NORTHRIDGE : CSUN Disabilities Center Wins Grant

The U. S. Department of Education has awarded a $1.5-million grant to the Cal State Northridge Center on Disabilities. The funds will be used to teach people with disabilities about advances in technology that can help with independent living.

Computers, specially equipped vans, and even simple items such as Velcro clothing fasteners, have the potential to transform the lives of the disabled, said Harry J. Murphy, director of the center.

But introducing them into people’s everyday lives can be difficult, not just because of expense, but also because disabled people and the agencies that serve them simply don’t know about the technology available.

The grant will support a training program that’s intended to spread the word about technologies that are available to help the disabled and how to get them.

“We are trying to say, ‘Look, this is almost the 21st Century, and we are not going to use less technology, we are going to use more,’ ” Murphy said. “We have simply got to bring technology to the heart of disabilities.”

The grant money, to be distributed to the center over five years beginning in January, will allow the center to hire a team of consultants. The consultants will train employees of state agencies who assist the disabled with education, employment and independent living, Murphy said.

The center, formed earlier this year, receives two thirds of its budget from outside the university, he said. It acts as a think tank on disabilities, and each year, it conducts a conference on the subject of technology and disabilities.

Murphy said it’s hoped that with training, state agencies will take the lead in lobbying for more money to make technology available to the disabled.