sleep study types of technologies, wearables that will tell you how long you sleep, the intensity of that sleep, how deep your REM sleep is, but gives you an idea of how you can modify your sleeping habits for better health. There's also sleep tracking beds that have sensors built into them to help with your positioning and even temperature control. 

The medication devices for populations of those with disabilities and aging. The dispensers have been very popular. Certainly during the event of COVID, we saw those fly off the shelf. But now, there are smart pill boxes that are easy to use, transferable, transportable, that integrate with your already existing wearables to alert you to whether or not you have taken your medication and can track that, dosages. 

And I'll talk about this a little later. Across domains, we are seeing more and more utilization of glasses, different types of glasses to do different things. The picture of the glasses on here, you simply put on the glasses. And they evaluate the prescription, your vision prescription that you need. So rather than going into a doctor to have them do your visual screening and visual field, these are new glasses to put on that will evaluate how your eyes are doing and what your new prescription should be. 

And then finally, health scanners. We're seeing full body scan devices to identify where there may be challenges in your body to really focus on health, breathing, mobility, vision. But these are full-body health scanners to help identify prior to a diagnosis where you may be experiencing problems. 

So lots of healthy living and health technologies, bio trackers, et cetera. What about safety and security? a primary area of need and concern. One of the exciting-- we're using external systems to really help with security. One was smart house numbers. Numbers on your house or your apartment number that would flash different colors based on the need. So this would change for visibility so people could find your homes. There's different colors for light and dark during the day or the night. 

But there are also colors to direct for a problem. So if there was a 911 call from that residence, the numbers would flash different colors to showcase that is the place to be. It also flash different colors if you've called in a rideshare or delivery service. So multifunctional, but alerting what our folks outside your home or apartment or residence, what is going on or where you need to be. 

Lots of fall risk detection. We've had different devices that help with falls to alert to falls. Now, we're identifying technologies that can evaluate your body positioning as to whether you would be at risk to a fall during a certain day or time. So that technology will evaluate your risk of a potential fall, so preventative medicine. 

Fire alarms have been advancing both color and alert systems. Knowing where and what type of fire or smoke is occurring is now being evaluated through these smart alarms. So if there is a fragrance, an odor that needs to be identified, it's not just smoke from a fire, but it's different fragrances and odors that could be causing a problem, identifying mold in homes, gas in homes, rather than just a fire. 

There are also more accessibility device systems, things like new walking canes for those with visual challenges or impairments, those who use what have traditionally been the white canes. They now have that system. But instead of just evaluating what is on the ground, these new canes are identifying what is above the human, above what may be a tree branch or something that is in their-- what is their circle of environment that could be an obstruction or an obstacle. So not only right directly in front of the person, but to the sides and above them as well. 

And finally, we're looking at security for individuals. Many of the remote security systems have been valuable. But being able to activate them can be a challenge if you have physical or mobility challenges. So now, we're moving into facial recognition security systems that will be only activated if using your facial recognition. So exciting new developments in that space. And again, by no means are these exhaustive. These are just some that we have identified as potential options for the community or of interest. So we do encourage you to do your own investigation as well. 

What about social and spiritual? We do not want to forget this really important aspect of people's lives. Technologies provide what is a real conduit and communication tool in providing social and spiritual opportunities. We have one of the new strategies I've mentioned. And this was on the innovations list a couple of years ago, which were integrated technology, clothing, and fabrics. 

Now, we have technology that has clothing that can vibrate to different music and beats, notifying for those who are deaf and hard of hearing where a vibration may be coming to be able to dance to a different music. So the wearable technology with integrated vibration, we certainly see leisure time reading is-- when you look at the list of national hobbies, there's research done on the most frequent leisure activities and hobbies of individuals. Reading becomes one of those primary activities for individuals. They are making more and more, as they say, glasses for reading easier for dyslexia and different options that really adapt to a person's vision for making reading easier. 

There are now self-moving shuttles for malls and different environments that can have multiple people in them for socializing, moving around, or gliding along different environments internally. So not a single individual using their mobility device, but a group mobility device. 

Again, those haptics, being able to communicate a message in different ways, communicating what is going on in the environment, if somebody emails you, these become nonverbal cues for individuals with disabilities and aging about their environments. It's becoming an area. This is simply a haptic cue that is worn on the wrist. 

And then, we did see the emergence of what are robotic pets. Not only robotic pets, but lots of different solutions to help care for animals and pets in people's lives, things like automatic food feeders and kind of ball throwers and kitty litters, lots of devices to help people enjoy having a pet in their life. People will have limited opportunities to have a pet because their fear of being able to care for them. Technology solutions are providing that real gap so that they can enjoy what is the companionship of a pet in their lives and even down to robotics. 

