Welcome to this edition of  Perspectives,  the e-newsletter of the Stanford course, Perspectives in Assistive Technology.

What is the course? - Perspectives in Assistive Technology is a Winter Quarter course at Stanford that explores issues surrounding the design, development, and use of assistive technology benefitting people with disabilities and seniors. More information can be found on the course website.

Invitation to attend - You are invited to attend all class lectures. They will be held in Building 530, Classroom 127 on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at 4:15 to 5:30pm and are free and open to the public.

Next lecture - Thursday, January 26th at 4:15pm:

Abstract: In this panel discussion, several Stanford students with disabilities will discuss their academic goals, the assistive technology they use to be successful students, and the challenges they have faced.

Vivian T. Wong's Biosketch:

Vivian Wong is a senior at Stanford University majoring in International Relations and French. She was born with a congenital spinal disorder, called spondylothoracic dysplasia, which translates to a truncated torso, forward curvature of her spine, limited neck rotation and reduced lung capacity. From Hong Kong to the Bay Area, her condition has puzzled many doctors and, to this day, she has yet to meet someone with the same disability.

Due to her limited neck rotation, she would not be able to drive safely without the use of assistive technology. The installation of cameras to cover blind spots and pedal extensions allows her to drive independently.

Since sophomore year, she’s been committed to dispelling the stigma of the anti-normative and encouraging students with disabilities to advocate for themselves. At Stanford, she has created Power to ACT: Abilities Coming Together, a student group dedicated to safe social spaces for students with invisible and visible disabilities. Throughout college, she has become more comfortable with her disability and welcomes you to ask her anything.

Nicole B. Torcolini's Biosketch:

Nicole Torcolini is a senior at Stanford University majoring in Computer Science with a focus in Human Computer Interaction. She lost most of her sight about four months after her fourth birthday due to cancer in the optic chiasm, and the cancer treatment also caused her to be slightly hard-of-hearing in both ears.

Nicole uses several different assistive technologies for the blind, most of which are electronic computer based, both during her leisure time and for her school work. Nicole has worked on designing assistive software both on her own and during internships. On her own, Nicole designed the Nemetex Nemeth Back-Translator™, which translates visually incomprehensible Braille math (Nemeth) that is produced on an electronic Braille notetaker into easily-readable print. She started her own web-based small business to make available to others. During summer internships, Nicole designed accessible mobile applications and help build tools for checking for accessibility - or more correctly, the lack thereof - in software.

Nicole has provided volunteer support in technology/software accessibility issues to Benetech, a Silicon Valley non-profit that uses technology innovation and business expertise to solve unmet social needs, as well as to a NASA project to add features to the Math Description Engine (MDE), graphing software which can convey the shape of graphs aurally.

Nicole has also participated in other assistive technology projects that were not software-based, including helping the Astronomy Department at the University of Washington develop a hands-on astronomy curriculum for the blind.

Do you have a question or comment? - David L. Jaffe, MS, the course instructor, can be reached by email or at 650/892-4464.