Pete Iseman PhotographyFaculty members on the pediatric team in Wichita Stateβs Department of Physical Therapy have been awarded a prestigious grant from the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundationβs 2024 Priority Impact Quality of Life grants program. The $35,000 grant will provide access to assistive technology to help students in public schools with physical disabilities.
The grant will provide the following:
- Assistive technology equipment
- Training and resources for physical therapists and school clinicians
- Funding for the development of training modules on how to use the equipment
- Resources to develop a website to guide therapists on how to obtain and efficiently utilize assistive technologies
Dr. Jennifer James, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Physical Therapy and a board certified pediatric clinical specialist, emphasized the grantβs major impact on students with physical challenges and the broader community of educators and clinicians.
The grant will provide resources to help students in rural Kansas use equipment to participate in school-day activities with their peers while also building strength and independence.
βWe are excited for the impact it will have on students, educators and clinicians who will benefit from access to equipment and training in the classroom,β James says.
In addition to benefiting students in rural Kansas, the grant provides valuable hands-on learning opportunities for Wichita Stateβs Physical Therapy students. Students will gain exposure to assistive devices during class activities, participate in shadowing and clinical rotations at program sites, and contribute to the development of training modules for clinicians across Kansas.
About ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½
ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ is Kansas' only urban public research university, enrolling more than 23,000 students between its main campus and ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ Tech, including students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries. Wichita State and ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ Tech are recognized for being student centered and innovation driven.
Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students. The National Science Foundation ranked ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ No. 1 in the nation for aerospace engineering R&D, No. 2 for industry-funded engineering R&D and No. 8 overall for engineering R&D.
The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ main campus, is one of the nationβs largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.
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