Introduction to Disabilities and Assistive Technologies

In this video, Dr. Kyle Keane, lecturer in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, offers an introduction to the ranges and types of disabilities as well as describes assistive technologies that allow disabled people to function more easily in the world. 

Several MIT subjects focus on teaching students to build assistive technology interventions using activities that engage students in hands-on, real world problem-solving, collaborating directly with people who have disabilities on engineering and design projects.  

Using an innovative pedagogy of “designer/co-designer,” students (designers) work in close partnership with clients (co-designers) in a collaborative approach that highlights the unique contribution of the co-designer and gives students the opportunity to create customized solutions that reflect genuine needs. To learn more, Dr Julie Greenberg and MIT students share their experience in the above video.

Additional Resources
A group from a pilot high school program supported by MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute produced a narrative video about their co-design process and produced an instructional video to help others recreate their product.