NIDRR Grantees Receive Recognition

The NCDDR would like to congratulate each of the following grantees and recognize their award or citation. All NIDRR grantees are encouraged to contact the NCDDR with information to share in future issues of The Research Exchange. For each item, we have identified the NIDRR-funded project name; the award, citation, or recognition; and the name of the Principal Investigator or contact for further information with telephone number and e-mail addresses.

Two NIDRR Projects have received Telly Awards for their work in video production. The Telly Awards, founded in 1980, were established to showcase and recognize outstanding non-network and cable TV commercials. The highly respected international competition was recently expanded to include nonbroadcast video and film productions, and non-network programming. Over the years, the Telly Awards have gained respect in both the news and advertising industries, as well as in higher education as a mark of excellence and innovation. A distinguished panel of more than 20 highly qualified television production professionals judged the more than 9,000 entries in the 1996 16th Annual Telly Awards. The panel included a cross section of producers from agencies, TV stations, production houses, and corporate video departments.

The Utah Assistive Technology Program (UATP) was awarded a 1996 Telly Award for the video "The Tech Act: Dramatic Gains for People with Disabilities." This video was developed in cooperation with the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA). The UATP received Telly Awards in 1993 and 1994 as well as honorable mention in the 1993 American Film and Video Festival. In addition to the Telly Awards, this project won first place in the 1993 National Council on Family Relations Media Awards Competition for "The Sky is the Limit," a recreational video for people with disabilities. This video was a finalist in the 1992 International Health and Medical Film Festival. The UATP earned the Regional Recognition Award from the Mountain Plains Information Exchange for outstanding service in the area of rehabilitation technology in 1993. Staff member Marilyn Hammond received the 1994 Media/Public Awareness Golden Key Award from the Governor's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities for effective professional and personal dedication to increase positive understanding and public awareness about people with disabilities. She has also served as a judge in the International Health and Medical Film Festivals since 1993. For further information contact Dr. Marvin G. Fifield, Principal Investigator, through the Utah State University, Center for Persons with Disabilities at (801) 797-1981, or via e-mail: marv@cpd2.usu.edu
A copy of the "The Tech Act" video and list or copies of other videos can be obtained by calling Marilyn Hammond at (801) 797-1981 (e-mail: mmenlove@cc.usu.edu). Most videos cost $15-35 plus shipping and handling.

The Alaska Assistive Technology Project received a 1995 Telly Award for the eight minute video "Tools for Life" at the 16th Annual Telly Awards. Staff member Sharon White prepared the script and Tim Anderson of Lead Dog Production Company produced the video and entered it in the competition. The video is a demonstration of the assistive technology equipment in the project's assistive technology lending library. The video has been disseminated to independent living centers, other assistive technology projects, health care providers, as well as at conferences. Ms. Kathe Matrone is the Principal Investigator. For further information or to order a copy of the video ($20 copy fee), contact Rose Foster on the Information Referral Line at 1-800-770-0138 or Mike Shiffer, Project Coordinator, via e-mail: mshiffer@educ.state.ak.us

A System of Technology to Achieve Results (STAR) was cited and Ms. Rachel Wobschall, Principal Investigator, was quoted in the "Technology: Special Needs" section in the Monday, November 13, 1995 issue of the Wall Street Journal. The article on assistive technology was entitled "Free to learn: Computers designed for the disabled are reshaping the field of special education." Those interested may contact the NCDDR for information on how to obtain a copy of this article. For further information, Ms. Wobschall can be contacted through the Minnesota Governor's Advisory Council on Technology for People with Disabilities, Department of Administration at (612) 297-1554, or via e-mail: mnstars@gteens.com

