[Access Lunch] Accessibility Lunch is Back Starting Sep 16!

[Peya Mowar]

Hi everyone,

We are excited to announce that the Accessibility Lunch Seminar Series will
resume on Monday, September 16th. We are a community that designs, makes,
and studies technology to make the world accessible. Every Monday, we meet
to talk about each other's work, listen to local accessibility advocates,
or hear from guest speakers.


Please note that we have shifted to 11:30 AM this semester, and each
session will be held in a different room. We will send an announcement for
each session to this mailing list. Alternatively, this information would
also be present on our Google Calendar
<https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0?cid=Y19kM2E2NGQ4ZmUzNDdlZDM2MDQ3YjIwYWQxOTVhOGU3ODA2YTJhZDQzMjE3YmI5NTIwOTc3MGU1NTU5YjBkMWZjQGdyb3VwLmNhbGVuZGFyLmdvb2dsZS5jb20>.
Zoom
would be available for each session, but we strongly encourage you to
attend in person!


This Monday, we meet in NSH 3305 to hear from our in-person guest speaker -
Erin Higgins (https://erinlhiggins.github.io/), a PhD candidate from the
University of Maryland, Baltimore County.


Abstract: I will discuss my work regarding increasing access to AT. This
work has taken several iterations, including connecting physical
therapists, end users, and makers to develop highly custom ATs and
developing a program within our university where students with disabilities
requested AT devices from us that could not be easily acquired through
other methods or were a better reflection of their unique identity. My most
recent work expands this idea by partnering with the Maryland State
Department of Disability to provide 3D printing services to the state of
Maryland. We have developed an ecosystem of support between individuals who
request AT, the state department of disability, and our research lab to
facilitate this AT development. This work is important because there is no
requirement for documentation or specific devices that individuals can or
cannot have. It allows for increased access to AT for individuals who might
not consider themselves "disabled" and might not have access to adequate
medical care. I will also discuss the makerspace work I have done in
collaboration with Pittsburgh and Baltimore's Parks and Recreation
Department. We have discovered that many community spaces feel ill-equipped
to support youth with disabilities who come into their space, and several
strategies that our partners have taken to make their spaces more
inclusive. Developing solutions to support neurotypical and neurodiverse
learning in one community setting is an area I would like to continue
exploring in future research.

See you all on Monday!
Thanks and regards,
Peya

PS: Click here to subscribe to our mailing list.
<https://lists.andrew.cmu.edu/mailman/listinfo/accessibility-lunch>
PPS: Here are the Zoom details:
Join Zoom Meeting
<https://cmu.zoom.us/j/99282851029?pwd=CUYhUGEykBYvMAGO2zwKeoig3abPzN.1>
Meeting ID: 992 8285 1029
Passcode: a11y
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