Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Okay, now I'm going to attempt to share my screen. [Text on screen: ASSISTIVE & REHABILITATIVE TECHNOLOGY ONLINE CERTIFICATE PROGRAM Overview session The Ohio State University] Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: And then, I'm gonna look to my colleagues to see, can they, give me a thumbs up if you can actually see stuff. Great, thank you. Alright everybody, I'm Carmen DiGiovine. I'm the Director of the Assistive and Rehabilitative Technology Certificate Program. Really excited to have everybody here and excited to give you an overview session on this new online certificate program. [Text on screen: Using assistive technology to improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities] [Image on screen: A person using a powered wheelchair sits in the driver's seat of an adapted vehicle equipped with assistive driving technology.] Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: So to start off with, I just want to talk about the mission of the program, the mission of the certificate program, when we were developing it. And in our mission, or our goal for the students, is that at the end, they'll be able to use assistive technology to improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities. And I'll even go a step further to expand that to assistive technology and rehabilitative technology. And I hope you see that theme throughout this, throughout today's presentation and also throughout the curriculum. I think it's very important to have a good idea of where you want to go, and this is this is our mission in terms of informing students as they work through the certificate program. [Text on screen: WELCOME - This webinar will be recorded for future use - All attendees will be muted - For questions, please use the chat function] Camren DiGiovine, PhD: So we'll start off with a little welcome. Usually I would say at this point, yeah, if you need to use the washroom during this presentation, you can go to, and of course, given that we're in this online environment, I don't have do that. My daughters would say that was a bad dad joke, so I'll leave it at that. For, from a logistics standpoint, the webinar will be recorded. All attendees will be muted throughout, and then just use the chat window for questions. I will be stopping twice during the presentation to answer questions, so if you want to ask questions during the presentation, that's totally fine, and we will be answering them throughout. The other, however, if you want to wait till the end, that's fine as well. [Text on screen: AGENDA - Presenter Introductions - Defining Assistive & Rehabilitative Technology - Program Design and Curriculum - Application Process - Q & A] Camren DiGiovine, PhD: So, our agenda today. We'll start off with introductions, then we'll talk about what is assistive \ technology and rehabilitative technology. I know for some of you that may be on the call, that may be something that you're very aware of and you've been, and you've heard many times before. But for other individuals who aren't familiar with this, we thought we would level set around what are these things that we're talking about in terms of AT and RT. We'll talk about the program design and curriculum. So what classes are involved in it, why did we develop it the way we did, what was the rationale for putting the certificate program together? And then finally, we'll talk a little bit about the logistics of the application process, what the tuition looks like. And because we have a graduate program and an undergraduate program, who would want to take courses in each of these areas. Then at the end, we'll end with a question and answer session. [Text on screen: PRESENTERS Carmen DiGiovine, Program Director Digiovine.1@osu.edu Amy Sonntag, Clinical Asst. Professor Sonntag.12@osu.edu Lisa Terek, Director, Student Services Terek.2@osu.edu Matt Nelis, Regional Director of Operations National Seating & Mobility] [Images on screen: Respective headshots of Carmean DiGiovine, Amy Sonntag, Lisa Terek, and Matt Neils.] Carmen Digiovine, PhD: So first, we'll start off with our esteemed presenters. Myself, I'm Carmen DiGiovine. I'm the program director for the ARTC, or the Assistive and Rehabilitative Technology Certificate Program. I've been at Ohio State University for 10 years, almost 11 years now, and I'm an associate professor with a clinical appointment. I also work in the assistive and rehabilitative technology, sorry, I also work in the Assistive Technology Center on the clinical side. So I get to work with physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech language pathologists on a regular basis. So, I'm going to turn it over to Amy to introduce herself. Amy Miller-Sonntag, SLPD: Thank you. I am Amy Miller-Sonntag, and I am a speech-language pathologist. I've been working in the field and with people who need augmentative and alternative communication for more than 20 years now, or close to that, start to lose count, and I've been at OSU for about five years. And I am really excited and proud to be part of this certificate program. Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Great. Thank you very much, Amy. And now, we'll turn it over to Lisa Terek, who will introduce herself. Lisa Terek, MS: Hi, everyone. I'm Lisa Terek. I'm the Director of Student Services in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. I have been at the university for over 15 years in various administrative positions. Thank you. Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Great. Thank you, Lisa. And finally, we'll have Matt Nelis introduce himself. Matt is the Regional Director of Operations for National Seating Mobility, and he's actually, you know, it's great that I'm here and Amy's here and Lisa's here, but I think it's actually most important that Matt's here because he provides the perspective of a potential future employer and talks about the big picture of why there's a need for assistive technology professionals in the field. So Matt, if you mind introducing yourself? Matt Nelis: Sure. Thanks, Carmen. So I would be the one person that, again, doesn't work for Ohio State, so I'm kind of the outsider here. But as Carmen said, my name is Matt Nelis. I work as a regional director in our Operations for National Seating Mobility. So we're a provider of the rehab equipment that clients see throughout this facility and others. I've been in the medical industry for close to 20 years, and the last, almost five now, with National Seating. So I'm super excited to be involved, and I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you all this evening. Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Great. Thank you very much, Matt. we're really happy to have you here today. So Matt will be talking a little bit later on in our presentation, giving you a little bit more background. [Text on screen: WHAT IS ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY? Services, devices, strategies and practices that are conceived and applied to improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities Cook and Polgar (2008)] [Image on screen: A Venn diagram illustrating the components of assistive technology. The diagram shows that effective assistive technology combines devices, services, strategies, and clinical practice, with assistive technology (AT) at the intersection of all four elements.] Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: So in terms of level setting around what is assistive technology. Assistive technology is services, devices, strategies, and practices that are conceived and applied to improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. And the thing, the reason this is important for the curriculum and the reason this is important for the program in general is that we don't just focus on the shiny devices, because those shiny devices are going to change over time. What we really do is we focus on the services, strategies, and practices. How do people use them? How do professionals who are getting into this field identify what is the most appropriate assistive technology for an individual, and how do they work with the consumer to, working together as an interprofessional team, decide what is going to be the technology that's going to allow them to perform the activities that they want to perform on a daily basis? [Text on screen: ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY] [Image on screen: A photograph of an assistive technology laboratory containing workstations, tools, and a variety of adaptive devices used for evaluation, training, and equipment development.] [Image on screen: A child uses assistive technology, including a wheelchair-mounted communication device, to interact with a computer.] [Image on screen: A group photograph of individuals, including wheelchair users, illustrating the collaborative and person-centered nature of assistive technology services.] [Image on screen: Two augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices with touchscreen interfaces used to support communication for individuals with speech impairments.] [Image on screen: A diagram of a smart home control system showing how assistive technology can operate household devices such as lights, televisions, and appliances to increase independence.] Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: And so just to get a sense of what does assistive technology look like, I'm gonna, you know, the World Health Organization talks about assistive technology from the highest level. That includes any type of technology that supports an individual with disability, which also includes orthotics and prosthetics. For the purposes of this curriculum, we focus on all assistive technology except for orthotics and prosthetics. So the picture that I have in front of you in the upper left-hand corner is equipment that are, is devices that are used in work-site accommodations. In the upper right-hand corner, we've got a picture of individuals using manual wheelchairs. In the lower left-hand corner, communication. In the lower right-hand corner, it's the internet of things, what we also call environmental control units or electronic activities for daily living. And the important part, and the reason I have the young man in the middle, is the important part is how do we bring all these pieces and parts together. And that's the important part of this course because the young man in the middle is using a head control to control his wheelchair, to control a computer, and control a communication device. So you can hear this theme off and on throughout the presentation today. [Text on screen: REHABILITATIVE TECHNOLOGY Services, Devices, Strategies, and Practices associated with the assessment, implementation, training and follow-up process.] [Image on screen: A Venn diagram illustrating rehabilitative technology (RT). The diagram shows that effective rehabilitative technology integrates devices, services, strategies, and clinical practice, with rehabilitative technology at the intersection of all four components.] Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: I then also want to talk for a second about rehabilitative technology. And rehabilitative technology focuses on, so it has a similar definition as assistive technology, but it focuses on the assessment, implementation, training, and follow-up processes. So just like we have technology that improves the quality life of individuals with disabilities, we also have technology that helps the clinician, helps the teacher, helps the engineer make decisions about how they're going to use that technology in the real world. [Text on screen: REHABILITATIVE TECHNOLOGY Services, Devices, Strategies and Practices associated with the assessment, implementation, training and follow-up process. Cook and Polgar (2008)] [Image on screen: A diagram illustrating the rehabilitative technology service delivery process. The cycle includes assessment, implementation, training, follow-up, and follow-along, emphasizing that rehabilitative technology requires ongoing evaluation and support to meet the user's changing needs.] Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: And the important part of all this is that this all fits into a process. So you're going to hear me talk throughout about the process and the strategies and the way that people use technology. And so, I just have a closed loop or a closed circle diagram showing that we start at the top with assessment, implementation, training, follow-up, and follow-along. And the rehabilitative technology helps the clinician, helps the consumer make decisions throughout this process. And we can easily use this closed-loop system or this circular diagram to describe the engineering design process. So it works both in the clinical sense and in the engineering design sense. [Text on screen: REHABILITATIVE TECHNOLOGY] [Image on screen: A clinician evaluates a wheelchair user using specialized assessment equipment, demonstrating the assessment and fitting process in rehabilitative technology.] [Image on screen: A wheelchair user participates in upper-body movement and positioning assessment as part of rehabilitative technology evaluation.] [Image on screen: A collection of adaptive switch devices used to allow individuals with limited mobility to control computers, communication devices, and other equipment.] [Image on screen: A computer interface used to configure and test adaptive switches, allowing clinicians to customize device settings for individual users.] [Image on screen: Pressure mapping software analyzes seating pressure distribution to identify high-pressure areas and optimize wheelchair seating and positioning.] [Image on screen: A wheelchair user performs a mobility assessment while software records speed, distance, and propulsion data to evaluate wheelchair performance.] Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: And there's a couple examples of rehabilitative technology. I have, on the far left, an example of a pressure mapping system, and so that gives us a sense of how is a seating system working for an individual. On the right, I have an example of the smart wheel, which allows us to measure how a person is propelling their wheelchair. So the important part is not the smart wheel itself, it's, the important part is that we're taking the time to measure how a person is propelling a wheelchair, and using that information. And then in the middle, at the top middle, is a picture of the compass system, which is a system that allows us to measure how a person is accessing their computer or communication device. And so, we use these types of things to help inform us to make the best decisions in terms of how, what type of assistive technology an individual could use. So I'm going to pause here for a second. This is my first pause, see if there's any questions or if Matt or Amy have anything that they want to add at this point. Amy Miller-Sonntag, SLPD: No, I'm good. Lisa Terek, MS: Carmen, there are no questions in the chat box at this time. Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Great. So I'm going to jump into why in the heck did we create this program? Why did we start this? [Text on screen: PROBLEM #1: TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION Permobil M3 https://permobilus.com/product/m3-corpus/ Cadillac Super Cruise https://www.cadillac.com/sedans/ct6-sedans Samsung SmartThings https://www.samsung.com/us/smart-home/smartthings/] [Image on screen: A Permobil M3 powered wheelchair, demonstrating advanced mobility technology that can be integrated with other assistive technologies to improve independence.] [Image on screen: The steering wheel of a Cadillac equipped with Super Cruise, illustrating driver assistance technology that can increase accessibility and support independent transportation.] [Image on screen: A home equipped with Samsung SmartThings, representing smart home technology that allows users to control lights, appliances, doors, and other household devices remotely or through adaptive controls.] Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: And so, there were two problems that we saw, and that I've seen throughout my career, that I felt like needed to be addressed. The first one is around technology integration. So I have a picture up here of a wheelchair, a power wheelchair. It doesn't matter what kind it is, it just happens that I have a Permobil M3 power wheelchair. Wheelchairs, in their inception, were all about mobility, but today, they do so many more things. So this power wheelchair can control other devices within an individual's home. The individual who is using this device, he actually controls it with head controls, and so there's this idea of how do you figure out what controls do you want to use, what technology do you want to use to integrate with everything else? And then you start thinking about technologies that aren't necessarily traditionally thought of as assistive technology. And I've got a picture up here of the Cadillac Super Cruise, which is a step in the direction of autonomous vehicles. And so, you can quickly think, how can we take autonomous, the technology out of an autonomous vehicle and add it to a power wheelchair to make it easier for an individual to use that power wheelchair? So those are some of the discussions that we have throughout these courses The other thing we do is we talk about, how can a person that's using a power wheelchair access a vehicle? And so, this, once again, gets us in that idea of how do we integrate these pieces and parts together? And the final piece that I have up here is Samsung SmartThings, and this represent the internet of things. Smart home technology, sometimes we talk about it in terms of environmental control units, and so, once again, how do we incorporate what a, the activities that a person with a disability wants to use within their home, how do we incorporate that technology into their own devices to make sure everything works together? And that's really the focus of this whole curriculum. When we start, I'm going to talk about the individual courses later on, but it's all about how do we incorporate technology that's considered medical technology with technology that's consumer technology, and then bring it up, bring it all together. [Text on screen: PROBLEM #2: ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONAL - Serendipity - Grass Roots - Piecemeal education in assistive technology and rehabilitation engineering] Carmen DiGiovine, Phd: The second problem that we feel like is the big problem is how do you become an assistive technology professional? That's a question that throughout my career, I've been asked often, and I think, I feel like that this program addresses that. So traditionally, people end up in this program, or in assistive technology, in this field, through serendipity. That's, I accidentally went to a presentation that had, about a new technology that was coming out to make kiosks. So this, I'm aging myself, but to automatic teller machines for banks, how to make them accessible. And I'm like, hey, this is a really cool area of interest. It's through grassroots. You know somebody else who's in this field, and they say, hey, come join us. And the last piece is that it's a, the education system around assistive technology is piecemeal. People pull courses together throughout the, throughout their professional career to learn more about assistive technology. And we wanted to address all three things, and there's actually, we're not the only program that's trying to do that right now. And we're doing that by creating a certificate program that allows an individual, allows a student to take four courses and get up to speed and get themselves ready for the Assistive Technology Professional Certification Exam. [Text on screen: SOLUTION: ASSISTIVE AND REHABILITATIVE TECHNOLOGY CERTIFICATE - Educate health science, engineering, rehabilitation counseling and education students and professionals on the application of science and technology for improving the quality of life of individuals with disabilities and older adults. - Provides a foundation of assistive technology and rehabilitative technology principles.] Carmen DiGiovine, Phd: So our solution is the Assistive and Rehabilitation Technology Certificate Program. The goal of the program is to educate health science, engineering, rehabilitation counseling, and education students and professionals on the application of science and technology for improving the quality of life of individuals with disabilities in older adults. And as you can see, there's that mission statement coming into what we're trying to do. And you can also see the interprofessional nature of assistive technology and rehabilitative technology, which makes this field so much fun to get into. So before I go into the courses that are in the program, just wanted to see if Matt and Amy had anything to add at this point? Okay. Amy Miller-Sonntag, SLPD. No, it sounds great to me. Matt Nelis: One thing, Carmen, I want to touch on, you know, I think is the problem number two that you mentioned, and how significant you guys are in creating this certificate program. There is an absolute, just a a gap of qualified folks going into this field because it isn't a typical, traditional course plan. And so in today's environment, and in our kind of ever-changing landscape, from a professional perspective, there are going to be a lot of opportunities in this field with the aging population exploding and the folks, fortunately or unfortunately, depending upon the viewpoint of the need for what we all do, is growing exponentially, but those who serve them hasn't kept up with that. So it is, I guess by all accounts, speaking from a business perspective, a good problem to have. But again, having the opportunity to to take these types of courses and get a head start on the certification process is tremendous for the folks to take advantage of it. Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Great, thank you very much for adding that piece, Matt. I think it's a really important part, and it's the part of the, it's the story that I've been hearing from a number of individuals is they can find potential in employees who have an engineering background or have a health science background, but don't, the engineers don't have the health science, and they need that part, or the health science, the individual with the health science background don't have that engineering or technology background, so this certificate program addresses that. [Text on screen: ASSISTIVE AND REHABILITATIVE TECHNOLOGY CERTIFICATE PROGRAM - Introduction to Assistive Technology - Computers, Communications and Contronls for Individuals with Disabilities - Assistive Technology for Seating and Mobility - Assistive Technology for Sports and Recreation - Augmentative and Alternative Communication (future) - Games for Health Promotion and Rehabilitation (future)] Lisa Terek, MS: Carmen, we have a question in regards to would this certificate help a disability career specialist to better prepare to help individuals and jobs? Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Yeah, yes, that's a great question. So one of the hard parts about putting this program together was identifying all the people that could benefit from this. So from a disability specialist part, when I think of workplace accommodation, RESNA has, and the Job Accommodation, the people who work in the Job Accomodation Network out of Georgia Tech, have been involved in the development of what technology will support individuals in their workplace environment. So the certificate program would help you by giving you that broad knowledge, which I'm going to talk about in the Introduction to Assistive Technology Program or Intro to System Technology course, but then you could identify areas of the certificate program that would also support finding the technology that would allow an individual with a disability to either go back to work, go to work for the first time, or to keep their job. And we've been involved in that aspect at the Assistive Technology Center, so they parallel each other quite well there. Okay, so I talked, that was a great segue because it gave me a chance to talk a little bit about the Introduction to Assistive Technology course. That intro course is exactly what it sounds like. It gives a broad overview of all the areas of assistive technology and really focuses on the steps in identifying appropriate technology for an individual, and also focuses on the steps of implementing that, the training that goes into that, the follow-up that goes into that process, and it sets the framework for the remaining courses. So we have specialty courses. The first one is Computers Communications, and Controls. So that gets into the internet of things. It gets into robotics. It gets into what are called zero effort technologies, so, and it gets into a little bit of remote monitoring. Then, the second course is AT for Seating and Mobility. And the third course is AT for Sports and Recreation, and I feel like those are pretty self-explanatory. I'm going to turn it over now to Amy to talk about an upcoming course that we're really excited to bring on board. Amy Miller-Sonntag, SLPD: Thanks. I am, was finishing the syllabus today, and actually got really excited, especially with that question in the chat, adding in a section on how people with AAC can use that technology to have employment and other recreation information, or ability to participate in recreation, beause one of the important things about AAC is that we really know the reasons we communicate and why. And I think with AAC, a lot of the times, we focus just on your wants and needs. And that's really important, but communication is really about social connection, and we do that in so many ways. Not just talking to someone face-to-face, but being able to use that same technology to write an email, to use that same technology to post to instagram and take a picture with a device, and possibly even being able to drive your wheelchair, or having the switches in your wheelchair control the device, and how it all hooks together. And I think this is a really exciting time, where it's getting more feasible that we can connect all these things together and still provide someone with effective communication, and especially for people who are not literate or may lose their literacy skills with disabilities as they potentially have a stroke or traumatic brain injury. And how we can best set up the foundation of how should information be arranged, and how should vocabulary be organized on a communication device to facilitate that effective use in all different settings, and even controlling the Samsung Smart Home and Alexa and all of the other internet of things that is available. It's really exciting. Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Thank you, Amy. And I, there's, at one point that Amy talked about that I want to highlight, and that point is that she was talking about stuff that happens in other courses, within her course. And so one of the things we've been cognitive about is trying to identify ways to loop the same concepts into multiple courses to make those connections. So it's not just you take one course and then you're done. You take one course and you apply it again and you apply it again, which hopefully, makes it, A, a better experience for you, but, B, more importantly, will hopefully make it easier for you to then leverage it in the real world and see how those applications can actually benefit you as a professional and the individual with a disability. The last course that we have coming online in the, at the end of 2021 is Games for Health Promotion and Rehabilitation. And so that'sm of course, that we look at the importance of virtual reality, augmented reality, and game theory in health promotion and rehabilitation. [Text on screen: EXAMPLE PROGRAM Summer Semester 12 Months: 1. Intro to AT 9 Months: Open Autumn Semester 12 Months: 2. Computers Communication & Controls 9 Months: 1. Intro to AT 2. Computers Communication & Controls Spring Semester 12 Months: 3. AT for Seating & Mobility 4. Augmentative and Alternative Communication 9 Months: 3. AT for Seating & Mobility 4. AT for Sports & Recreation] Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: So I just want to quickly say, give you an idea of what the curriculum can look like. It can be taken in 12 months, it can be taken in nine months, and it could be extended into 16 months depending on how you you want to tailor it. But to start off with a 12-month curriculum, you could start in the summer, take a course in autumn, and then be done with the courses by spring, get through all four courses because there's four courses for, to get the certificate. The nine-month curriculum, you would start in autumn, take Intro to Assistive Technology, Computers, Communications, and Controls, and then finish up with two more of the specialty courses in the spring. Of course, as I mentioned, you could extend that over a longer period of time if you only want to take one course per semester, but that's way you can get through the whole curriculum in nine months. [Text on screen: WHO IS OUR CUSTOMER? - Students - Non-degree seeking, Undergraduate, Graduate - Rehabilitation Technicians and Technologists - Engineers - Clinicians - Educators - Employers - School Districts - Healthcare Systems - Manufacturers - Suppliers - Graduate and Professional Schools] Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: So, I have this slide up of who is our customer, and I think I use the term customer because I started a company about in 2006, and so I'm really focused on who is the customer. And most places talk about the students as their customer, and the student is the core, this doesn't happen without the student. I also thought about the employers in the graduate and professional schools as our customers because we want to create, we want to give the students the best opportunity to be successful when they get their jobs, or in their current jobs, or if they want to go to graduate school and professional school. So we look at all these individuals as our customer moving forward. In terms of the types of students that we imagine coming through this program, we expect, we anticipate non-degree-seeking students, undergraduate students, and graduate students. And then, we expect people from a plethora of fields to to come into this program, and I'll talk a little bit more about the different types of, the different pathways through the program in terms of a non-degree-seeking, undergraduate, graduate, later on. But now, I'd like to turn it over a little bit to Matt. So I'm putting Matt on the spot here just to let everybody know because he's a great sport about this, just to