How often do you get to preview a movie, the day before it is released to the public?  Members of the DPC and friends got to do that on Thursday evening as more than 70 of us gathered at 89 South Street and shared a special viewing of The Wounds We Cannot See a new documentary by filmmaker Alexander Freeman. Freeman's company Outcast Productions 

http://www.outcastproductions.biz/ uses film to promote social justice and equality.

The DPC wishes to thank the Matthew V. Joslin Fund which co-sponsored our event.

You can rent or purchase the movie here.

Alexander and the subject of the film Nancy Ross were both on hand to answer audience questions and discuss the movie.  

We would like to thank Nancy for sharing her story with everyone.

We will be offering the MIT class on Principles and Practice of Assistive Technologies ( ppat.mit.edu) again this fall. This is a project-based course in which small teams of students work closely with a person with a disability to design a device, piece of equipment, app, or other solution that helps the client live more independently. Over the course of the term, each team meets with their client regularly, iterates through multiple prototypes, and learns about the challenges and realities of designing assistive technologies for people with disabilities.

We are looking for clients in the Boston/Cambridge area with good project ideas. We have just opened the call for clients for fall 2017. Please consider submitting your project ideas and/or forwarding the information below to any appropriate contacts you have.

Thanks again,
Julie

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In an MIT class on Principles and Practices of Assistive Technology (PPAT/6.811/HST.420/2.78), clients with disabilities join teams engineering students to create customized assistive technology solutions. We are looking for clients with specific project ideas for our class this upcoming fall.

We hope to find sixteen adventurous individuals who face daily life challenges related to their disability. 

Potential clients must:

• Have one or more specific project ideas in mind;
• Be based in Cambridge, MA or nearby;
• Be easily accessible via phone or email;
• Be available to meet in-person with students for approximately one hour every week from mid-September through early December;
• Be open to new experiences and willing to give active feedback to the students.

Previous client projects have included:

• A nurse call system for a residence for people with neurological conditions:
• A coffee cup holder for a crutch-user: 
• A text-to-speech app for people who cannot communicate clearly: 

If you are interested in participating as a client, please complete the brief application at https://goo.gl/forms/1ua4UG6ptcZihicE3.

 

Applications will be considered on rolling basis until August 7. Due to the number of applications received, we regret that we can only respond to individuals with project ideas that pass an initial screening. If your project idea advances to that stage, we will be in touch to answer your questions and confirm mutual interest.

Best regards,

Julie

Julie Greenberg, PhD
Director of Education and Senior Lecturer

Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology
Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
MIT Room E25-518 617-258-6086

July 25, 2017, 9:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M.

Barnstable Senior Center

August 2, 2017, 10:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.

Elder Services of Berkshire County

Governor Charles D. Baker's Council to Address Aging in Massachusetts will hold listening sessions to hear ideas about how to make the Commonwealth the most livable state for people of all ages. Join us to make an impact on your community!

Specifically, we would like to hear about:

• What factors make your community a great place to grow older?
• How can we support families that include one or more older adults?
• How can we promote more human connectedness (reduce loneliness, isolation) in communities?
•  What are the top two issues or concerns that create barriers to people
• being able to age well in their communities?
• How can we accelerate innovation to support and connect older adults?
• How can we change public perceptions about aging?