partnership Archives - Penn-Mar

Assistive Technology Solutions Enhance Supports for People with Disabilities

ggorham — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 19:15:48 +0000

This article was originally published in World of Possibilities Magazine’s Fall 2024 edition. It was written by Allis Kensing, Enabling Technology Manager at Penn-Mar.

My first experience with Assistive Technology (AT) solutions was in 2016 while working for a provider to find employment opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I was intrigued with its potential and the limitless possibilities beyond that function.

By definition, Assistive Technology is any item, piece of equipment, software program, or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of persons with disabilities.

When strategically adapted, it promotes autonomy, self-direction and community engagement and can help address direct care workforce shortages with different types of remote supports.

We are all familiar with the more common technology tools such as computers, tablets and cell phones. But there are many other items – both high and low tech – that can also be considered AT tools. They can be:

Simple low-tech items like Post-it notes, highlighters, and picture boards.
Adaptive tools for dressing, cutting, meal prep and dining.
Remote devices that make it easy to turn on the TV and seamlessly flip through the channels
Magnifiers in different shapes and sizes with options to increase magnification, turn on a light, or take a picture to enlarge type and make it easier to read.
Wheelchairs, canes, and walkers to improve mobility and provide safety.
Sock aids designed to assist with putting on socks more easily.
Talking alarm clocks that start the day on time
Medication dispensers hooked up to an APP to remind people what time to take their meds.
Headphones that deliver white noise and meditative music to help people focus on the moment and block out an overstimulated sensory environment.
Siri and Alexa voice assists, Google Home and virtual date planners.

I think you get the point: we’ve come a long way from the days of using picture boards to help people with disabilities create independent lives!

The Turning Point

Certainly, the pandemic created the perfect storm for providers to start thinking creatively about how they could connect with the people they support while they were homebound and unable to participate in Day Programs and community outings. FaceTime, Zoom, and Google Meet helped to bridge the gap, but the times demanded even more creative thinking from families, team members and the people supported themselves.

Organizations began to explore the vast potential of AT to better provide education, stimulation, connection and independence to counteract the imposed isolation as well as the shortage of Direct Support Professionals (DSPs). Subsequent studies and discussions in our field verify that this was the explosive moment for AT solutions.

Educate Yourself and Your Team

No doubt many of you are, and have been, using a variety of the AT items listed above. But how do you take the next step to ensure that your organization, your family member, or you yourself are equipped to employ a technological approach that meets your or someone else’s needs? How can you be best prepared to offer person-centered and customized AT solutions that align with people’s goals and personal outcomes?

You can begin by educating yourself or your team, starting with an overview of what AT solutions look like and the many different options and State resources that are available to support AT. This information can then be shared with your loved one, colleague, or fellow self-advocate. I’m certain you will find that the possibilities are endless.

Everybody can contribute to this type of creative thinking and within organizations, these ideas can be enhanced with e-learning solutions to help people infuse AT into the company’s culture and person-centered mission. With education about the advantages of AT, people will be more open to taking risks with their applications.

Start with a Mini-Assessment of Needs

To begin exploring what AT solutions are right for your family or the person you support, start the conversation by asking a series of questions:

What tasks are difficult for you?

Will the use of AT help you complete these tasks more independently?
Will you be able to use the AT in different places (work, home, social situations)?

What have you tried before?

What ways of doing things have you tried?
What materials, equipment, or tools have you used in the past?

How involved will you be in the process?

Will you be part of the decision making to figure out what AT you should try?
What do you hope the AT device will do for you?
Will you have a chance to try it before buying it?

How will you know if the AT device is a good fit for you?

Will you be trained on the new AT device?
Will you actually use it?
Will the AT device help you meet your goals?

Every state has an AT Program you can access, and you’ll find it to be one of your greatest resources. In addition to the services of knowledgeable staff, the states also house extensive AT Library collections that include high- and low-tech devices as well as medical durable equipment such as walkers, motorized wheelchairs and ramps that can be modified for your home. Operating just like a regular Library, you can take all the above out on loan and try it out before committing to a purchase. The state can also help you with financing sources if that is necessary.

When it comes to AT Solutions, one size definitely does not fit all! So, start with the self-assessment and share your discovery with your state’s AT department to begin finding the solutions you need to “increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of persons with disabilities.”

