By Max Greenberg
E-mail Max Greenberg
About this blog: I developed a special interest in helping seniors with their challenges and transitions when my dad had a stroke and I helped him through all the various stages of downsizing, packing, moving and finding an assisted living communi...
(More)About this blog: I developed a special interest in helping seniors with their challenges and transitions when my dad had a stroke and I helped him through all the various stages of downsizing, packing, moving and finding an assisted living community. I live in Palo Alto with my wife and we have three grown children, one still in college. I have been in the Bay Area since 1977 (except for seven years in Newton MA — just missed all that snow too much.) I've worked in sales and marketing in retirement communities for seven years, and have hired and managed home care workers for family members, and have a pretty good idea of how aging in place, or shopping for and selecting the right retirement community works. I now run my own business, Palo Alto Senior Living, providing real estate and senior transition services. This blog is designed to share my experiences, insight and knowledge with seniors and their baby boomer kids and provide useful information to help develop a roadmap for smooth transitions or aging in place. I welcome readers to share their experiences, both good and not-so-good, in the hope that we all can benefit from each other.
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Perspectives in Assistive Technology is a Winter Quarter Stanford course - now starting its eleventh year - that explores the design, development, and use of assistive technology that benefits people with disabilities and older adults. It consists of semi-weekly classroom discussions; lectures by notable professionals, clinicians, and assistive technology users; tours of local medical, clinical, and engineering facilities; student project presentations and demonstrations; an assistive technology faire; and a film screening.
This course is open to all, including seniors. Scheduled from 4:30 to 5:50pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Thornton 110 with the first class session on Tuesday, January 10th. David Jaffe is the teacher that makes this happens every January. I've attended some sessions and also the presentation of the student's final projects and it has been quite amazing. An example of a student invention: a walker designed for someone who has limited use of their right arm/hand ie. after a stroke. The solution was to put a single handle in the middle of the "handlebars" so it could be operated with the good hand.
There will be various guest presentations from the world of research and industry. You can be a part of helping to advance real-world solutions to overcome physical limitations faced by the disabled, including seniors. Mr Jaffe is always looking for actual obstacles which folks might be facing and offering his students the opportunities to solve these problems with their course work.
Do you have an idea for an assistive technology project? - You are encouraged to submit project suggestions for students to pursue. Visit the Course Project Solicitation webpage: http://web.stanford.edu/class/engr110/projectideas.html for a list of project requirements and a description of how best to convey your ideas. If your project is accepted, you can "pitch" it to the class during the second class session on Thursday, January 12th. If a student team selects it, you will then have the opportunity to offer them advice, direction, and expertise in person, by phone, and/or by email.
Please pass this information on to your senior friends and aspiring assistive technology engineers.
