CHAT – Living life to the full with Assistive Technology, Oct 18th

When and where is it on?

Friday 18th October, Technological University Dublin, Grangegorman.

How many years has it been going?

CHAT meets four times per year and formed in 2015.

CHAT – Living life to the full with Assistive Technology, Oct 18th

What was the inspiration to start it?

The Assistive Technology (AT) landscape is complex and can be difficult for people with disabilities to navigate. There are gaps in the understanding and take-up of assistive technology and in fact, only one in 10 people who require AT have access to it. [1] As a result, FreedomTech [www.freedomtech.ie] created CHAT (Community Hub for Accessible Technology) – a 200-strong user-focused space where people can learn from each other and identify gaps and challenges in assistive technology. CHAT allows not only end users to learn about AT, but also developers, academics, therapists, service providers and healthcare professionals.

FreedomTech is a not-for-profit body which believes that everyone with a disability or disabling condition should have access to affordable and up to date Assistive Technology. AT can be key to supporting people to live independently, access education, work, and be active members of their community.

What exciting things can people look forward to?

The next CHAT event will start at 10am, with the launch of the partnership between FreedomTech with Sight and Sound Technology Ireland [www.sightandsoundtechnology.ie]. Sight and Sound is the leading provider of AT in Ireland. Minister of State for Higher Education, Mary Mitchell O’Connor will launch this partnership along with Professor Brian Norton from TU Dublin, who will open the event.

10:45 – 12:45 – CHAT – Living Life To The Full with Assistive Technology (AT).
This is a hands-on Assistive Technology session, with examples of AT supporting individuals to live life to the full.

1:30 – 3:30 – After lunch Sight and Sound Technology Ireland will hold a drop-in session. Bring your questions and your technology if you need some quick answers, or advice. The session will also include an exhibition of assistive technology from Sight and Sound Technology Ireland and some of their partner companies, so you can be sure there’ll be lots to see and something for everyone!

1:30 – 3:30 AT Passport Info session: Mohamed Mallin from the All Institute Maynooth will run a session on the AT Passport. The AT Passport is proposed as a solution to the challenge of providing quality, person-centred AT services that offer value for money and are accountable and transparent.

The AT Passport is proposed as a solution to the challenge of providing quality, person centred AT services that offer value for money and are accountable and transparent.

Who will be speaking?

Minister of State for Higher Education, Mary Mitchell O’Connor

Professor Brian Norton, TUD.

Joan O’Donnell, Project Manager, Freedomtech.

Glen Tookey, CEO Sight and Sound Technology

Dr Dónal Fitzpatrick, School of Computing, DCU. Dónal is also totally blind himself.

What tips would you give to people attending to get the most out of it?

CHAT is open to people from a wide variety of backgrounds. It’s made up of people with disabilities (expert and non-expert assistive technology users), developers, assistive technology professionals, researchers, suppliers, third level institutions as well as mainstream and disability specialist service providers and professional therapists and other interested parties.

CHAT facilitates and creates opportunities amongst members to learn from each other and makes the most of members’ expertise to identify real challenges, gaps and to consider solutions. Bring your knowledge and your questions and be willing to share!

How can people book tickets / when does it usually sell out?

The event is free. People can register at: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/chat-living-life-to-the-full-with-assistive-technology-tickets-73525393431

See more events here.

More information about Irish Tech News and the Business Showcase

FYI the ROI for you is => Irish Tech News now gets over 1.5 million monthly views, and up to 900k monthly unique visitors, from over 160 countries. We have over 860,000 relevant followers on Twitter on our various accounts & were recently described as Ireland’s leading online tech news site and Ireland’s answer to TechCrunch, so we can offer you a good audience!

Since introducing desktop notifications a short time ago, which notify readers directly in their browser of new articles being published, over 16000 people have now signed up to receive them ensuring they are instantly kept up to date on all our latest content. Desktop notifications offer a unique method of serving content directly to verified readers and bypass the issue of content getting lost in people’s crowded news feeds.

Drop us a line if you want to be featured, guest post, suggest a possible interview, or just let us know what you would like to see more of in our future articles. We’re always open to new and interesting suggestions for informative and different articles. Contact us, by email, twitter or whatever social media works for you and hopefully we can share your story too and reach our global audience.

Irish Tech News

And the winner is…….. 🙂 @Irish_TechNews @BlogAwardsIE pic.twitter.com/0ayrZKtJeZ

— Irish Tech News (@Irish_TechNews) October 25, 2018

If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at [email protected] or on Twitter: @SimonCocking