Allis Kensing works with her team at Penn-Mar Human Services to find technology solutions for the people with intellectual and developmental disabilities they support to help create new opportunities for providing increased independence and connectivity with the community. She created an Assistive Technology (AT) Lending Library at the organization and collaborates regularly with team members and vendors to test and procure new technologies that align with people’s goals and personal outcomes. Prior to joining Penn-Mar in 2022, Allis was employed by The ARC Baltimore for 20 years where she first implemented AT solutions to help the people they supported find employment opportunities.

Allis can be reached at: 443-491-9683 or alliskensing@penn-mar.org.

The post Assistive Technology Solutions Enhance Supports for People with Disabilities appeared first on Penn-Mar.

Corporate Partner Northrop Grumman Asks, “How Can We Help?”

Wed, 02 Mar 2022 20:09:09 +0000

When Tina Chan Sweenie started working for Penn-Mar in January 2020 as Manager of Volunteer and Donor Engagement, she could never have imagined that only two months later the COVID pandemic would bring her outreach efforts to a screeching halt.

With people and programs moving from in-person to online engagement, she needed to shift gears while continuing to foster relationships with Corporate Partners.

Mike Shriver, Director of Consulting at Penn-Mar, former CEO of Penn-Mar and Change, Inc., suggested that Tina connect with aerospace and defense company Northrop Grumman to gauge interest in volunteering.

Tina contacted Kathy Miles, an Executive Administrative Assistant at Northrop Grumman’s Sykesville, MD facility, who briefed her on the many volunteer and donation initiatives between Change and Northrop Grumman. Tina would soon find out why Mike referred to Kathy as “a saint” and credits her with being “the glue that makes the partnership so successful.”

The partnership started with various activities, including painting walls inside and outside of the 16,000 sq. ft. Stoner Avenue facility, cleaning up and mulching gardens, and organizing a Christmas gift drive providing presents for the people Change supported in the Westminster, MD community.

That hands-on involvement was followed by a grant from Northrop Grumman to fund a staff recognition program. The program provided job training and expenses for Change employees to attend conferences, as well as gift card rewards for staff cited for going above-and-beyond to support people with disabilities.

Northrop Grumman’s community outreach to local organizations in Carroll County helped get Matt Superczynski, chief engineer at the Sykesville Northrop Grumman site involved in the partnership. “I was so impressed by Change, Inc.; both its mission to serve those with developmental disabilities and the people that work tirelessly to achieve that mission. I’ve been involved with Penn-Mar ever since I was first introduced to the organization through volunteering events and now I’m serving on the Board of Penn-Mar, which has been a great experience, “he explained.

When it became obvious that no volunteer activities would be possible during the pandemic, Northrop Grumman reached out to Penn-Mar with a grant that was used to purchase meals for the people Penn-Mar supports and their DSPs in the community homes who were taking on added responsibilities and working longer shifts to ensure the safety of the residents.

“One of our Northrop Grumman values is ‘We Do The Right Thing,’ said Bob Sacca, director and site executive for the Sykesville facility at Northrop Grumman. “Our partnership with Penn-Mar is just one example of how we are living our values.”

“Northrop Grumman has always been so caring and preemptive with our partnership,” said Tina. “They are always willing to go the extra mile, asking about our needs on a regular basis.”

All of the conversations about on-site volunteering had fallen by the wayside until the fall of 2021 when a group of some 20 Northrop Grumman employees came out to the Respite Inn in Westminster equipped with the right tools for the job. They tackled the landscaping, filled the planters with flowers, mulched the gardens, and dismantled a patio and walkway that was due for replacing.

According to Tina, they were so motivated and enthused that they kept asking for more assignments. That led to pruning trees and helping to dislodge heavy metal laundry clothesline poles and piling them neatly for the maintenance crew to haul away.

“It was pretty impressive,” remembers Tina. “In my 20 years working with volunteers, community members and partnerships, the Northrop Grumman team leads as one of the best groups of volunteers I have ever worked with.”

“Our employees were happy to help with such meaningful projects,” added Kathy. “When we spoke with the families at Penn-Mar Westminster they couldn’t believe our folks were sacrificing a Saturday off in the service of others. They were immensely grateful and it was so much fun and rewarding for Northrop Grumman employees, their children and spouses to help with these big tasks that needed to be done.”

In fact, before the day wrapped, the volunteer team confirmed that they were ready and willing to commit to a bi-annual day of service with Penn-Mar. A spring 2022 date is already on the calendar.

“It is absolutely amazing, and so important to Penn-Mar’s mission to support people with disabilities, when corporations like Northrop Grumman reach out and say, ‘We have people and financial support to offer. How can we help?'” said Tina.

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