Date: Thursday, February 17, 2022
Category: General

Welcome to 2022!  We are entering our third year of the global pandemic, and RESNA is not slowing down one bit. 2022 is the Chinese year of the Tiger, which represents courage and bravery. I challenge you to approach this year with the same values. RESNA is rolling out a number of new opportunities. Step out of your comfort zone and become involved with our important initiatives! Interprofessional collaboration is one of my top priorities for RESNA because our strength is dependent on the collaboration of our community, which brings both researchers and practitioners together to share ideas, address challenges and push each other to advance the assistive technology field.

Volunteering with a SIG or PSG is a great first step for getting involved with our community, and we have several open leadership positions. The time and expertise you give are invaluable to our ability to evolve and advance RESNA’s offerings. The work of SIGs and PSGs lead to great resources and initiatives that benefit the RESNA community. For example, the Wheeled Mobility SIG recently posted RESNA Position on the Application of Ultralight Manual Wheelchairs: Literature Update 2021’, which is currently out for comment.

Interprofessional collaboration is also a priority in RESNA’s 2022 event planning. We continue to identify partnership opportunities that will drive idea sharing across the AT field. Last month we hosted a track at the International Seating Symposium’s virtual event focused on technology convergence. We were proud to collaborate with the conference organizers to provide education to seating and mobility professionals who need ‘more than wheelchairs’ to best serve their clients. The RESNA track was well attended and highly engaging. If you attended ISS, you can access the recordings on ISS website.

We plan to host more of these collaborative sessions and discussions at the RESNA 2022 Virtual Conference taking place July 13-15. This year’s theme is ‘Driving the Future of Assistive Technology,’ which encourages diverse views across multiple disciplines. I urge you to mark your calendars now. Registration will open in early March.

Thank you again for everything you contribute to RESNA, and let’s start off 2022 like the Tigers we are!

Best,

Maureen Linden