Los Angeles Abilities Expo 2016

by Emily Flynn, Ability Tools The recent Los Angeles Abilities Expo 2016 was a great success for Ability Tools! Ability Tools was lucky enough to be able to set up their table in the AT showcase section for the second year in a row.  This means we had enough table space to be able to…

2016 assistive technology photo contest

Announcing our 2016 AT Photo Contest!

Are you a person with a disability that uses assistive technology (AT)? Send us a photo and you could win $100!   AT is defined as any device, gadget, hardware or software used by a person with a disability to do things for themselves that might otherwise be difficult or impossible to do because of…

Picture of a little boy sitting at a desk using a communicaiton tablet

Top 5 Posts of 2015

Happy New Year Everybody! Did you know that we publish a new blog post about assistive technology (AT) devices and services each and every week -usually on Tuesdays- and that you can sign up with your email address to get it delivered directly to your inbox?  Enter your email today so that you don’t miss…

picture of a smiling woman seated and holding a placard that says I am a caregiver for my mom

Happy National Family Caregivers Month!

Did you know that November is National Family Caregivers Month? Did you know that there are over 40 million U.S. caregivers who provide an estimated $470 billion of unpaid service annually? Fortunately, this month the Family Caregiver Alliance initiated a really neat campaign to honor these millions of caregivers. Join them in their campaign “I…

Ability Tools Responds to the Needs of Fire Survivors in Northern California

Recently, Ability Tools, a program of California Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC), assisted with the disaster relief efforts related to the Northern Valley Fires. Deployed to the Napa county shelter as part of the state’s Functional Assessment Service Team, Ability Tools collaborated with state partners to quickly assess the needs of fire survivors with…

close up of robotic prostetic legs and people in the background looking at them in yellow shirts

Assistive Technology & Veterans

With the advent of the 3D printer, many AT “challenges” have arisen around the globe, inviting people with disabilities, engineers, and interested members of the public to create assistive technology solutions for people with disabilities. This is exciting to see, and, as one of our staff members who was able to participate in an AT…

logos of California Phones, California Relay Service, California Telelphone Access Program and Speech to-Speech

State Program Makes It Easier to Hear, Dial, and Call

The telephone may be an accepted part of life in the 21st century, but not for an estimated three million Californians. Most of us take using the telephone for granted. But if you have difficulty hearing, seeing, speaking, moving, or remembering, what seems to be a simple telephone call can be challenging to many—preventing communication…

picture of young boy and his wheelchair is an elaborate flying froglike creature he is smiling

Magic Wheelchair

Have you heard about Magic Wheelchair? This autumn, an outstanding costume design for a young man that uses a wheelchair has been all over social media.  Have you seen it?   The cool news is that this is not just an amazing Halloween costume, it actually was created by a nonprofit called Magic Wheelchair, whose…