And finally, we look at advocacy and engagement. How more can you be engaged with your environment? We've seen reminder robotics, different tools that can be used in outpatient care to remind individuals of their routine and their practices, and allow them to advocate and communicate with others about their routines so that if something goes awry, they have a way to communicate with someone else or some entity. So it provides that networking system. 

We have seen technologies into brainwave activities, game playing being a new fundamental resource for engagement, using different modalities for being able to engage. So these brainwave interfaces are helping people in gaming and engage in different ways that they weren't able to engage before. 

And other opportunities to change environments so that people have the opportunity to participate because the environment has been constructed with options for them. There is these neuro wellness booths or booths that can take out sensory noise for individuals to have these kind of mobile units to allow individuals to have some de-sensory, destimulating time, if needed, which can then contribute to longer term participation in activities. 

So all of these new and exciting technologies are things that you can think of for the future. I'm sure you're thinking of a couple people, possibly yourself, that could be using these technologies today. And so, we think about what's been used. I want to share with you because we, as the State of the States at the University of Kansas, do track innovations and practices across the nation. 

We want to share some of the state trends that we've seen, particularly trends that have been invested during the pandemic, where people are so reliant upon technologies to fulfill environmental context or activities when there used to be humans that were not available to do so. And what are really the spaces where we've already seen state investments? 

So some of the technology trends that we are already seeing and adoption trends that we're already seeing. In the area of vocational rehabilitation and employment, we're seeing virtual job coach training where there can be earbuds for people to use. So you don't have a individual in that space providing the job coaching, as well as interventions and virtual job mentorship for virtual job developers. We've seen virtual forms for that as well and skill set development. 

We've seen a lot of states invest in smart home models. If you've been party to our practice or party to this training, you will have heard us say that it is a best practice for people to test out technologies before they purchase them. In many states, these smart home models are being used for people to test out new equipment, new devices, new technologies, and even reside in them first 24 hours to get a really good feel of how they would engage with them if they were residing in an environment with smart home tech. 

Seeing a lot-- probably the most influential technology during the pandemic for folks with intellectual and developmental disabilities and extreme growth has been in remote supports and monitoring technology. So service that allows someone to provide support from afar and not be intrusive in someone's environment if not needed. And so this is an area that we have seen tremendous growth in remote supports technologies. 

Telehealth solutions have been a huge area of investment. We're seeing behavioral health evaluations and support strategies, the ability for folks to engage in telehealth and monitor their symptoms by not going into a doctor unless absolutely necessary. We've even seen this cut down doctor visits and ER visits because of the opportunity to have telehealth solutions specific to different populations, such as intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

Another area of huge investment using American Rescue Plan Act and it is here in practice. You are seeing this right now. We are one of these entities that are providing technology trainings for, not only users, families, but direct support professionals and supports coordinators and organizations. There was a huge recognition that we can get the technology in people's hands. But if we don't train them how to use it, they will be abandoned, and so large areas of technology training. So we think Pennsylvania, ODP, and OLTL for this opportunity to invest in what is another state trend. 

Connected communities, this is where people in a close environment can stay connected through digital platforms, being able to alert one another when something is going on in their immediate environment, but also ask for support, thinking about environments where weather can transform what is going on, being able to connect immediately with your community members for support and awareness of what's going on. 

Certainly there is no loss in acknowledgment that AI is changing the things that we do. More and more AI is being introduced into environments, mixed realities, augmented realities, allowing people to learn new skills for employment, as well as to navigate new environments. So we're seeing mixed reality and augmented reality. 

And then finally, these technology summits, you had two technology solutions summits, one in Philadelphia and one in Pittsburgh, that were run through the Technology Accelerator. Many states are following suit to be able to do that just to have a forum where people can come together, to share new ideas, problem solve, and learn about new technologies that are hitting the market. 

So what are the future technologies that we're hearing about? What are the trends for the future for this year? And we do this evaluation each year where we look at future trends in technology solutions. And we communicate those to you so you can begin to look at them and invest in them. How can they transform the supports for people with disabilities that you are serving? 

Artificial intelligence integration is all over, basically taking artificial intelligence and embedding it into every system and practice. Voice assistants and chat bots, such as navigation systems, ChatGPT, others, OpenAI, which is really advanced web browsing, but lots of virtual assistants being able to support individuals. Conversational agents in your home are taking over. 

