For Alanna Raffel, discovering methods to make the world extra accessible has develop into a precedence. By her work at Know-how for Our Entire Lives, part of the Institute of Disabilities at Temple College, she has been in a position to make these sorts of adjustments.
“A lot of our work is targeted on the social mannequin of incapacity,” stated Raffel, an assistive expertise specialist with this system. “Not making an attempt to ‘repair’ anybody or ‘remedy’ anybody, however that the world is inaccessible, and we’re making an attempt to alter that.”
TechOWL contains useful resource facilities and hubs accessible throughout the state, in addition to a neighborhood house in Philadelphia, Raffel stated. Opened one 12 months in the past, this house affords a singular setting for flexibility and lodging.
“Individuals, particularly individuals with disabilities, have already got so many appointments and so many issues to take care of and all the pieces could be so difficult,” she stated. “With the ability to simply say, ‘Come cease by throughout these hours and we’ll provide help to determine it out, or we’ll provide help to take a look at a wheelchair that you simply want or check out a tool or come attempt the accessible online game.’ So with the ability to have that flexibility and availability has made a very huge distinction in who we’re reaching and the way many individuals we’re reaching.”
TechOWL is Pennsylvania’s designated Assistive Know-how (AT) Act Program. Every state has an analogous program – designed to offer assistive expertise sources for older adults or these with disabilities, in addition to rising consciousness round these merchandise.
Whereas TechOWL has statewide hubs, its headquarters are in Philadelphia, Raffel stated. She defined that whereas the group has existed for a few years, the necessity for a extra accessible house was important.
“Going to the fourth ground of an instructional constructing isn’t essentially essentially the most accessible factor,” she stated. “It’s bodily accessible, however you don’t simply come upon it. And it all the time required appointments.”
A extra inclusive setting
The TechOWL neighborhood house, positioned at 1392 Cecil B. Moore Ave., affords a extra open structure and availability than different providers, Raffel defined.
“Having the neighborhood house permits us to be on the primary ground, and now we have huge home windows the place individuals can uncover us simply by strolling by,” she stated. “Individuals can cease by throughout our open hours all through the week and work together with our packages and providers. And it’s made such an enormous distinction with feeling like we’re extra accessible to the neighborhood.”
As well as, Raffel stated the house has much more devoted room for giant occasions – like workshops and different programming – that its earlier dwelling did.
“We are able to usher in teams of individuals,” she stated. “So we are able to do a number of workshops with faculty teams. We’ve carried out a number of discipline journeys, whether or not that’s lecture rooms of scholars with disabilities or not, or lecture rooms that embrace youngsters with disabilities and youngsters with out disabilities. They will all come on a discipline journey and discover various things and study. Quite a lot of them are typically college students which are all for engineering and printing of assistive expertise, which we do there.”
The neighborhood house affords 4 predominant providers for the neighborhood. The primary is offering demos for individuals to check out totally different assistive expertise.
“That’s usually these one-on-one demos, the place we are able to attempt various things with somebody, and that normally occurs now on the neighborhood house, the place we are able to have entry to plenty of various things to attempt,” she stated. “Individuals can stroll in for issues like that. Somebody can simply present up and say ‘hey, I’m right here and I’m interested in imaginative and prescient tools. I’m dropping my imaginative and prescient and I wish to check out totally different imaginative and prescient tools.’ We normally advocate ensuring that our imaginative and prescient specialist is on that day and ensuring that they will connect with that individual. So if you happen to’re on the lookout for a very particular demo, we normally encourage them to offer us a heads up.”
Second, the house gives varied workshops and trainings. These could also be open or geared towards particular teams, akin to occupational remedy college students or faculty teams.
Third, the group affords a used tools program.
“Individuals can cease in and donate issues like wheelchairs, walkers, canes and bathe chairs,” she stated. “So one other big growth is that now we have house for all these items. We have now many issues that folks can simply cease by throughout open hours to drop off, we refurbish it, after which different individuals cease by throughout open hours to choose it up. In order that they’ll cease by and say, ‘Hey, do you’ve got this specific sort of wheelchair proper now that I can have?’ Or they only present up and say, ‘Hey, I want a walker.’ ”
Raffel normally recommends these eager to seize used tools name forward and provides a heads up to make sure TechOWL has the tools and might be certain that it’s prepared. Even so, walk-ins are welcome.
Lastly, the group has a mortgage program, which gives short-term leases for assistive expertise.
Past these predominant capabilities, the house additionally affords distinctive, enjoyable options.
“We even have our adaptive gaming program,” she stated. “So now we have all totally different sorts of adaptive customized gaming setups, after which the maker house, the place we 3D print assistive expertise, so individuals can sort of see us make stuff and are available take a look at all of the stuff we are able to 3D print.”
Why the house is necessary
Raffel provides the openness and front-facing nature of this house helps to destigmatize assistive expertise and permit others to come back in and discover the house, even when they’re simply curious. She stated a number of the greatest neighborhood partnerships have been shaped with individuals who wandered into the house.
“I simply met somebody the opposite day who came upon about us, as a result of they popped in to get a tissue as soon as,” she stated. “And now now we have this partnership between our organizations, nevertheless it began from them popping in for a tissue.”
The neighborhood house has acquired an overwhelmingly constructive response in its first 12 months, stated Jack Ouligian, assistant director of communication and dissemination on the Institute on Disabilities.
“Individuals emphasised how a lot simpler it was to get to the programming and the way a lot of a welcoming house it was,” he stated.
The neighborhood house is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 1 to five p.m. Different hours can be found by appointment.