FAAST Brings Assistive Technology Within Reach at Miller School Open House
At the Mailman Center for Child Development, the Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology showcases free tools that support independence, communication and daily living for people with disabilities.
At the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine’s Mailman Center for Child Development, a statewide assistive technology program is quietly transforming how people with disabilities, families and educators access tools that support independence, communication and learning.
The Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology (FAAST) program, housed at the Mailman Center, serves as the South Florida and Broward regional demonstratioin center for Florida’s Assistive Technology Act Program. Its mission is to help people with physical or developmental challenges discover, try and use assistive technology that can improve their lives, every day.
“Every state and territory in the U.S. has an Assistive Tech Act Program,” said Anamaria Nevares, a clinical program manager at the Mailman Center who has worked with FAAST for more than 16 years. “No matter where you live in Florida, you have a regional demonstration center for technology tools that residents can go to for assistive technology support.”
A Hands‑On, No‑Cost Community Resource
FAAST operates much like a public library. Instead of books, users borrow assistive technology devices. Everyone can visit the center to explore tools that support communication, reading, mobility, computer access, vision, hearing and daily living.
“This is a completely free program,” Nevares emphasized. “Nobody needs a referral. It’s a community resource.”
Popular tools include communication devices for children with autism or adults recovering from stroke, smart pens that read text aloud for individuals with dyslexia and voice-controlled technology that allows users with motor impairments to operate computers or household devices independently. Although FAAST is housed within the pediatric Mailman Center, its reach extends across the lifespan.
An Open House Showcases New Smart‑Home Technology
In April, the program hosted an open house to showcase new smart‑home technologies made possible through a grant from the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. The space allows visitors to try devices that control lights, televisions and other household features using voice or adaptive switches.
“We organized the open house to let the community know that we have devices that can help them be more independent at home,” Nevares said.
The open house also highlighted how FAAST connects hands‑on community services with rigorous university‑led research.
Research Behind the Program
That research is led by Michelle Schladant, Ph.D., associate professor of pediatrics at the Miller School and director of Step Up AT, a research partnership between the Mailman Center and FAAST funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs.
Dr. Schladant’s research has focused on the needs of teachers with students who use or need assistive technology.
“Through our research, we found teachers like bite-sized information,” she said. “They don’t have a lot of extra time.”
In response, Dr. Schladant and team developed a model that combines three key elements:
• Job‑embedded coaching for teachers
• On‑demand online training resources, including short videos in English and Spanish
• Direct access to assistive technology through FAAST’s lending library.
Evidence That Training and Access Change Practice
In a published mixed‑methods randomized controlled trial, Dr. Schladant and colleagues found that this multi‑faceted approach significantly increased teachers’ use of assistive technology in preschool classrooms. In schools that received training and coaching, the percentage of children using assistive technology rose dramatically over the course of the study.
Teachers reported that assistive technology helped increase engagement, communication and participation, even when gains in early literacy scores were more complex to measure.
“We found that our model did increase teachers’ use of assistive technology,” Dr. Schlandant said.
Sustainability improves when coaching happens inside schools, rather than relying solely on outside experts. Dr. Schladant and team expanded the toolkit to include a “train-the-trainer” program that placed assistive technology experts in the schools, to train staff who worked at the schools. The teachers responded.
“Teachers like to be coached,” she said. “That train-the-trainer component, along with the on‑demand resources and materials, is kind of the perfect combination.”
A Model Designed for Scale
Every state has an assistive technology program, so the FAAST-Mailman model has national relevance. Teachers in other states can access similar lending libraries through their own AT programs, extending the impact far beyond South Florida.
“We’re increasing awareness of the availability of these free resources that exist in every single state and territory,” Dr. Schladant said.
For Nevares, that awareness is the heart of FAAST’s mission.
“I want more people to know that there are tools that can facilitate their daily life,” she said. “And that we have a program right here at the Mailman Center that can help access those tools.”
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Tags: child wellbeing, Department of Pediatrics, Dr. Michelle Schladant, Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology, Mailman Center for Child Development, pediatrics, technology