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…
Can a quadriplegic, someone paralyzed from the neck down, drive a car? Race car driver Sam Schmidt’s career came to an abrupt end when a crash in 2000 left him paralyzed. After 17 years though, project SAM (Semi Autonomous Motorcar), a car with various modifications, has helped Sam get back on the road. Here is…
Written by: Madeline Cowdell, News Producer “Red brick is actually red!” I exclaimed, when I walked out of a San Francisco Bay Area optometrist’s office, while trying on a pair of Enchroma sunglasses. That day was the first time I saw many colors and shades I had never seen before. To me, red brick was…
Written by: Christina Mills, Deputy Director, California Foundation of Independent Living Centers The chances that most manual wheelchair users will eventually graduate to a power wheelchair are high. As much as I’d like to believe that my body, and specifically my shoulders, should work like they have forever (in a seated position, moving back and…
Written by: Emily Flynn, Ability Tools Staff Working for Ability Tools I am constantly looking for information on new and upcoming technology. One day while being sucked into an infinite worm hole of assistive technology information on the internet I came across “Team Tactile” and this really grabbed my attention. Team Tactile is a team…
Composed by: Emily Flynn, Ability Tools Staff. Information Sourced from Bookshare® Bookshare is a massive online library that opens up the world of reading for people with print disabilities. If you cannot read traditional print books because of a visual impairment, physical disability or severe learning disability, Bookshare can help! The books available are “accessible,” which…
Written by: Emily Flynn, Ability Tools Information and Advocacy Specialist I have worked for Ability Tools for nearly two and a half years and have received thousands of phone, website, and email inquiries. I decided I would make a small frequently asked question list as a resource for not only individuals providing services but also…
An eye-opening app produced by a non-profit startup in Copenhagen hopes to change life for people who are visually impaired. Hans Jørgen Wiberg, who is visually impaired himself, came up with the idea for the application. Through his work at “The Danish Association of the Blind” he recognized, that visually impaired often need help to cope…
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…