talk about some of the opportunities. What does it look like as an ATP or what are some of the opportunities for somebody that is interested in this field? Matt Nelis: Sure, so you know our industry is, it's really, in many ways, I'm gonna sound a little bit odd in this. It's kind of broadly narrow. So it's a really small industry. To give some perspective, the CRT, or Complex Rehab Technology industry that my company is a part of, is really a subset of the Durable Medical Equipment industry, so the DME. DME is only less than roughly two percent of Medicare, which is driving the bus from a payer perspective in our industry, given that a large number of folks that are served through what we do are of Medicare. Again, that's a growing population. So it's kind of a small industry, but it's broad in the sense of the number of opportunities that are available. Historically, as Carmen said early on, we got folks who sort of fell into this business. They may have been a respiratory therapist or their mom needed a wheelchair, so they went somewhere and got one and then realized there wasn't anybody to help take care of them, there wasn't enough proper equipment, and they learned on the fly. And next thing you know, they own their own DME company. And to that end, just us alone, we've got a significant number of our ATPs, and we employ at NSM probably around 420 or 430 ATPs across the US and Canada. And a significant number, probably 40% or higher, have been in the industry for 15 plus years, and are in the next probably five years approaching their retirement age. So not only as a practicing ATP, from a provider perspective, are there great opportunities, but we, not just in my company, but our industry, also has ATPs that are working in the supply chain side of things, so working directly with the manufacturers, of course, working for the manufacturers to give the clinical and engineering perspective on how things should be created. The payer relations side of things, or lobbying, which is kind of an ugly word, is incredibly significant. Part of what Carmen mentioned, in sort of that problem number one about technology, the technology in our industry has outpaced the payment side of this, has outpaced the legislative side of this probably fivefold. There are technologies that are created that help not only individuals with better mobility, but improving their, the things they're doing every day, but increasing and improving their dignity and self-respect. And many of those technologies are not paid for by the client's insurance, so it leaves this gap of things that need to be paid for. So folks coming into this industry with an understanding, you know, in the ATP side of it can help educate payers, can help educate legislators, and really advocate on behalf of their clients and our patients, which is exactly something you do in the healthcare site, right. Therapists and nurses and doctors are advocates for their patients, and that's something that is widely available for what we do as well. So it really is kind of a broad spectrum of areas where there's availability and opportunity. And it's, as I mentioned, it's growing exponentially in terms of where the opportunities are within what we do. And it's not just a mobility perspective, as was mentioned before. Aging in place is a term now, which is individuals who want to remain at home as long as possible. So what does their environment look like? We're no longer looking at how do we help the individual with their mobility need, but how do we help them through, as you saw through these courses, how does that integrate every other aspect of their life? How does that work in their home environment? What does their home environment look like? How can that be adapted for them to be safe and comfortable there? How do they get to and from the doctor? So looking at transportation needs. It's really a broad-based industry, and having an understanding as an ATP gives you a foundational level knowledge that is incredibly valuable in, across the entire spectrum of this industry. Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Great. Thank you very much, Matt. You know, the two things I want to highlight is that you talked about, was the the broad spectrum of even if your primary focus is on mobility, that mobility has to interact with everything else you need, this broad-based understanding of assistive technology. And the second thing is that I heard was the interprofessional nature and the ability to work with people in very different fields because technology affects individuals with disabilities across all settings, and so that was really cool, so thank you. Amy, is there anything that you want to add at this point? Amy Miller-Sonntag, SLPD: No. I am really excited, Matt, about all the things you talked about and I just get excited to see all these things coming together in one program because I think a lot of the experience in my career has been piecemealing together, and so it's very exciting to see this. Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Thank you very much. [Text on screen: RESNA Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America - Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) - resna.org - Mission: To improve the health and well-being of people with disabilities through technology. - Certification - resna.org/certification - Assistive Technology Professional (ATP) - Seating and Mobility Specialist (SMS) - Accreditation (future) - resna.org/Program-Accreditation] Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: So I just want to finish my part today just talking a little bit about RESNA. I've been a member of RESNA for, well, since 1994, so however long that is, a long time. But one of the questions I get is, will this certificate program decrease the amount of work experience that you need for the rest of the certification? So the Assistive Technology Professional Cerrtification and the Seating and Mobility Specialist Certification. It won't decrease the work hour requirements. What it will do, it will prepare you to take the exam, it will prepare you. We built the curriculum, RESNA puts out a guide of what is on the exam, and we use that information to help us develop the program. So it will help prepare you for that component. There's two components to the certification. A work component, an education component, and then the test itself, and this will help you with the test. The second piece is, I get asked, are we accredited by RESNA because you can get a, schools can get accredited by RESNA now. We are not at this point, but that is something that we are looking forward to in the future. The exciting thing for me is that there are three programs that are accredited. They take very different tax than we do to providing the education, and I'll, they're University of Pittsburgh, University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, and University of Illinois in Chicago. And you would think I wouldn't want to talk about them, but I'm actually very proud of the fact that there's some organizations that are, some institutions that are able to take that leadership role and start the accreditation process, and so we'll be looking to them to help us develop the, get accredited for our program. [Text on screen: WHICH CERTIFICATE IS RIGHT FOR YOU? The Undergraduate Certificate Program is designed for - High school graduates or those enrolled in or have completed a bachelor's degree. - Individuals currently employed as a rehabilitation technician or technologist or are looking to become one. - Undergraduate students who are currently enrolled in engineering, health sciences, special education program or applicable program. The Graduate Certificate Program is designed for - Those enrolled in or graduated from a graduate or professional program. - Individuals looking for a post-professional certificate to set themselves apart in their current job or in future employment. - Graduate students who are currentlty enrolled in engineering, health sciences, special education program or applicable program. *Students must complete coursework for the certificate of admission] Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: So I think I'm going to turn it over to Lisa at this point. Lisa Terak, MS: Great. Thank you, Carmen. We actually have two questions. I was wondering if you thought maybe you could address them now, or if you'd like to wait? The first one is in regards to the actual curriculum of the AT program, ATC program. Can you test out of any of the courses, such as the Intro to Athletic Training, or do you need to take all of the courses to actually get the certificate? Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Yeah, that's a great question. The way it's set up right now is that you have to take four courses to complete the certificate program. That doesn't mean that you can't, if you feel like that there's a course that you already have that knowledge around it, that you can't take the other courses. The courses are available on an a-la carte basis. The nice thing about the certificate is that it makes it much easier when you're trying to demonstrate to other individuals, other external individuals, namely a future employer, about the type of education that you have, and why you would be the best person for this job or the best person for a new role within your organization, to have that complete package through the certificate program. The other thing that we were thinking about in terms of this was we wanted more than three specialty courses, so that if you were, already had a good base of knowledge in let's say Augmented Alternative Communication or Seating and Mobility, you would have other options in terms of courses to take. Lisa Terek, MS: Perfect. I think the next question would be, this would be a good place to ask it. It says, can you talk a little bit more about the types of jobs you could get with an ATP certificate? And then the follow-up is, is there a national exam that needs to be taken at the end of the coursework to get the certificate? Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Okay, so yeah. Two great questions there. The first question around the types of jobs. We have Matt on the call to talk specifically about the role of the complex rehab technology suppliers, it's a mouthful, specifically ATPs who are working in the seating and mobility realm. So that's more of a combined sales and identifying the right technology for an individual. The other areas that we often see individuals getting jobs in are clinicians who want to work in an assistive technology center, so then that way, that demonstrates that they're a clinician that has more experience. So an occupational therapist, physical therapist, speech language pathologist in a given area. The other one is, I find are individuals who want to work for manufacturers. So one of the interesting things is I've seen this, in putting this program together, been following what's going on online, and I've seen a lot of requests for looking for people who can work for large corporations, such as a Microsoft and Apple and Amazon, in terms of their, working in their accessibility division. I've seen it from, Disney actually has internships around this, and then I've seen it in terms of manufacturers of assistive technology, who are specifically looking for people, looking for engineers that have that clinical background or have more that health sciences background. And they're also looking for the health science individuals who have a little bit of technology background, so they don't have to train them up, and then they would, could work in a sales position. And when I say sales, sales in assistive technology is not about going out and pitching to companies. It's about supporting the clinicians that are working with, and the other professionals that are working with the individual with a disability. So that's some of the examples of types of technology. And then what was the second? Lisa Terek, MS: The second one was, is there a national exam that needs to be taken at the end of the coursework to get the certificate? Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: So, there is a national exam. RESNA is the one that administers the exam. It's the Assistive Technology Professional exam, and it's an exam that you take at a testing site. That's just one of three pieces that are necessary to get the certification, and I just want to be clear that the RESNA certification is separate from our certificate program. So you can complete, you'll complete the certificate program, and you'll have, I want to call it diploma, but you'll have a piece of paper for the certificate program, and there's not an additional exam that's required for that aspect. Lisa Terek, MS: One more question before we jump into the difference between the undergrad and the graduate certificate. Bethany would like you to talk a little bit more about the work experience that is required to take the ATP certificate. Can you speak more about that? Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Yeah, absolutely. So the work the amount of work experience is tied to the type of job, oh no, sorry. Let me stop that. The amount of work experience is tied to your educational experience. So the more educational experience you have, the less time you have to spend in terms, to meet the work requirement. So that's the first piece. And I don't know those numbers off the top of my head, so I recommend going to the RESNA Assistive Technology, the RESNA ATP website. The second piece is that you have to demonstrate that in that work experience, that that work experience relates to assistive technology. And in my experience, a lot of people think that that means high-end assistive technology, that you've worked in an assistive technology center, and that's not the case. People work, people that are working with individuals with disabilities, naturally are working with assistive technology on a regular basis. It can be low-tech or high-tech. It doesn't have to all come from working in an assistive technology center. And so the thing that you have to do is tell that story when you're applying for the certification. Tell that story that yes, I've worked so many hours in this area, and this is how I interacted with assistive technology, and it may be low technology or high technology. Lisa Terek, MS: Wonderful, thank you. Thank you to Amy for providing links to the ATP certificate and regarding work hours and the exam. We'll go ahead, we had a question about the application process and that's going to be in the next couple of slides, so we'll go ahead and talk about that now. If it's okay, Carmen, I'll go ahead and speak a little bit about the differences between the undergraduate certificate and the graduate certificate. There are differences in regards to which one might fit an individual in regards to your education. Those that are high school graduates, who may have some or no none college credit, or those who have actually completed a bachelor's degree may be more interested in the undergraduate certificate. This could also be applied to those that are currently employed as rehabilitation technicians or technologists, or if you're looking to become one. And then for those undergrad students who are currently enrolled in an applicable program, we listed a few there, engineering, health sciences, or health-related special education-type programs. If this is something that is of interest and they can see the future of the certificate, the undergrad certificate, would be the best designed for that. For those that are looking at the graduate certificate, this is geared more towards individuals who are currently enrolled in, or may have graduated from a graduate or professional program. Maybe those that are thinking about going on for graduate education after their baccalaureate degree. A graduate certificate would also be appropriate as a post-professional certificate to set yourself apart in a current job, or maybe in a future position that you are thinking about. And then the certificate is also applicable to current graduate students, again, in an applicable program such as engineering, something in regards to health or health sciences, or a special ed program. The curriculum, though, is different for the undergrad and the graduate program. The course numbers are the same, but the outcomes and expectations will vary in regards to those taking it as an undergrad and those taking it as a graduate certificate. So I'm going to ask Dr. DiGiovine to talk a little bit more since he designed the classes, in regards to really what separates the curriculum from those that are in the undergrad versus the graduate portion. Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Right. Thank you, Lisa. So for both undergraduate and graduate students, we focus on a broad base of topics. So we're trying to get to a threshold that everybody could, would be prepared to take the ATP certification exam. The graduate student, the thing that they get is we have an understanding of, or an expectation of that that individual has experience as a clinician or as a engineer or as a health science, and what we do is we take that experience and apply it and build it into the course. So the example I like to give is that we have a number of discussion posts throughout the course, they're case studies, and we have the undergraduate students start off the discussion of this is where they're at in terms of understanding the goals of the individual with the disability and the background of the individual with the disability. And then, we have the grad students jump in as mentors to help support the undergrads. And the reason we do that is because from a metacognition standpoint, from a standpoint of what allows you to learn best, is there's an expectation that the grad student be able to teach a little bit and be, help those undergrad students develop their skills and to leverage the graduate students' experience. The other thing we do is we have a higher focus in terms of evidence-based practice and the application of evidence-based packages. So that's really what sets the undergrad courses apart from, the undergrad sections apart from the grad sections. Everybody is in the same, I want to make this distinction, everybody is in the course together. They're all working together. It's supporting each other that makes it a better experience for all the students that are involved. Lisa Terek, MS: Great. Also, too, if you would advance to the next slide. [Text on screen: ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS Undergraduate Certificate Program - An earned high school diploma - Minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA (on a 4.0 scale) in all coursework taken at all accredited higher education institutions - Completion of the online undergraduate application available at gpadmissions.osu.edu *Students must complete coursework for the certificate of admission] Lisa Terek, MS: The admissions requirements are slightly different in regards to applying to the undergrad certificate versus the graduate. For the undergrad certificate, if you do not have college coursework, an earned high school diploma is required. And then if you do have some, or you completed a baccalaureate degree, a minimum 2.0 GPA is also required. And then, I've also attached the link to the online undergraduate application for those interested in this undergrad certificate. [Text on screen: ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS Graduate Certificate Program - Eligible for admission to the Graduate School at Ohio State University as evidenced by: - A baccalaureate or professional degree from an accredited college or university, earned by the expected date of entry into the certificate program - A minimum of a 3.0 cumulative GPA (on a 4.0 scale) for the last degree earned - Or currently enrolled as a degree-seeking student in a graduate program at Ohio State with a minimum of a 3.0 cumulative GPA - Completion of the online graduate application gpadmissions.osu.edu - Applicants currently enrolled as a degree-seeking student in a graduate program at Ohio State University, must complete a Graduate Intra-University transfer - All other applicants must complete a graduate level application located at gpadmissions.osu.edu *Students must complete coursework for the certificate of admission] Lisa Terek, MS: We'll go on to the graduate. It's a little more complicated, so I apologize for all the text. It's, to be eligible for the graduate certificate, one must have graduated from a baccalaureate or a professional degree. Again, like we mentioned, it can be in, you know, any program that's applicable for the certificate. The GPA requirement is a little bit higher at a 3.0 cumulative on a four-point scale for the last degree that was earned. So if, that would be for those individuals who may have completed their undergrad and are looking to pursue additional education at the graduate level. There is also eligibility for those students that are currently in a graduate program at the Ohio State University, and again, there is a minimum 3.0 GPA. So I know we have a couple students who are interested in graduate education and going on for the certificate, so the latter would be the requirement in them for those individuals who may have been out of school for a little bit and are looking to go on into graduate education, the eligibility is the first one. Not to make things a little bit difficult, but there are the two application pathways. If you are a degree seeking student at the Ohio State University, you would complete a graduate intra-university transfer application, not the actual graduate level application that those that are not currently enrolled at Ohio State would complete. So again, if you have any questions in regards to what application is best to complete or which certificate level, undergrad or graduate, that you would have, please, please reach out to either myself or Dr. DiGiovine and we would be more than happy. I'm kind of more of the nuts and bolts, so if you're having any difficulty locating the application, I would be very happy to assist you with locating the correct application. [Text on screen: APPLICATION DEADLINES Autumn 2020 - July 15, 2020 Spring 2021 - November 30, 2020 Summer 2021 - April 1, 2021] Lisa Terek, MS: Alright, we'll go ahead and talk a little bit about the application deadline. So we are actually still accepting applications for our Autumn 2020 start. The deadline will be July 15th of 2020. The application itself is not complex in nature. There are requirements in regards to providing a statement based on the question that is posted on the application. You will also be required to upload a CV or a resume so that we can see the types of activities and experiences that you have been doing throughout your career. And then I believe there's also an activities, and a, kind of an activity sheet portion, where you can also add additional experiences and activities that may not be on your resume. And that is pretty much the application alongside some biographical demographic information