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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoPlainText>Ron<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>That is a great question. A few weeks ago I was looking into the accessibility of a product that is being used here in one of our courses. After our local rep told me that another university had already done a pilot with the product and didn’t have any problems I contacted that particular school. While visiting and sharing information with that colleague we talked about how we wished there was a way to connect with others working on similar things in Missouri. We thought it would be so much more powerful if we could join together and push back at these reps <span style='color:#1F497D'>and companies </span>as a collective body rather than as individuals<span style='color:#1F497D'>. Although we have both worked with the accessibility contacts at these companies directly we aren’t getting anywhere and the local reps just keep going directly to faculty pushing their products. </span>We also thought it could save us a lot of time and frustration if we had an easier way to share product review<span style='color:#1F497D'>s since most of us don’t have a lot of time to do this on top of everything else. </span>The benefits to the larger school is that we aren’t duplicating each others work and we can benefit from each others knowledge and talents. In addition; the smaller schools that have people that ware multiple hats and aren’t able to test the accessibility of products on their own won’t have to take the reps “word for it” they can avoid potential problems from learning from other schools.<span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Some additional benefits to this state list are:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>-State Rehab professionals can connect easily with many state schools at one time and learn what is going on in higher ed so they can best prepare their consumers.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>-Special Educatio<span style='color:#1F497D'>n professionals working with transition age students can have a clearer understanding of how to best prepare their students to attend local schools i.e. what programs are being used, what problem solving skills they may need to have, etc <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:#1F497D'>-Not all Missouri professionals belong to ATHEN, AHEAD, or some of the other great resources that are available for a variety of reasons; so valuable local connections don’t happen<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:#1F497D'>Megan Shadrick M.S. M.A. COMS<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:#1F497D'>Associate Director<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:#1F497D'>Disability Resource Center-Access Technology Center<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:#1F497D'>Missouri State University <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><a href="mailto:meganshadrick@missouristate.edu">meganshadrick@missouristate.edu</a><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>