FFY 2021 ABLE Tech Annual Report

Developmental Disabilities Council of Oklahoma (DDCO)

ABLE Tech is thrilled to collaborate with DDCO to provide assistive technology devices and services to support two outstanding programs: Partners in Policymaking (PIP) and Youth Leadership Forum (YLF). PIP is an 8-weekend disability advocacy training for parents of children with a disability, adults with a disability, and professionals in the field of developmental disabilities or related fields. The goal is to provide the skills needed to engage effectively with legislators, state and/or local policymakers, and others to advocate for change. YLF is a 5-day leadership training program for high school students with a disability. Participants work together to learn skills needed to advocate for themselves after high school is over. Participants stay on a college campus, discuss and practice leadership skills in collaborative games, meet legislators, and begin their leadership plan. ABLE Tech’s Device Demonstration and Short-Term Loan Program collaborate to provide a broader scope of devices and services statewide through this DDCO partnership.

National Accessible Educational Materials (AEM) Center

ABLE Tech led Oklahoma’s AEM Cohort team through year 1 of the 4-year project to improve access to literacy and educational opportunities for individuals across the lifespan. The core state-level AEM leadership team includes representatives from the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE), the AIM Center at the Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Liberty Braille, Decoding Dyslexia Oklahoma, and ABLE Tech. Interagency Collaborative representatives include the SoonerStart Early Intervention Program; Byng and Norman Public Schools, and Oklahoma School for the Blind; Tulsa Community College and Southwestern Oklahoma State University, the State Department of Career and Technology Education, the Oklahoma Parents Center, and the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services.

This year ABLE Tech collaborated with team members to accomplish the following:

• Create an AEM Technical Assistance (TA) Document including guidance on the quality provision of AEM across the lifespan. The previous TA Document only included guidance for students with disabilities, K-12, and those who serve them.
• Update Oklahoma’s Secondary Transition Handbook to include topics of AT and AEM in major sections of the document including Actions Related to Strengths and Limitations, Utilization of Resources, Supports, and Questions to ask Students, and Questions Students Should Ask Providers. The previous handbook had no mentions of AT and AEM.
• Incorporate AEM quality indicators into a 3-part workshop series on the topic of AT offered to special educators and related service providers in coordination with OSDE.

Oklahoma Assistive Technology Foundation (OkAT)

OkAT has partnered with ABLE Tech since its inception in 2001 to assist Oklahomans with disabilities in getting the assistive technology and durable medical equipment they need. OkAT's primary mission is to promote community development through assisting Oklahomans with disabilities of all ages and their family members, advocates, and authorized representatives or entities to increase understanding, access to, and acquisition of assistive technology through financial loans, financial education, and other identified resources. The collaboration results in the successful implementation of ABLE Tech’s Financial Loan Program. The great work of the program could not be achieved without this partnership!

OkAT was awarded a 2021 Administration for Community Living (ACL) grant for $521,593. Oklahoma is one of 4 state alternative financial loan programs to receive this opportunity.

Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services (OKDRS) 

It has been through strong collaboration between the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services (OKDRS) and ABLE Tech that Oklahoma continues to be a leader in providing accessible technology to its citizens and workforce. Partnerships with OKDRS, the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES), the Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development (OOWD), the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE), the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE), the Southwest Americans with Disabilities Act (SWADA) Center support training and technical assistance to targeted audiences building capacity statewide. Through these collaborations, agencies and organizations have improved service delivery, and Oklahomans with disabling conditions statewide have greater equity and timely access to information, services, educational/employment/community opportunities, with the ultimate goal of “Access for All”. Additional agency support goes to the ABLE Tech Financial Loan Program helping individuals with disabilities purchase needed AT and DME at a low-interest rate.

ABLE Tech also collaborates with OKDRS for the provision of the staff support services for the Oklahoma Rehabilitation Council (ORC) as set forth in Section 105 and Section 4.2 of the State Plan of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. ORC is to facilitate consumer education and empowerment, to assure services are of high quality and lead to the employment of individuals with disabilities in Oklahoma.

During FFY 2021, the ORC fulfilled all membership requirements of Section 105 of the Rehabilitation Act with appointments by the Governor. ORC had 18 members, 3 being ex-officio nonvoting members from the Designated State Agency (DSA). Of the voting members, 60% of the Council is represented by persons with disabilities. The council members are a cross-section of individuals with disabilities who have a stake in vocational rehabilitation services.

Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) 

ABLE Tech’s Device Reuse Program would not be made possible without the financial and programmatic support of OHCA (Oklahoma’s Medicaid Agency also known as SoonerCare). Through increased collaboration, greater communication is occurring with SoonerCare members which should lead to many more successful matches of appropriate DME!

Through an ongoing agreement with OHCA, ABLE Tech is a DME Provider of Speech-Generating Devices, specifically vending iPads, communication apps, cases, and accessories to eligible SoonerCare members under the age of 21. During FFY 2021 ABLE Tech facilitated the acquisition of 25 iPads as SGDs to Oklahomans through this collaboration.

Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE)

OSDE has been a dedicated partner, collaborating with ABLE Tech on all major State Level and State Leadership activities to better serve students with disabilities in Oklahoma and the administrators, educators, and related service providers who support them. OSDE leveraged funds are used each year to increase the Device Demonstration and Short-Term Loan inventory and provide training, technical assistance, public awareness, and information and referral to school administrators, educators, and related service providers. In FFY2021, 223 representatives of education participated in device demonstrations, 359 borrowed AT for short-term loans, and 1,130 participated in ABLE Tech trainings. Topics include AT devices and services, funding, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Accessibility. Every year, OSDE is a proud supporter of ABLE Tech’s premier ICT Accessibility conference, TechAccess Oklahoma. It was offered virtually again this year, April 20 through April 22; speakers from as far away as Norway presented 9 sessions over Zoom. In all, over 600 people participated across all three days. One attendee participated online from New Zealand!

ABLE Tech also collaborates with OSDE to operate the Special Education Resolution Center (SERC). In FFY 2021, 11 Special Education Due Process hearings were resolved by SERC - keeping state dollars in the classroom educating students. Due Process proceedings can cost the state an average of $300,000; therefore, resolved hearing requests saved Oklahomans approximately $3,300,000.

Southwest Americans with Disabilities Act Center (SWADA)

In FFY 2021 ABLE Tech finalized deliverables for a 5-year contract with SWADA and …started a new one! The collaboration with SWADA provides additional leveraged funds and support for ABLE Tech to provide information and communication (ICT) Accessibility services in Oklahoma. ABLE Tech works to ensure ICT Accessibility compliance for those entities for which Oklahoma’s Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility (EITA) law addresses (i.e. state agencies, higher education institutions, Career Tech systems, and Workforce centers) and the Office of Management and Enterprise Systems (OMES) as the keeper of the state ICT Accessibility standards.