TechOWL community space celebrates one year of opening the doors for accessibility

For Alanna Raffel finding avenues to make the world more accessible has become a priority Through her work at Device for Our Whole Lives a part of the Institute of Disabilities at Temple University she has been able to make these kinds of changes So much of our work is focused on the social model of disability reported Raffel an assistive innovation specialist with the venture Not trying to fix anyone or cure anyone but that the world is inaccessible and we re trying to change that TechOWL includes source centers and hubs accessible across the state as well as a public space in Philadelphia Raffel disclosed Opened one year ago this space offers a unique setting for flexibility and accommodation People especially people with disabilities already have so countless appointments and so various things to deal with and everything can be so complicated she noted Being able to just say Come stop by during these hours and we ll help you figure it out or we ll help you check out a wheelchair that you need or test out a device or come try the accessible video tournament So being able to have that flexibility and availability has made a really big difference in who we re reaching and how several people we re reaching Laura Slotkoff TechOWL assistive machinery specialist shows visitor Jordan specific D-printed tools Courtesy of TechOWL TechOWL is Pennsylvania s designated Assistive Hardware AT Act Initiative Each state has a similar campaign designed to provide assistive tool support for older adults or those with disabilities as well as increasing awareness around these products While TechOWL has statewide hubs its headquarters are in Philadelphia Raffel declared She explained that while the organization has existed for several years the need for a more accessible space was vital Going to the fourth floor of an academic building isn t necessarily the the bulk accessible thing she noted It s physically accessible but you don t just stumble upon it And it perpetually required appointments A more inclusive setting The TechOWL group space located at Cecil B Moore Ave offers a more open layout and availability than other services Raffel explained Having the neighborhood space allows us to be on the first floor and we have big windows where people can discover us just by walking by she mentioned People can stop by during our open hours throughout the week and interact with our programs and services And it s made such a big difference with feeling like we re more accessible to the population In addition Raffel declared the space has a lot more dedicated room for big events like workshops and other services that its previous home did TechOWL s D printing maker space with switch adapted toys and D-printed switches on the table Courtesy of TechOWL We can bring in groups of people she announced So we can do a lot of workshops with school groups We ve done a lot of field trips whether that s classrooms of students with disabilities or not or classrooms that include kids with disabilities and kids without disabilities They can all come on a field trip and explore different things and learn A lot of them tend to be students that are interested in engineering and printing of assistive apparatus which we do there The society space offers four main services for the neighborhood The first is providing demos for people to try out different assistive mechanism That s often these one-on-one demos where we can try different things with someone and that usually happens now at the society space where we can have access to lots of different things to try she mentioned People can walk in for things like that Someone can just show up and say hey I m here and I m curious about vision equipment I m losing my vision and I want to try out different vision equipment We usually recommend making sure that our vision specialist is on that day and making sure that they can connect to that person So if you re looking for a really specific demo we usually encourage them to give us a heads up Second the space provides various workshops and trainings These may be open or geared toward specific groups such as occupational therapy students or school groups Third the organization offers a used equipment undertaking People can stop in and donate things like wheelchairs walkers canes and shower chairs she revealed So another huge expansion is that we have space for all this stuff We have a multitude of things that people can just stop by during open hours to drop off we refurbish it and then other people stop by during open hours to pick it up So they ll stop by and say Hey do you have this particular kind of wheelchair right now that I can have Or they just show up and say Hey I need a walker Former TechOWL intern Liam Holland plays a video competition using the Xbox adaptive controller Courtesy of TechOWL Raffel usually recommends those wanting to grab used equipment call ahead and give a heads up to ensure TechOWL has the equipment and can make sure it is ready Even so walk-ins are welcome Definitively the group has a loan activity which provides short-term rentals for assistive apparatus Beyond these main functions the space also offers unique fun features We also have our adaptive gaming effort she disclosed So we have all different kinds of adaptive custom gaming setups and then the maker space where we D print assistive hardware so people can kind of see us make stuff and come check out all the stuff we can D print Why the space is crucial Raffel adds the openness and front-facing nature of this space helps to destigmatize assistive device and allow others to come in and explore the space even if they are just curious She announced specific of the best locality partnerships have been formed with people who wandered into the space I just met someone the other day who located out about us because they popped in to get a tissue once she stated And now we have this partnership between our organizations but it started from them popping in for a tissue The district space has received an overwhelmingly positive response in its first year commented Jack Ouligian assistant director of communication and dissemination at the Institute on Disabilities People emphasized how much easier it was to get to the programs and how much of a welcoming space it was he revealed The public space is open Mondays and Wednesdays from a m to p m and Tuesday and Thursday from to p m Other hours are available by appointment The post TechOWL society space celebrates one year of opening the doors for accessibility appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY