DSPs Using and Supporting Technology Use

Editor's Notes

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Julie and Chet, two women stand close to each other and look directly at the camera smiling. They are standing in front of a window with a large blue pillar behind them and a snow-covered building and tree branches. Julie Kramme on the left, smiling, shoulder length brown wavy hair, brown eyes, and wearing a plaid pink, orange, green, and tan top, with a collar open and zipped down a few inches. Chet Tschetter is on the right, smiling, with short brown and white hair, black-rimmed glasses, a blue oxford button-down shirt, with a blue tie, with "Peanuts: characters in small circles: Snoopy, Woodstock, Peppermint Patty, and Charlie Brown, with a black collar-less jacket with a white logo M, Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota.

Editors Julie Kramme and Chet Tschetter

Technology has greatly impacted our lives and culture in recent years. For direct support professionals, the use of technology at work has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey of the direct support workforce in 2022 revealed that people with disabilities and direct support professionals (DSPs) began using technology more frequently . Technology can support relationships, healthcare visits, work, day-to-day life activities, and sometimes even supplement direct support. But the effect of technology has been positive in some cases and negative in others. For example, technology can help people meet their goals and increase independence. But it can also get in the way of in-person relationships or complicate a person’s life. Worse, technology can put people at risk if they do not know how to use it safely.

DSPs can use and help people access supportive technology so it improves their lives. In this issue, we gathered articles to inspire quality direct support, increase knowledge of available technologies, and raise awareness of injustice surrounding access to technology. Anthony Grindstaff, Allison Austin, Allen Selby, and Pam Weaver support people in using technology, along with the right level of support, so that people can have the lives they want. We also highlight a few apps, Awake Labs and LetMeDoIt, that can provide feedback to DSPs to ensure they provide the right level of support for the people they support. Mary Jo Krile, Karyn Harvey, Destiney Bell, Becky Breaux, and David Van Hook explain how DSPs can support people to use technology effectively and safely. Self-advocate Julian Wang shares suggestions needed for accessible technology. Tammy Murner, Bekah Larko, and Gloria Gantt tell how employers support DSPs and people supported to access and use technology. Bob Williams, Otto Lana, and Dawn Findley urge access to technology, especially when technology is used for communicating with others. Together, this issue highlights the critical ways that DSPs can support people in accessing and using technology to bridge disability-related gaps to have the life they want.

This issue includes articles and stories on different kinds and types of technologies. Authors use different terminology, such as accessible technology, assistive technology, and enabling technology, which typically mean similar things. We retained the different terms used by the authors, although they refer to different kinds of technology used. The DirectCourse team also compiled a list of suggested courses related to the content of this issue to support readers with access to DirectCourse. Many authors in this issue also link resources for DSPs to learn more. We hope this issue broadens your knowledge of technologies and resources available to you and how you can learn more about technologies that advance your work.

A Closer Look at Frontline Initiative Podcast

Listen to 2 new episodes of A Closer Look at Frontline Initiative —where Chet Tschetter and Julie Kramme talk with authors from the magazine's latest issue about their experiences and best practices for supporting people. A Closer Look is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and many places where you access podcast content. Please follow A Closer Look to receive alerts when new podcasts become available.

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Frontline Initiative • Volume 20, Number 2 • 2024

Editors: Julie Kramme and Chet Tschetter

Marketing and communications: Jerry Smith

Graphic design: Connie Burkhart

Web developers: Shawn Lawler, Jonathon Walz, and Kristin Dean

Institute on Community Integration Director: Amy Hewitt

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Editorial board

  • Tony Anderson, Executive Director, Valley Mountain Regional Center
  • Wesley Anderson, Director of Employment & Community Services, National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services
  • Lisa Burck, Project Director, The Arc of Mississippi
  • Nicole Dama, Office and Communications Manager, NADSP
  • Rachel Jacob, E-Badge Reviewer, NADSP
  • Mary Lawson, Executive Director, PAKS Developmental Services
  • Colleen McLaughlin, Associate Director, The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities, Rutgers’ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Department of Pediatrics
  • Diane Potts, Adjunct Professor, Tulsa Community College, NADSP Accreditation Review Team Coordinator
  • John Raffaele, Director of Educational Services and Editorial Board Chair, NADSP
  • Robert Schier, III, Down Home Ranch, Elgin, Texas
  • Eryn Starck, Executive Assistant, Oregon Resource Association

Web: nadsp.org

If you wish to contribute to Frontline Initiative, please contact:

Julie Kramme or Chet Tschetter, Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota, E-mail: frontline-dsp@umn.edu

View past issues of Frontline Initiative: z.umn.edu/frontlineinitiative

Frontline Initiative is supported through a cooperative agreement between the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Department of Education (#90RTCP0003) and the Research and Training Center on Community Living (RTC-CL) at the Institute on Community Integration (ICI), University of Minnesota, and the University Centers of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (#90DDUC0070). This issue is also supported through a cooperative agreement between the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (#03-8818-22), and the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP). The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the RTC-CL, ICI, University of Minnesota, NADSP, or their funding sources.

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The University of Minnesota stands on Miní Sóta Makhóčhe, the rightful homelands of the Dakhóta Oyáte. We recognize the U.S. did not uphold its end of these land treaties. It is the current and continued displacement of the Dakhóta Oyáte that allows the University to remain today.

Ongoing oppression and discrimination in the United States has led to significant trauma for many people of color, immigrants, people with disabilities, and other oppressed persons. At ICI, we affirm our commitment to address systemic racism, ableism and all other inequalities and forms of oppression to ensure inclusive communities.