that's required. So it really won't be that difficult, however, we do have step-by-step instructions on our website that could help you. But again, if you do run into any difficulties, please feel free to reach out to me, and I will assist you with those questions. The nice thing about the certificate program is that we have rolling admission, so we will be doing admissions every semester. So the next one after autumn will be spring of 2021, and that deadline will be November 30th of this year. And then, we will continue along in the summer of 2021 with a deadline of April 1st. We usually do post future semesters at least two semesters in advance, so we'll be posting our autumn 2021 deadlines here in a little bit, but there's definitely many opportunities to apply for the certificate program. [Text on screen: CERTIFICATE TUITION Undergraduate Ohio Residents: - Total Estimated Cost for Certificate* = $5,692 - Instructional Fees = $1,275 - General Fee = $48 - Distance Learning Fee (semester/flat) = $100 - Non-Resident Fee-(semester/flat rate) = N/A Domestic Non-Residents: - Total Estimated Cost for Certificate* = $5,732 - Instructional Fees = $1,275 - General Fee = $48 - Distance Learning Fee (semester/flat) = $105 - Non-Resident Fee-(semester/flat rate) = $5 Graduate Ohio Residents: - Total Estimated Cost for Certificate* = $9,344 - Instructional Fees = $2,167 - General Fee = $69 - Distance Learning Fee (semester/flat) = $100 - Non-Resident Fee-(semester/flat rate) = N/A Domestic Non-Residents: - Total Estimated Cost for Certificate* = $9,384 - Instructional Fees = $2,167 - General Fee = $69 - Distance Learning Fee (semester/flat) = $105 - Non-Resident Fee-(semester/flat rate) = $5 *Cost for enrollement in the four required courses] Lisa Terek, MS: And then, another area where you may see some difference between the undergraduate and the graduate certificate is in tuition. Because this is an online certificate, you will be paying tuition for online education, as you can see, and let me just go ahead and explain. The second row is the total estimated cost for the certificate after, or taking in the four courses that are required, and each course is at three credits. So if you look at instructional fees, general fees, the distance learning fee, and times that by, I believe four, if I did the math a while ago, you'll get the $5,692, but that would be the total cost for Ohio residents for the undergrad certificate. If you are out of state, it would slightly, just a little bit higher, at $5,732 for the undergrad. Now, graduate education across the board is higher than an undergraduate tuition fee. So we're looking at, for Ohio residents completing the four courses, we'll be at $9,344, and there's just a slight difference for non-Ohio residents. So if you, again, if you have any questions in regards to tuition, the application process, admissions area, please feel free to reach out to me. And I think I went ahead, we had a question in regards to what is the cost, so I went ahead and explained that there. [Text on screen: Assistive and Rehabilitative Technology Certificate Program Q & a Please submit questions using the chat function.] Lisa Terek, MS: So if there aren't any other questions before we get into the Q&A, which is right there. please go ahead and submit your questions using the chat function. Dr. DiGiovine, did I cover everything? Do you have anything you'd like to add? Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: No, that was great, thank you very much. And I'm pulling up the chat window here. So we've got, what is the cost, I think we answered the application process question. So it looks like we have all of the chat questions answered. Am I seeing this correctly? Lisa Terek, MS: Oh, we have another one that says for OSU employees, do they cover the cost of the certificate. From what I've gathered, they will. I would speak with your HR representative for your unit to ensure that, you know, how the process is. To my knowledge, it's automatic that once you register for the classes, that the system identifies you as an OSU employee and does go ahead and process your tuition payment. I would just definitely work with your HR representative to ensure that there aren't any additional steps. I believe that per semester, they, the university covers up to ten credits, which is obviously, the certificate's 12, so you would definitely be within that realm, but that's ten per semester, so you should be okay. Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Great, thank you. Well, if there aren't any other questions, I'd like to say thank you to Matt for joining us today, I really appreciate it. And of course, Amy and Lisa. This is now our second go-around with this, so it's, I feel like we're actually getting this down pat. So this has been great, and I appreciate everybody staying on the call today, joining us today. [Text on screen: CONTACT INFORMATION Carmen P. DiGiovine, PhD ATP/SMS RET - Digiovine.1@osu.edu or carmen.digiovine@osumc.edu - 614.293.7876] Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: And once again, I'm just going to flash up here the, my email address is carmen.digiovine@osumc.edu. [Text on screen: THANK YOU! If you have questions please contact us: HRScertificates@osumc.edu.] Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: And then our general mailbox is HRScertificates@osumc.edu, and that's if you have specific questions. And if you just want to use the HRScertificate@osumc.edu email, Lisa will route any questions to me. So if you want to use that as a generic one. Amy Miller-Sonntag, SLPD: Carmen, one other question popped up in the chat. Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Yeah. Amy Miller-Sonntag, SLPD: Is the undergrad certificate program a benefit to me if I already have the RESNA ATP certification? Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: So it's not a benefit in terms of getting, obviously getting the certificate, the certification. Where it can benefit you is, and this is my personal opinion, is twofold. The first one is it'll help you with your, continuing that so you can use it for your continuing education requirements. The second thing, and I think maybe the more important thing is that the ATP certification is a minimum threshold. It's that minimum threshold to participate as an ATP within the assistive technology community community. These courses definitely go above and beyond that, so the courses will allow you to take that next step in your professional, whatever position that you're in, and to whatever you think that next step would be within your organization or within another organization. Amy Miller-Sonntag, SLPD: And depending on the work setting, people in public schools, you might be able to use these credits in this certificate program to move up on the pay scale, in terms of you didn't go and get another advanced degree or another degree, but you have some level of additional education that helps bump up the scale. And I haven't worked in the schools or talked to an Ohio schools person in a while to know exactly what that is, but there are some options if you're in the public school system to leverage something like this for increased opportunities that, in your job, but also for increased dollars in your paycheck at times. Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Thank you, everybody. Well, at this point, we'll wrap up, and thank you once again for spending your evening with us. Have a great day, everyone. How do I? Lisa Terek, Ms: Okay, alright, Carmen. Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Alright. I think, I gotta figure out how to stop recording. There we go. Lisa Terek, MS: Okay. Carmen DiGiovine, PhD: Oops.