CanAssist Brings Assistive Technologies to the Global Scene

What began as a volunteer-led project to help one individual has grown into a full-time operation that provides assistive technology to people with disabilities all over BC, Canada, and now, the world. CanAssist has come a long way since its beginnings in 1999, when founder Dr. Nigel Livingston and a volunteer technician developed a finger-activated switch to control a cassette player. Today, CanAssist has 34 full-time staff, and is expanding to share its technologies and service model worldwide.

“It’s because there is such a need,” says Livingston, in regards to CanAssist’s new international initiatives, which include partnerships with universities, advocacy organizations, and technology companies in the US, Denmark, Brazil, and Africa. “There isn’t just a need at home, there is a need internationally. This is a perfect opportunity to [address] that.” These partnerships involve the licensing of CanAssist technologies, co-development of new technologies, and implementing organizations like CanAssist in other countries.

Twelve years ago, Livingston met a unique young man who had suffered a near-drowning accident at an early age. A resident of the Queen Alexandra Centre for Children’s Health, where Livingston’s daughter Hannah was also being treated, he was unable to see, talk, or walk, and had only partial motor ability in one finger. After being approached by a Queen Alexandra staff member, Livingston set straight to work on a small switch that the young man could use to operate a cassette player on his own. After the success of this first project, the requests for more technologies began to pour in.

CanAssist’s vision is to provide services and programs to improve quality of life and progress towards a more inclusive society. CanAssist operates by demand, developing technologies only in response to requests from individuals or their families – and nearly always free of charge. Most of these requests come from the Vancouver Island area, but the organization’s reach goes much further. To date, CanAssist has delivered technologies to people with disabilities all over the world, including Canada, US, Japan, Sweden, Kenya, Australia, Israel, New Zealand, and Germany.
 

Global Technologies from CanAssist

In June, Livingston travelled to Denmark to meet with partners at the Social Development Centre (SUS), a non-profit organization dedicated to improving quality of life for marginalized persons. SUS provides social services for a range of people including refugees and immigrants, low-income individuals, and people with disabilities.

The partnership began in 2009, when SUS contacted CanAssist after stumbling upon a tutorial for their CanConnect software – a simplified Skype interface – on YouTube. A year later, CanAssist and SUS signed an MOU with the goal of distributing CanConnect across Denmark. Eventually, SUS is hoping to establish a special needs organization in Denmark based on the CanAssist model.

Closer to home, CanAssist is in the process of a licensing agreement with US-based distributor of assistive technologies, AbleNet Inc. “We developed an adapter for iPod that allows [it] to be played by anyone that does not have a lot of dexterity,” explains Livingston. “With it, they can have full functionality of an iPhone, iPod, and iPad.” Conditions that limit motor function, such as Cerebral Palsy, make it difficult to use some compact electronics. The device, called podWiz, allows the iPod to be completely controlled with a single button. Once agreements are finalized, AbleNet Inc. will begin producing and distributing podWiz all over the world.

This year, CanAssist is expecting a visit from Harold Weinstein, founder of the Brazilian company Solar Ear which produces low-cost, solar-powered hearing aids for children in Latin America. Solar Ear manufactures and distributes the first digital rechargeable hearing aids with solar rechargeable batteries that can last up to 3 years. Hoping to support this project in its early stages, CanAssist plans on working with Solar Ear to make the products even more efficient, as well as develop new low-cost communication technologies.
 

CanAssist Programs and Services

“But we’re not just a technology organization,” says Livingston. Indeed, CanAssist also provides a number of important services to the special needs community in Greater Victoria, including employment opportunities, a youth job placement program, recreational activities, special events, and research.

The TeenWork Program, one of CanAssist’s newest services, attracted international attention with its innovative model for helping teens with special needs get paid work experience. The program, now in its third year, supports youth aged 15-19 in obtaining paid work, gaining independence in the workplace and transitioning into adult working life. Students have an employment coach helping them every step of the way, from researching jobs and approaching employers, to customizing their tasks and guiding them through their first shifts.

“There are many agencies out there, across BC and across Canada, that work with youth with special needs in getting employment, but there are not many other agencies that work with teens in high school,” says Program Coordinator Xela Rysstad. “[Our program] is complementary to high school, so we help youth find part-time paid employment.”

In June, Rysstad attended the Six Steps to Success conference in Whitehorse, Yukon, and met with professionals in the field of disability and employment from Canada, US, and as far away as New Zealand. The conference centered on six steps for creating more inclusive workplaces and obtaining sustainable employment – perception, recruitment, training, accommodation, partnership, and communication.

Rysstad’s presentation, entitled Successful Transitions to Employment for Youth with Disabilities received a surge of positive feedback from the international audience. “They were thankful for the concrete and practical information… on how to take what they have now and translate it into actions or policy,” says Rysstad. Her presentation guided the audience through the steps that were taken to initiate the TeenWork program in 2009, and the logistics of the placement process. She hopes that with this background, other special needs professionals can set up similar programs. “This is a model that can be replicated, and not just across BC and Canada. It can go international easily.”
 

Sharing the CanAssist Model

In October 2011, Livingston and several CanAssist staff joined a UVic delegation to China led by President David Turpin. The delegation profiled the CanAssist model at a Canadian Embassy special event in Beijing, co-hosted by Ambassador David Mulroney, designed to encourage similar initiatives in mainland China and Hong Kong. The visit also included a presentation and demonstration of some CanAssist technologies, as well as the delivery of assistive technology items to two young individuals with special needs in China.

One of CanAssist’s long-term goals is to participate in international development work in Africa. Though these plans are still in their infancy, CanAssist has begun discussions with Save the Children and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. One such avenue, says Livingston, is to help set up CanAssist-like operations in a number of African countries that have technical universities.

After 12 years, CanAssist has developed hundreds of specialized technologies for individuals across Canada and the world, and engaged over 4500 students, 200 UVic faculty and staff members, and more than 400 community volunteers in its activities. The model has enormous potential for improving the lives of people with disabilities on a global scale – no small feat for an organization that began with the push of a single switch.