If you made it to Abilities Expo 2025 and stopped by the Ability Tools booth, you couldn’t miss the top-secret, spy-themed experience! Our team went all out to engage attendees of all ages, making sure everyone got a mission briefing on the latest and greatest in assistive technology (AT). The Expo was packed with incredible…
If you are like most Californians, you might be finding yourself participating in your community in a much more “virtual” capacity. Many students, employees and family members are finding Zoom meeting invitations in their inboxes, and a good deal of them might not know exactly how to navigate this online meeting service. If you find…
Written By: Alice Wong, Founder of the Disability Visibility Project Resistance to assistive technology is futile. As a sci-fi nerd, I have to make a Star Trek reference whenever I talk about technology and disabled people. The disability community is living in the darkest timeline right now, at least that’s what it feels like under…
Written by: Noor Pervez, Community Engagement Coordinator for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network Greetings, assistive tech fans! My name is Noor. I’m autistic adult with chronic pain who works for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. I’ve learned a lot about assistive technology that autistic folks use from my friends, as well as my own experiences.…
Written By: Ability Tools Staff Did you know that California has a state program that provides FREE phone to individuals with various disabilities? These phones are provided by the Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications Program (DDTP) at no charge to eligible Californians. DDTP distributes telecommunications equipment and services that improve communication for all Californians. A program of the…
Written by: Megan Cowdell, Program Coordinator, CFILC Here at Ability Tools and our parent organization, The California Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC), we have used and worked with our fair share of assistive technology. In this second annual blog you will find testimonials from some of our staff on their favorite AT devices this…
Written by: Kevin Hansen, Voice Options Program Manager During the time that the Voice Options Pilot Project has been running we have seen a significant impact in the lives of the participants that have received services from this program. This pilot project was funded by the California Public Utilities Commission and officially started on January…
Submitted by: LoganTech LoganTech was founded in 2004 by parents who struggled to find an acceptable AT (assistive technology) solution for their son Logan, who has autism and is nonverbal. Logan’s father, our company president, Glen Dobbs, used his engineering background fueled by the desire to better communicate with his son to create the Logan®…
Ability Tools has had the pleasure of partnering with the California Public Utilities Commission to launch Voice Options Pilot Project. The program launched January 11th 2017. Voice Options is a pilot program of the California Public Utilities Commission administered by the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers.Voice Options connects Californians with speech language disabilities to…
Submitted by: Talk To Me Technologies Joe lost his ability to speak after being diagnosed with ALS. He now uses a camera attached to his speech-generating device to track his eye movements. Speech is produced when his eyes pause to ‘select’ what he wants to say. Prior to losing the ability to speak, Joe and…