We're seeing lots of new introduction of personal computing devices outside of the computer and the phone, looking at new platforms and new devices that can provide that high-level computing systems. This year, lots of new glasses were introduced as the platform of that people were looking to that could do a number of things-- closed captioning, navigation, information exchange. Those were highly popular as a new kind of form of delivering information. 

But we're going to start to see investigations in all sorts of new areas. You may see clothing that become personal computing devices coming through. Jewelry we're seeing as an introduction. Lots of advanced information, cataloging and warehousing, and using advanced web browsing methods to narrow down and refine searches of information, customizing your search engine to be able to do that. So that's another area. 

And finally, as you saw earlier, these self-driving taxis or self-driving cars. This is an area that people with disabilities have been seeking because transportation can be such a barrier to accessing both employment, but also leisure experiences. So lots of excitement around these self-driving taxis and cars. 

But while we do this, we do not want you to forget that you have to, while there's bright and shining, we just introduced all these great new innovations and things to consider that to really ensure adoption, you have to go back to the basics. You have to come back on goal setting of an individual to select those technology solutions. 

So you don't run into this idea of shiny object syndrome, where you get into a new idea. And then, it fades. You lose interest. And then, it's a fad. This is what happens with shiny object syndrome. There's a quick adoption and then quick also abandonment of technologies. You want someone to build up their skill sets. Then, identify new ways to expand it. And that's how you have persistence use of what are newer technologies. 

And we bring you back to your final process on that person-directed approach where we saw some of the earlier investments, searching for session 1. You start with the individual, identify strengths, look at the environmental demands. And only after that do you address and eliminate barriers. 

We want to leave you with one final activity. And that is because we want you to be able to use all the tools that you have acquired during this training session or training series in what is really the practices of identifying a technology for an individual with disabilities or aging. 

And again, you internally will go through this process on your own without labeling it. But to in order to help others, we outline this process for you. So we think about what is-- and we want you to apply your knowledge. What is a-- and we want you to do a five-- sorry. To be very specific, we want you to do a 5-minute web search knowing that you're starting with an individual's goal that, first, this individual's goal is to communicate with friends and family using email. 

But that's been some of the barriers that they have is that they have physical skills that may keep it challenging to use a computer mouse for navigation. But they are really good at typing words, know what an email icon is. So they can simply navigate and execute what is the delivery of communication. It's just the mechanism for doing so. So we want you-- so because this is our goal to email. So they're using a digital environment. 

We want you to think about some of the resources we shared with you, your assistive Technology Act program, TechOWL, some of the ATIA to look at their membership directory. We want you to take 5 minutes to investigate on your own where you can find a solution for someone who is trying to access email, can write and navigate, but has physical and coordination skills that make it difficult for them to use a mouse for navigation. Please take the next 5 minutes to do a web search for this type of a technology solution. 

Welcome back. Have you done your search on technology solutions for this individual? Well, being able to narrow down the field is going to help you out tremendously. What are some of the areas that we found? 

Well, in a 5-minute keyword search around adaptive mouse for different types of solutions for an individual to navigate what is a computer to email, we found AbilityNet that allowed us to look at different keyboard and mouse alternatives and adaptations. Even under ATK, our Assistive Technology Act of Kansas, there were 228 items under computer-related categories for in their device loan catalog for computers and related equipment. 

Other alternatives to a computer mouse because that seemed to be the challenge for this individual-- touch screens, simple navigation software, voice activation navigation, keyboard shortcuts, eye gaze tracking systems, and even head tracking systems. 

Lots of technology solutions, however, now you have narrowed down your scope so that you don't have to think of all the things that are available. But you are honed in on the solutions that's going to help that individual, specifically. 

Other areas or other people to help you with those searches, don't forget about the technology solution specialists. These are individuals with lived experience that have been trained on technologies, are peer mentors. And they are going to be the ones to really introduce and identify those innovative technology solutions for the future, the ones that individuals in their peer networks will be using, and even being able to provide training on how to use them. So don't forget to look for those technology solutions specialists in your state. 

Well, as we wrap up this session, we want to thank you for joining us for this entire series on technology solutions through the Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator. This product or these training modules were designed specifically for your community. Because what we recognize is often left out of the conversation are support coordinators, whose job it is to identify and fund a lot of these technologies without the information and background about how, why, and when the technologies can be applied, not only that, but the resources and different avenues to obtain the technologies. 

So we hope you've enjoyed this series. Please look to my ODP for more technology topics and trainings. This is on the screen. You'll see the list of all of our training sessions. But also look to your Assistive Technology Act program for updated resources for you to investigate new technology solutions. And please stay in touch with our team as you advance and support and create new programs and services for people with disabilities and aging across the Commonwealth. Thank you again. And we look forward to hearing from you.