Katherine Swarts – BridgingApps

2 people walking together, one with a white cane

Popular Misconceptions about Assistive Technology

We round off National Assistive Technology Awareness Month with a look at some common-but-untrue assumptions about AT. Misconception: Assistive technology is limited to wheelchairs and other bulky devices. Facts: Any “assistive” item counts—including digital apps. You can carry dozens of…

student's hand practicing writing letters

Dyslexia-Friendly Teaching for All Students

Most people know dyslexia as a reading disorder that makes it difficult to tell letters and words apart. But there’s more to it than that. Though people with dyslexia typically have average or higher intelligence, they lack certain mental capabilities…

dad and daughter decorating christmas tree

Can’t Stand Shopping Crowds? Alternative Black-Friday Activities

Recipe for a nightmare: entering a hectic shopping mall with a child who is hypersensitive to stimulation or prone to wandering. Even purely physical disabilities can spell trouble when they make it difficult for a child to keep up, or…

Gratitude: Everyone’s Best Friend

Circumstances don’t make us unhappy: they only make existing attitudes more obvious. There are people overflowing with joy in hospitals and prisons; there are also people who have never seen a hardship, yet complain nonstop about their dissatisfaction with life.…

Self-Care for Caregivers

November is National Family Caregiver Month, a time to honor the approximately 53 million Americans who give generously of their time and energy to help maximize quality of life for family members with health needs. Family caregivers do a “superhero”…

STAFF PICKS: Marjorie Reichard on Parenting Apps

BridgingApps Project Manager Marjorie Reichard has two young daughters with disabilities. These are her picks for the apps best at making caregiving easier to manage. Proloquo2Go was life-changing after Olivia started talking up a storm at age 3—but I only…

Veterans and Suicide

Although Veterans are generally respected these days (check out our Veterans Day article), they also have a reputation as a depressed lot. A stereotype, of course, but not one entirely without foundation: 11–30% of Veterans have some history of post-traumatic…

What Is Assistive Technology?

November is National Assistive Technology Awareness Month. What comes to mind at the phrase “assistive technology”? By formal definition, assistive technology is “any item, piece of equipment, or product system—whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized—that is used…

friends giving a high five to young adult male in wheelchair

Influencers Who Empower

Ever hear of “inspiration porn”? It’s a cultural phenomenon that has made “inspiration” a dirty word to some people with disabilities. Typically, it involves highlighting someone who has accomplished something noteworthy and who also uses a wheelchair or has another…

Male Military Spouses on the Home Front

Around 16 percent of the U.S. military are now women—and many of them (11 percent in the Army) are married to civilian men. Some of these “military husbands” are Veterans and already familiar with how the system works. Others have…