Promoting independence and optimizing the education, employment, daily living and social integration of people with disabilities through assistive technology.
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AgrAbility/FarmAgain
Since 2005, Georgia AgrAbility, known as FarmAgain, has promoted independence for agricultural workers with acquired or developmental disabilities through assistive technology assessments, service coordination, and implementation. The project has supported over 1,954 agricultural workers, their families, and service providers.
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AAC Peer Support network
The University of Georgia (UGA), as a subcontractor to Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), helps lead the National AAC Peer Support Network. UGA’s role includes co-leading the project, supporting the Leadership Coalition of AAC users and other stakeholders, and ensuring that people who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) have meaningful opportunities to shape the project. UGA also supports outreach and engagement with peer support communities nationally and internationally. Through the project’s newly funded three-year phase, UGA will contribute to developing a national Peer Support Hub, a mentor directory, a toolkit, and guidelines for virtual peer support. Throughout this work, UGA emphasizes accessible participation, including allowing time for AAC users to compose messages, reading chat messages aloud, and compensating people for their contribution.
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Communication Access
Building Capacity to Engage in Patient-Centered CER on Communication Access for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Co-led with the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), the goal of this project is to build capacity among individuals with I/DD who use AAC to serve as leaders in patient-centered consumer-centered research (CER) by identifying comparative healthcare questions, prioritizing outcomes related to communication access, and contributing to the design of future CER studies through accessible, equity-focused engagement strategies. Through shared-decision making, we will create sustainable infrastructure, develop inclusive engagement tools, and adapt the Community Engagement Studio11-15 (CE Studio) model to support communication access. Ultimately, this project will build stakeholder capacity and establish sustainable pathways for AAC users with IDD to serve as research advisors, co-investigators, and engagement leaders in future patient-centered CER.
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Applied Research and Training
We support research, training, and community partnerships that improve the lives of people who use AAC. Through its involvement in projects with entities, such as the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on AAC, CHDD contributes to advancing communication access, promoting inclusion, and ensuring that people with disabilities help shape research and practice. This work also creates opportunities to connect with researchers, professionals, and AAC users around the world, share knowledge across countries, and travel internationally to participate in conferences, build relationships, and advance disability inclusion on a global scale.