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BridgingApps in the Field: Our New Comcast-Funded Digital Literacy Program

BridgingApps is excited and grateful for Easterseals’ partnership with Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation. Among the many projects funded by Comcast grants is our digital literacy training for transition-age high school students, “transition” referring to the beginning of legal adulthood and independent…

Fun Rabbit Holes: Exploring New Technology Without Losing Your Place on Your To-Do List

Apps and other digital technology are great—until they aren’t. You may have heard worst-nightmare stories: fatal accidents due to someone’s being distracted by a smartphone; suicides triggered by cyberbullying or doomscrolling. On a less dramatic note, just about everyone has…
man looking at phone with airpods in ears

Turning Down the Volume for Everyone’s Health

April 26 is International Noise Awareness Day. Whatever constitutes everyday “background noise” in your neighborhood or community, your conscious brain has probably learned to tune it out—but never giving it a thought may be costing you. Noise and Health The…
parents with teen girl in wheelchair using computer

Autism Assistive Technology: Items of Interest

Many people find apps, smart devices, and other assistive technology a big help in managing autism—but there’s so much assistive tech out there, sometimes you have no idea where to start looking for the right item. Even where the tech…
Digital Navigator Class

Digital Navigators for Mental Health

If you’ve followed our blog for long, you’re familiar with “Digital Navigator” topics—and you know that a Digital Navigator promotes digital equity by helping clients get device access, household wireless services, and personalized training. This improves opportunities for: “Digital Navigators…
hand scrolling iphone

Introducing Tech to Rural Areas: A Digital Navigator’s Perspective

In September 2022, Easter Seals Greater Houston/BridgingApps became one of 18 organizations in the new Digital Navigator Corps, a national program formed under a $10 million investment from Google.org. The purpose of the Corps is to help rural residents gain…

When You’re Born with It: Managing Lifelong Disabilities

The term “birth defect” is falling out of favor, as people rightly resent implications of being “defective.” This writer personally prefers “congenital disabilities”; the World Health Organization speaks of “congenital anomalies”; but for the present, “birth defects” remains the official…

What Is Assistive Technology?

November is National Assistive Technology Awareness Month. What comes to mind at the phrase “assistive technology”? By formal definition, assistive technology is “any item, piece of equipment, or product system—whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized—that is used…