Date: Thursday, December 14, 2023
Category: General

Hello everyone,

As we wind down after another busy year to spend time with our family and friends over the holidays, I’d love to share with you some of RESNA’s greatest achievements from 2023. I am so proud   of all the work that was done this year by our volunteer leaders and staff.

The achievement I’m most excited about this year is 456 new members that we welcomed into RESNA in 2023. That’s 456 new people to connect with, to brainstorm with, to innovate with. The strength of RESNA has always been our people, and it’s wonderful to see new members eager to join RESNA.

I’m incredibly proud of the Colin McLaurin Distinguished Lecture: A Fireside Chat with Dr. Rory Cooper, which was held this October at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Cooper is a visionary leader, coach, mentor, and the founder of HERL Labs. During this fireside chat, Dr. Cooper highlighted the pivotal moments and invaluable lessons that have shaped his remarkable career and shared the driving forces that ignited his passion for innovation and his relentless pursuit of creating solutions to enhance the lives of individuals with disabilities. This Fireside Chat is now available in RESNA Learn for anyone who is looking to be inspired (and earn some CEUS)

Speaking of RESNA Learn, what an incredible library of resources this has grown into! There is now over 30 hours of on-demand educational content available, and a great deal of that content offers IACET CEUs as well. Spread across the RESNA Annual Conference, the Fundamentals Courses, and the webinars held this year, we had over 654 people earn IACET CEU’s through RESNA this year.

RESNA launched a new standards working group on Wheelchair Warning and Driver Assistance Systems in Spring 2023. The purpose of this working group is to develop industry standards related to design and test requirements for Warning and Driver Assistance products to address safety and performance. These standards will help clearly define how a driver assistance system enhances mobility, including its terminology, safety metrics, and standards of quality. 

And that’s not all! In 2023, RESNA certified 435 new ATPs. RESNA completed the first ever update to the SMS exam. In January, RESNA hosted the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) Research Summit. Our AT Journal had one its most active years ever, with 30,077 downloads in Q3 this year alone, which is a 15% increase over last year! I could go on and on about all of our achievements in 2023, it was certainly a year to be proud of.

Now looking forward, 2024 promises to be just as busy. If we are going to continue to build upon the success of this year, RESNA needs your help. We are currently accepting abstract proposals for the 2024 webinar calendar and the deadline to submit an abstract is January 5, 2024.

If webinars aren’t your thing, there are plenty of other volunteer opportunities for you to get involved with RESNA. By volunteering with RESNA, you’ll help shape the association and the make an impact on the entire field of assistive technology. It’s a great opportunity to hone your leadership skills, connect with other leaders in our field, and work on exciting new projects.

Enjoy the holidays with your loved ones, and let’s hit the ground running in 2024!

Carmen DiGiovine
RESNA President