ATIA 2021 Scholar Reports
Read detailed reports from each of our AT Scholars about ATIA 2021.
Suzanne Martin
As a Senior AAC Consultant who has worked in the field for too many years to mention and having attended many conferences around the world over that time I am both amazed and ashamed to say that this was my first time attending an ATIA conference...
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Mick Archer
Every cloud has a silver lining, or so the optimists say. An unexpected invitation to attend ATIA 2021 seemed like the perfect opportunity to test the proverb out. Here we were in the midst of a global pandemic, which is a cloud by anyone's definition. So how were students with special educational needs and/or disabilities...
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Jennette Greenwood
The organisers have done an outstanding job of transfer everything online and although I’m sure it would be a wonderful opportunity to experience the conference in real time I’m sure I wouldn’t have participated in as many seminars had I’d been there to watching them online...
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Suzanne Buckley
It is so exciting to be working in this field where technology and the general populations’ access to it has advanced significantly in the last ten years. Moreover, the pandemic has sped up the move towards better use of technology, particularly in the NHS...
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Gemma Wilkinson
I was fortunate enough to be able to attend my very first ATIA conference this year. The Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) is an organization for manufacturers, suppliers and providers of Assistive Technology...
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Iveta Power
This year I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the ATiA 2021 conference, usually hosted in the USA. In a normal year this wouldn’t have been possible but, owing to Covid restrictions, the 2021 conference was entirely online...
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Kim Lawther
This year, the 2021 conference of the Assistive Technology Industry Association was held virtually from January 25th to February 4th. The conference offered a rich and well-structured programme with participants from across the United States, Europe and the UK. There were two particular areas that I was interested in...
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Will Wade
.It has been de rigour for those institutions who host an annual conference to move to an online schedule during the pandemic. You can be unsure as to what “Online conference” really means. This has been anything from a handful of pre-recorded YouTube presentations to what ATIA have put together this year...
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Ian Loughlin
The ATIA 2021 virtual event provided a wealth of presentations, both live and pre-recorded sessions, covering a wide range of areas, products and topics. Due to the UK/US time difference, it meant that I was unable to attend full sessions as they were happening, so it was of great benefit that recordings of live events...
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Kim Miller
I was fortunate to be offered the opportunity to attend this year’s conference and although the format differed this year due to Covid l felt it gave me more opportunities to explore and develop my ideas as l was able to work through the recordings that had been made. I felt the more l watched...
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Cathy Hayes
As a Total Communication Practitioner at Kingfisher Special School, my interest and passion for Assistive Technology has never been greater. The need to keep up to date with the ever evolving world of Assistive Technology and what it has to offer the pupils I support is paramount to my role...
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Helen Whittle
This was my first experience of an ATIA conference. The range of talks and presentations was huge and at first overwhelming. Following on from the Black Lives Matter demonstrations around the World it was great to see some of the AAC suppliers discuss the work...
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Zoe Clarke
I have worked in Electronic Assistive Technology for nearly 20 years and the ATIA conference is something that I have often looked at but never managed to get to. When I received the email saying that I had been nominated as an AT Scholar with the opportunity to attend ATIA...
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Dr Paul Whittington
.As a Postdoctoral Researcher in Assistive Technology at Bournemouth University, I was honoured to be awarded a British Assistive Technology Scholarship to attend the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) AT Connected Conference. My research investigates...
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Clive Gilbert
Having heard a lot about the annual ATIA conference in Florida over the years, I was delighted to be asked to attend this year’s socially-distanced gathering as a member of the British Assistive Technology Scholarship delegation. Even in its virtual form, the conference has lived up ...
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Ian Bean
It’s almost seventeen years since I first became aware of the Assistive Technology Industry Association community and the ATIA conference. Each year, thousands of assistive technology practitioners, therapists, educators, parents, and caregivers come together to learn...
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Robert Mclaren
HI was delighted to take part in the AT Scholar programme this year, attending the ATIA Conference as an online webinar series. I won’t say a trip to sunny Orlando (the usual setting for the conference) would have been unwelcome, but the move to online allowed many more Scholars...
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Paul Nisbet
The Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) AT Connected event is one of the largest and most varied conferences focussing on assistive technology and this year it was an online event held from January 25th to February 4th 2021. I was fortunate to be offered one of 24 AT Scholarships...
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Fran Clayton
The seminars have confirmed to me that having a voice must underpin all we do within schools and this in turn will enable our students voices to be heard within their families and wider society...
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Fil McIntyre
The true value of any conference is proven by the impact it has on your practice after the event. For assistive technology this is often from practical learning about new hardware, software...
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Vicky Healy
The prospect of becoming a British AT scholar and having the chance to attend a conference of such high caliber as ATIA, filled me with both excitement and fear...
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Jason Beal
This year of course was rather different, with the restriction on travel. The team at ATIA did a fantastic job of moving the entire conference to an online platform...
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Pete Wells
I was honoured, grateful and very excited to be offered a British Scholarship for the ATIA. This was quickly followed by embarrassed, shocked and overwhelmed,...
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Antony Ruck
Over the last 10 years I have been fortunate to attend ATIA as a delegate, a speaker, and an exhibitor. In whichever capacity I’m always stunned by the sheer...
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Talita Holzer
I was extremely surprised and excited to receive the invitation to be a British AT Scholar and attend the prestigious ATIA conference. I have been working...
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