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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Nathaniel Ehrlich, PhD, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 1230 Eisenhower Place, Room 427, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, 734-222-8660, nehrlich@isr.umich.edu and Dawn Carlson, PhD, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, 330 C Street SW, Suite 3042, Washington, DC 20202.
Assistive technology enables persons with disabilities to perform daily tasks of independent living, work and citizenship. Without such assistive devices, persons with disabilities are held captive at home or in institutions, and segregated from work and community life.
The AT/IT Survey was conducted to provide much needed knowledge about the use of and need for, and satisfaction with, assistive technology devices and services by persons with disabilities and to show how these persons may benefit from assistive technology.
AT/IT use or need was assessed in the contexts of home, school, work, and community. More than 1,400 respondents were selected for an in-depth interview after having been screened from both a nationally representative random digit dial list and a targeted list sample of persons who reported having disabilities in prior surveys. The interviews took place over a period of nine months, beginning in late March 2001 and ending in December of 2001. Response rates for this telephone survey were above 90 percent, and collaboration rates were over 98 percent.
Preliminary data from this survey showed that more than half of the respondents used some type of AT device or environmental accommodation. A third of the respondents reported needing AT devices or environmental accommodations that they did not have. Lack of adequate information, assistance, and inability to pay were mentioned as the major causes of unmet need for AT. Further details and in-depth analyses of AT/IT use and need by persons with disabilities will be presented.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Disability, Access and Services
Related Web page: no related web page available at this time
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: no products or services will be discussed
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.