AT Awareness Day 2024

Click here for the transcript and presentation.

Click here to learn more about AT Awareness Day and the event including the other panelists.

April 17 was Assistive Technology Awareness Day. 

People celebrate this day every year. 

It was a privilege for me to take part in the Hill briefing that was hosted by Association of AT Act Programs (ATAP) on this memorable day. 

It was an even bigger honor to speak about and represent the Maryland Technology Assistance Program (MD TAP).

The same way that it’s always a heartfelt honor to represent disability issues affecting Maryland in spaces. However, it’s even more special to share my unique insight as someone with a rare disease— and an AT user!

I was one of three panelists. It was a remarkable experience to discuss the significance of AT with Congressional and Senate staffers. It was my first time on the Hill! 

It enables people with disabilities to live independently, flourish, and experience freedom. 

Wheelchairs, hearing aids, braille readers, and adapted vehicles are just a few examples of how AT enhances quality of life. 

AT is diverse, just like disability is! It empowers both me and the entire disability community. 

Without it, I wouldn’t be the advocate that I am.

I wouldn’t be able to volunteer in my community. I wouldn’t be able to partake in my favorite past times.

I never would have been able to create this presentation or have the ability to present it. 

MD TAP plays a vital role in supporting the disability community. Their programs are essential. Lack of funding would strip independence from countless disabled individuals in Maryland.

We need these programs to be funded, especially the financing program. Without proper funding, it would affect everyone statewide, especially rural disabled Marylanders.

As the Chair of Maryland’s Technology Loan Program Board, I understand the significance of funding our AT programs from serving and being disabled myself. 

If it weren’t for resources like Maryland’s AT Loan Program, most disabled individuals in the state could not get loans. 

Examples of what these loans help with include adapted vehicles, mobility aids, home modifications, and much more. The tools that empower us often have cost barriers. It’s why, as Ms. Maryland Wheelchair 2024, I chose “Disability Should Not Have a Price Tag” as my platform. There isn’t enough knowledge about the costs of being disabled. 

State programs like MD TAP help to remove these barriers. 

22% of Marylanders have a disability. In 2021, almost 25% of people with disabilities were living below the poverty level.

Disabled people should be able to access the things that they need to live a better quality of life. They deserve access to AT.

This is the incredible work that MD TAP does. It’s why I will always feel grateful to serve as Chair and let others know about their work. 

I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to serve our state.

I will always speak up for all individuals with disabilities in Maryland. 

The same way that I will forever be an advocate for disabled rural Marylanders, especially those on the Eastern Shore. NINE counties make up the Eastern Shore! The Lower Shore is often overlooked, but I am dedicated to changing that.

And I will always be an advocate for all 61 million people in America with disabilities.

Without AT, I would not be able to do the things I love. Whether it’s hobbies like reading or being an advocate. I would not be here today; being able to present. AT gives me freedom, independence and dignity and I can’t think of anything better than that.

– Dominique Sessa