Ms. Joy Kniskern, Principal Investigator for Tools for Life - Georgia Assistive Technology Program, received the Delano Award from Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for providing technology assistance to the institute. Ami Abshire, secretary for Tools for Life, served on one of the thirty teams of the Torch Bearers Nomination Committee which selected individuals to carry the torch at Olympic activities nationwide. Approximately 90,000 applications were reviewed by this committee sponsored by the Atlanta Committee on Olympic Games and the United Way. Ms. Kniskern can be contacted through the Georgia Department of Human Resources Division of Rehabilitation Services at 404-657-3082, or via e-mail: 102476.1737@compuserve.com

RESNA has presented a Certificate of Appreciation for national leadership in policy development to benefit all persons with disabilities to Judy Brewer, Project Director of the Massachusetts Assistive Technology Partnership (MATP), for working on assistive technology and durable medical equipment coverage in national health care reform. She also received the 1996 Access Award from the American Foundation for the Blind to honor individuals and organizations who have made a significant contribution to ensuring equality of access and opportunity for people who are blind or visually impaired. The award was for working as a member of a group of five individuals whose efforts have succeeded in making the Microsoft Corporation aware of the problems persons who are blind or visually impaired have accessing their products, and in producing a commitment from Microsoft to improve access. Marylyn Howe, Coordinator of Policy and Evaluation received a Certificate of Appreciation from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association for acknowledgement of participation on their consumer task force, which was charged with developing consumer-friendly policies and practices among professionals serving people with speech and hearing loss. She also received the I. King Jordan Distinguished Achievement Award, from the Association of Late-Deafened Adults, which is presented to a person who is late-deafened and is a role model for other adults who are late- deafened, and who has made exceptional contributions in a career or other long-term endeavor. She was recognized for her work with CART (Computer-Aided Realtime Translation) support, advocacy in the field of disability policy, and work on national health care reform as it relates to hearing loss. Ms. Nan Robbins is the Principal Investigator for this project. For further information please contact Jan Stankus, Coordinator of Public Awareness, at 617-355-7537 (V), 617-355-7301 (TT), or via e-mail: stankus@a1.tch.harvard.edu

The Colorado Assistive Technology Project: Developing Colorado's Consumer Responsive System received the Excellence in Advocacy award from the Colorado Protection and Advocacy (P & A) System in November, 1994. It was the first time such an award was made to a program in assistive technology by the P & A, which is housed at the Legal Center. Located at the Rocky Mountain Resource and Training Institute, Colorado's ATP was the first Tech Act project in the country to voluntarily develop a contract with the state P & A System. The success of the Colorado ATP/P & A contract served as a model for other states and provided leadership in developing the mandate for such contracts. For more information about the award or the working relationship between the Colorado ATP and P & A System, please contact Cathy Bodine, Project Director, at 303-534-1027 or e-mail: rmrti@essex.uchsc.edu

The Illinois Assistive Technology Project (IATP) received the Award for Participation from the Illinois Department of Public Aid in December 1995, for contributing to writing a policy and offering training on augmentative communication. Ms. Wilhelmina Gunther, Principal Investigator, can be contacted through the Illinois Assistive Technology Project at (217) 522-7985, or via e-mail: iatp@q-com.com

Dr. Cameron Riviere of the Assistive Computer Interfaces for Persons with Movement Disorders Project received "Best Student Research Paper" from the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.) International Conference on Engineering Medicine and Biology in Montreal, Canada, in October 1995. The paper, entitled "Modeling and canceling tremor in human-machine interfaces," was later published by Dr. Riviere and Dr. Nitish V. Thakor in the publication IEEE Engineering Medical Biology, Vol. 15, 29-36. The article decribes a method the authors have developed to measure and "cancel" tremor for persons with conditions such as Parkinson's disease and cerebral palsy. This work will help persons with tremor disabilities in using computer interfaces such as the mouse. Their present research focuses on how their methodology can help this population with handwriting. Drs. Riviere and Thakor are the Co-Principal Investigators for the project, which is part of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD. For further information contact Dr. Thakor at 410-955-7093, or via e-mail: nthakor@bme.jhu.edu

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