National AgrAbility Project

The 2019 AgrAbility National Training Workshop will take place in Lincoln, NE, March 25-28at the Embassy Suites -Downtown Lincoln. Be on the lookout for more details, including: requests for your feedback and ideas, requests for proposals, room reservation details, and registration!

Upcoming AgrAbility Regional Events

• Albuquerque, NM, November 8 - 9, 2018, at the Hilton Garden Inn Albuquerque Uptown. You may click HERE to reserve your room now. Look for a message soon on registration, and hopefully CEU opportunities for OTs at this event.

Staff are excited about the sessions being offered at this event, including: how occupational therapists can fit into AgrAbility; effective lighting in agricultural settings; micro-farming; adaptive tools and technology; and worksite assessment. Day two will feature a tour including agriculture businesses focused on employing individuals with developmental disabilities, and urban farming, along with some integrated worksite assessment instruction.

• Mt. Vernon, WA, December 5-6, 2018 at the Washington State University Northwestern Washington Research & Extension Center. More details will be in your inbox soon.

Contact us anytime - Tess McKeel - tmckeel@goodwillfingerlakes.org - 585.447.9015 or JoBeth Rath - jbrath@goodwillfingerlakes.org 585.402.2059

Submitted by JoBeth Rath

The National AgrAbility Project attended and exhibited at the RESNA (Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America) conference held in Arlington, Virginia, July 12-15, 2018. Steve Swain, NAP assistive technology specialist and RESNA liaison, and Dr. Shawn Ehlers, NAP technology outreach coordinator, staffed a display in the exhibit hall and attended sessions throughout the conference. The display emphasized AgrAbility services, assistive technology for farming, ranching, and ag-related enterprises, and contact information for the state/regional AgrAbility projects. Steve also presented a workshop entitled "I Don't Have a Disability. I'm Just Getting Old." The workshop explored the process of aging, the unique culture of farmers, and how the farming culture affects their view of the various conditions related to aging. It also explored how they view the safety risks and jobs on the farm and ranch.

Submitted by Steve Swain

Chuck Baldwin, National AgrAbility Project (NAP) special populations outreach coordinator, Paul Jones, NAP project manager, and Bill Begley of Life Essentials, in collaboration with the North Carolina AgrAbility Partnership, helped to lead the 1890s AgrAbility Workshop held at North Carolina A&T (NCA&T) University July 27-28. The workshop had 38 people in attendance from six states and Washington D.C. Historically Black (1890) land-grant universities represented included Kentucky State, North Carolina A&T, Prairie View A&M (TX), Virginia State, and West Virginia State.

This was a milestone AgrAbility workshop, as it was the first one primarily planned and led by an 1890 land-grant institution, NCA&T, which is also the first 1890 to be sole grant-holder of a USDA/NIFA AgrAbility grant. The workshop was honored by the presence and participation of Dr. Aida Balsano, AgrAbility's national program leader, Research, Evaluation and Rural Health - USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The NAP congratulates all of the staff of the North Carolina AgrAbility Partnership for a well-organized and productive workshop.

For more detailed information on the workshop, please see the article on the North Carolina page of this e-Note.

Submitted by Chuck Baldwin