About Us

The Pass It On Center: A National Collaboration for the Reutilization and Coordination of Assistive Technology

[Joy Kniskern, Principal Investigator | Carolyn Phillips, Director | Jeremy Buzzell, Program Officer for RSA]

Behind every reused AT device, there is a story to be told, a dream being realized, a goal being met.

Assistive Technology (AT) reutilization is a concept that is born out of need. From local grassroots efforts, it has grown to become a nationally recognized response to providing AT to those people who would otherwise “go without”. We have witnessed the power and independence AT brings to the individuals who have participated in many programs committed to the intelligent reutilization of assistive technology. We have also experienced the incredible frustration of knowing that efforts to assist more people have been limited because of the lack of understanding about reuse programs.

The Pass It On Center will respond to this unmet need by coordinating national collaborative on AT reuse programs that will provide multi-faceted information on best practices, a national database and home page, a coordinated plan to respond to natural disasters, and a National Pass It OnTask Force. The Task Force will galvanize the involvement and support of new AT grantees, key stakeholders, and individuals with disabilities to work on issues of national importance concerning reutilization of AT such as transportation, vendor and manufacturers roles, and national coordination initiatives. Over the five year grant period, The National Pass It on Center is poised to:

• provide coordination and support in the event of natural disasters to assure that reutilized assistive technology can reach those who need it quickly.
• provide telephone and email technical assistance through its Rapid Response Solutions Desk to various request.
• establish national transportation and electronic networks for the well-coordinated distribution of reutilized AT

The Georgia Assistive Technology Project ~ Tools for Life, of the Georgia Department of Labor, is the most qualified program in the country to take on this crucial role because its national leadership since the late 1990’s in AT reutilization. The RESNA Technical Assistance Project involved Tools for Life as a major player in efforts regarding three conferences on the reuse of AT held in 1998, 2000, and 2006, and in tours of internationally acclaimed reutilization initiatives: computer technology and durable medical equipment reutilization through ReBoot Computer Depot and Friends of Disabled Adults and Children, Too.

The Pass It On Center has secured commitments of collaboration from major public and private, state and national partners to achieve the vision of establishing a national AT Reutilization collaborative. These partners share in the excitement of creating, expanding, strengthening and coordinating our efforts through national initiatives that will assist more people with disabilities gain access to and acquisition of reused assistive technology across the United States.

Joy Kniskern, M.Ed, CRCC, Assistive Technology Services Manager for the Georgia Department of Labor Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program, is a 30-year veteran in the rehabilitation services arena. In the late 1970s, working as a contractor for VR services, she established a successful post-secondary school to teach people with severe disabilities computer programming and information technology skills. Ms. Kniskern began working directly with the Division of Rehabilitation Services (DRS) in 1988 to set-up the DRS first rehabilitation engineering program and in 1991, she launched and served as Program Director of a statewide Georgia grant program called Tools for Life, a Georgia Assistive Technology (AT) Project. The Tools for Life Project, funded under the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), is increasing access to AT for all Georgians with disabilities. The project has been the catalyst for a number of innovations -- ReBoot, a nationally acclaimed statewide computer reuse project; Tools for Life Regional AT Resource Centers; an exemplary Georgia Medicaid policy to cover augmentative communication devices and services; Dollars and Sense: A Guide to AT Resources in Georgia, which is a CD-ROM search tool to locate AT devices and services; High School High, an innovative transition program for secondary school students intersted in pursuing science and technology careers; and most recently, Credit-Able, Georgia’s innovative loan guarantee program that offers affordable loans for Georgians with disabilities to purchase asssistive technology and join Georgia credit unions.

In her current role as AT Unit Manager, she provides leadership and technical assistance to Tools for Life and the Assistive Work Technology Services (AWT), the most comprehensive state agency rehabilitation engineering program for public VR services in the country. She participated on a statewide team to help design the Tri-Regional AWT services that included twenty-nine AT professionals: Occupational Therapists, Rehabilitation Technologists, Rehabilitation Engineers, and Rehabilitation Technicians. Other state VR programs have visited Georgia to explore how to replicate this successful program that provided AT services to over two-thousand new referrals in 2001. Ms. Kniskern holds a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Sociology from Vanderbilt University and an Masters of Education Degree in Psychological Services and Community Counseling from Georgia State University. Joy maintains her certification as a rehabilitation counselor and is a member of the Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America (RESNA). She has served on various advisory boards and task groups that include: TechConnections of the Georgia Tech Center for AT and Environmental Access (CATEA); the National Task Force on Technology and Disability; Learning Disabled Adults of Georgia; the University of Miami Online Course on Interdisciplinary Fundamentals in Adaptive and AT, the S.M.A.R.T. Exchange; Georgia statewide conference on AT, Touch the Future; and the Georgia Youth Leadership Forum. She has presented widely and has published papers for state and national conferences, and as a collaborator on publications for the Institute of Rehabilitation Research.

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Carolyn P. Phillips is a nationally recognized consultant in the field of assistive technology and disAbilities. She has spoken to numerous groups on topics that include assistive technology, advocacy, self-determination and living with a learning disAbility. Carolyn serves as Director of Tools for Life. This program is operated under the aegis of the Georgia Department of Labor, Division of Rehabilitation Services. She has published articles in numerous journals, a chapter in a book and poetry focused on understanding and appreciating people with disAbilities. Carolyn has dedicated her time and energy to promoting independence for people with disAbilities through advocacy, education, assistive technology and fundraising. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia, and her Master's Degree from the University of Kentucky. Carolyn lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Jeremy Buzzell is the Program Specialist at the U.S. Department of Education responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Assistive Technology Act, Alternative Financing Programs, Telework Programs, and Assistive Technology Reuse Programs. Since joining the Department of Education in 2001, Jeremy also has worked in the Office of Special Education Programs for the Research Division and the Office of the Director. He was honored to work for the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee of the U.S. Senate on the reauthorizations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, and the Assistive Technology Act. Prior to working in government, Jeremy was an administrator of early intervention programs in Syracuse, NY and a special education teacher in Haverhill, MA.

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