Cognitopia was well-represented in beautiful Hood River, Oregon at the 2016 Conference of the Oregon Association of Vocational and Special Needs Personnel. Our team participated in three presentations featuring the newest Cognitopia web applications Goal Guide, MyLife, and ScanDo.

On Day 1, Josh Barbour and Tom Keating presented Technology to Support Integrated Employment: Cloud-based Apps, sharing the latest developments within Cognitopia. Josh demonstrated how he is using the Cognitopia platform in his Eugene, Oregon transition program designed to help students track goals and build multimedia e-Portfolios that showcase their accomplishments.

Saturday morning, Day 2, Davan Overton (shown in the photo above) and Josh Barbour presented Davan’s Story in conjunction with Davan’s mom Melissa Overton. The session included development of Davan’s MyLife e-Portfolio and a viewing of the powerful ESPN E:60 video, “Different: The Davan Overton Story,” a documentary about Davan’s voyage of self-discovery .

On Saturday afternoon, Cognitopia user Dorothy Miller presented Utilizing Web-Based Portfolios for Student-Directed Transitions with Toby Rickard and Josh Barbour. Dorothy showcased how she uses video and text features within the MyLife e-Portfolio to document her sign language expertise, volunteer teaching experiences, and personal love of cats and mud-splattered four-wheeling!

Dorothy also shared her use of the MyLife blogging feature, where she regularly writes about her experience as a new community college student as well as her difficulties in obtaining sign language interpretation services.

Many thanks to all of these presenters for sharing their exciting work with the Cognitopia platform.

Tom Keating

Tom Keating, Ph.D. is founder and CEO of Cognitopia, home of the Cognitopia Platform for Self-Determination, emphasizing tools for IEP self-direction, goal management, task analysis, and team coordination. Keating has been focused for the past 20 years on research and development of self-management and community living applications for individuals with cognitive disabilities and has been principal investigator on over 20 federally-funded technology development projects. He is also a Courtesy Research Associate in the Computer and Information Sciences Department of the University of Oregon. Keating’s perspective in all of his work has been strongly influenced by his experience of 31 years as a primary supporter for a brother who experienced autism.