Blog

It all began with a daily task that was difficult for Shawnie Christensen. She has Muscular Dystrophy. Because of this, she has low-grip strength. She used a hanger to grab things (in the past) that were out of reach, but she wanted something easier. Tha...

Cimaron Neugebauer joins the Utah Assistive Technology Program team at Utah State University's Institute for Disability Research, Policy & Practice (IDRPP) Watch for him on social media and in the community as he spreads the word about assistive technolog...

Dan O’Crowley had both physical and cost barriers in mind when he began a project to develop a device that would combine the health and accessibility benefits of a walking exoskeleton with the energy-conscious, battery-saving benefits of a wheelchair.

UATP serves Utahns statewide. Logan’s staff members use tools, volunteers, experience, and innovation to create custom-made and affordable devices for people seeking to keep or improve their independence.

The Larson family avoided taking trips together. For one thing, it was hard on 15-year-old Isaac, who uses a wheelchair. For another, it was hard on Penny, his mother, who tried to ignore the pain of a spinal condition as she lifted him in and out of thei...

Anna Turner was preparing to welcome a new baby to her home. But in addition to the usual considerations of having a newborn in the house, she had an additional concern: What if she had a seizure when her husband was at work?

Over-the-counter hearing aids were recently made available without a prescription. That’s a big shift in hearing technology policy. So how will this change affect the price, quality and risk? USU Clinical Audiologist Tiffany Shelton explains.

On October 17, the FDA's new category of OTC hearing aids hit retailers, allowing consumers to purchase hearing aids at a fraction of prescription devices. There are concerns by some, and the devices are not for everyone.

988 is the new phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Anyone struggling with a suicide, mental health, substance-use, and/or any other kind of emotional distress or crisis can call, text, or chat with a live person on the hotline at an...

Federal crisis funding to Utah’s Aging and Disability Resource Center was administered through IDRPP, and it upgraded and enhanced technology for senior service providers throughout Utah.

Clay Smith and Melinda Thornton have joined the team. Watch for them on social media and in the community as they spread the word about assistive technology!

How much of your life in 2020 depended on the Internet? And if something didn’t depend on the Internet, it often required reliable transportation. Now, imagine the whole world shuts down, and you have some mountain-sized barriers to both using the web and...

The Utah Legislature will most likely debate elections, so this is a good time to revisit accessible voting. We visit with a voter who needs accommodations but hasn't always gotten them. We also take a look at current and proposed legislation.

Chelsey Sanders founded YOBBO Apparel after her son was diagnosed with a sensory processing disorder in first grade. Disappointed after many fruitless searches to find products or coping tools for her child’s sensitivities, she decided to make her own.

Advances for we “differently-abled” are achieved every day, but there is much left to discover and share. We are always searching for the optimal solutions to the obstacles placed before us. Here are some my family found, room by room.

Since my debilitating stroke, the search for a normal life—and all that entails—is quite the daunting task. I’m going to make an attempt at sharing what we have learned in our adventures.

A lighted power chair from UATP helps Bruno go to a job that means so much to him. "I cannot stay home, that is not the kind of person I am. I have to keep moving, I have to keep working."

A Logan man can now move from the driver’s seat of his truck to his wheelchair lift at the back of the vehicle pain-free, thanks to some ingenuity from the Utah Assistive Technology Program in Logan.

We're back after a break, and it feels great! Especially when we get to talk to someone who loves AT as much as North Dakota Assistive's Jeannie Krull.

Sometimes simple things can make all the difference. Things like a hospital bed, which helps make caring for a loved one at home more manageable.

This summer, Utah Assistive Technology Program Logan Coordinator Dan O’Crowley achieved Assistive Technology Professional certification. It adds a stamp of professionalism to work already being done at UATP in Logan.

The last year and a half have been a lot for all of us to process. While our staff has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic well so far, it nevertheless brought some changes to the organization. Several retirements and personnel changes have impacted us, and w...

Devices from the Utah Assistive Technology Program have been granting Utahns independence for many years, but this may be a first: one of our power chairs has made its theatrical debut.

An outing to a farmer's market--and many more moments of freedom--were made possible by an AT loan for a wheelchair-accessible van. Thanks to the loan, a whole family can get out in the community again.

Throughout his years of volunteering with UATP within the Center for Persons with Disabilities, Stoke has shown his commitment to involving students in designing and building devices that improve lives of people with disabilities.

We’ve seen the question a lot in social media: what’s your favorite assistive technology? Our coordinators often customize the solutions they create, and their answers were just as individual as the work they do.

Interviews with Sarah Benj, SLC's ADA coordinator, and Everette Bacon, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Utah, on accessibility features including improvements to 300 West, wheelchair emergency transport and AIRA navigation.

After an ER visit, a hospitalization and a battery of tests, Alan Howell found himself disabled, almost overnight. But with the help of friends and UATP, he held onto independence.

The new director of Utah State University’s Utah Assistive Technology Program is also a familiar face.

Sachin Pavithran is the new executive director of the US Access Board. But before that, he was the UATP director. We sat down with him to talk about his own very personal experience with accessibility, assistive technology and advocacy—and where it all go...

Ismael Rojas is a Salt Lake City resident, student, Mexican immigrant, and volunteer at the Utah Assistive Technology Program lab. About a year and a half ago he received his first wheelchair from the program that allowed him unprecedented independence.

A pandemic isn’t fun. Neither is surgery. But when Gabriel Carter Olson combined those two obstacles with a therapeutic trike and a science project, he ended up winning an online science fair and speeding his own recovery.

Whether you aspire to be a competitive Paralympian or just want to take that first step out the door in the winter, this episode will help you know the best way to get some exercise and enjoy nature in the cold.

Dr. Sachin Pavithran, the Utah Assistive Technology Program Director, will soon be the new US Access Board Executive Director.

Four hard-of-hearing experts speak out via Google Meet about communication platforms and other assistive technology that helps them survive life, the holidays and the perils of navigating a mask-wearing world.

As the pandemic drags on, it seems its toll on mental health keeps growing, especially among seniors and caregivers who feel cut off from their loved ones. Here are some high-and low-tech solutions.

We’ve known for months that work can happen online. But what about play? Here’s a list of games you can enjoy with your friends and family, in the same room or a different state.

Video communication apps are the stuff of pandemic survival. Here are some October 2020 observations on apps and ways to use them.

October's podcast is on AT that helps parents deliver special education at home in the COVID era.

UATP’s demonstration and loan program has helped people in southeastern Utah receive the equipment they need, helping them remain independent.

In this second episode dedicated to tactile learning, Dr. Sheri Wells-Jensen of Bowling Green State University points out the advantages of tactile exploration, not just for the Blind but for everyone.

Last month, David Kojorski received an iPad with a protective case, through a small grant from the Utah Assistive Technology Program.

The first episode of Accessible Times: The UATP Podcast is now live! You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher.

In the wake of the pandemic, UATP and other agencies focus on technology that fights isolation with more devices, to be loaned to those who need them.

UATP creates a face shield for autistic woman, invites others who need adapted personal protective equipment to contact us.