Perspectives in Assistive Technology is a Winter Quarter Stanford course - completing its nineteenth year - that explores the design, development, and use of assistive technology that benefits people with disabilities and older adults. It consists of semi-weekly in-person discussions; lectures by notable professionals, clinicians, and assistive technology users; a tour of an accessible inclusive playground; student project presentations and demonstrations; and an Assistive Technology Faire. Students pursue team-based projects that address real challenges faced by people with disabilities and older adults living in the local community. Check out the course website.

End of the Quarter - The Winter 2025 course has come to an end. Here are anonymous student comments from the Online Course Evaluation.

Here are the responses to the question: What skills or knowledge did you learn or improve?

• So much about assistive technology and how it can be used, had a faint vision, I know so much more now.
• Understanding how to engineer disability equipments in several different fields
• My overall knowledge of assistive technology and how it benefits people who have impairments.
• I learned so much! I learned so much on how people with disabilities live their lives and the emerging tech that has been created/has yet been created.
• Practiced a lot of empathetic listening, information gathering, and learned a lot about the engineering process.
• I learned how to design for individuals and more personalized need-finding.
• I learned a lot about the differences in the lives of those who have disabilities and how I can be someone who can help someone out and make their lives easier!
• I learned new perspectives in assistive technology.
• I learned the importance of user-centered design, especially when it comes to assistive technologies. The speakers were very knowledgeable and I commend them on the work they are doing.

Here are the responses to the question: What would you like to say about this course to a student who is considering taking it in the future?

• Be excited about the cookies!
• Highly recommend this class to others. The lectures and guest speakers were super interesting and the project taught me a ton!
• Dave is so passionate and really just cares that you understand how assistive technology helps people with impairments and how that impacts their lives.
• Definitely take this course!! Super rewarding and you develop a great work ethic and team spirit. Also, its not too much work if you put a little time every week to work on the project.
• This is a great class if you have an interest in assistive technology, Dave is a great instructor and brings cookies to all lectures! It is informative and helps you grow skills to guide you in the engineering process.
• This class will introduce you to the wide range of assistive technologies out there. The speakers presentations vary in how interesting they are but overall they are engaging. Dave and the teaching team are great and fun to work with. The projects are pretty well scoped and are very rewarding. Working with a community partner is fun and adds more meaning to the class. Would recommend.
• Not that technical of a class so it's a relief. Guest speakers did get old but not too bad.
• TAKE IT!! SO WORTH THE RELATIONSHIPS AND BONDS THAT YOU CREATE!!
• Pretty chill if you have a good group and happen to be upperclassman engineering.
• If you are considering this for a mechanical engineering elective -- take it. It is super low stakes, the project is fun, and you get out of it what you put into it. It was super rewarding to work with the project sponsor on a project that will meaningfully improve their life. This class felt like putting all my engineering skills to a good cause. Most of the guest lecturers are also super interesting. Overall, I would strongly recommend this course.