Georgia Institute Of Technology Leveraging Its Abilities To Work For People With Disabilities

In a bid to provide opportunities to intellectually disabled students, Georgia Institute of Technology has recently started offering a postsecondary academic curriculum known as ‘EXCEL (Expanding Career, Education, and Leadership Opportunities)’, thereby providing these 'special' students with a learning experience based on life skills, leadership qualities, and a lot more.

According to a National Study, students with mild intellectual and developmental disabilities were less likely to attend any postsecondary education after two years of high school; 42% against 67%, to be precise. Also, 256 options for postsecondary education remain open for students with any kind of disability, while their peers have more than 6,000 options accessible. But, thanks to Georgia Institute of Technology, it has opened up myriad opportunities for these students.

Recently, Georgia Institute of Technology’s Center for Advanced Communications Policy (CACP) has been awarded a grant of over $4 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other related organizations.

This grant essences on funding Wireless Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) Inclusive Technologies. CACP aims to develop and integrate wireless devices and sensors wherein individuals with mild disabilities would be able to achieve an improved quality of life.

Moreover, enhanced inclusion in the community is one thing that people with disability have always craved for. This project plans to provide a user-focused approach to them, further expanding their social connection and understanding of wireless technologies. Wireless RERC Inclusive Technologies would involve differently abled people in the wireless ecosystem.

Subsequently partnering with other research universities, including University of Texas and School of Social Work, Georgia Institute of Technology is trying to create an inclusive environment for people with disabilities. Wireless RERC has become one of the first 15 RERCs in the United States working on transportation and IT, among others.