Editing Assistive technology (section)

==History==
In 1988 the [[National institute on disability and rehabilitation research|National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research]], [[NIDRR]], awarded [[Gaulladet University]] a grant for the project "Robotic finger spelling hand for communication and access to text by deaf-blind persons". Researchers at the university developed and tested a robotic hand. Although it was never commercialized the concept is relevant for current and future research.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jaeger|first1=Robert J.|title=Rehabilitation robotics research at the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research|journal=The Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development|date=2006|volume=43|issue=5|pages=xvii–xx|doi=10.1682/JRRD.2006.05.0041|pmid=17123198 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Since this grant, many others have been written. [[NIDRR]] funded research appears to be moving from the fabrication of robotic arms that can be used by disabled persons to perform daily activities, to developing robotics that assist with therapy in the hopes of achieving long-term performance gains. If there is success in development of robotics, these mass-marketed products could assist tomorrow's longer-living elderly individuals enough to postpone nursing home stays.<ref name="Pittsburgh Post Gazette">{{cite news|last=Gary|first=Rotstein|title=Robotic aids for the disabled and elderly|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/health/robotic-aids-for-the-disabled-and-elderly-510687/|publisher=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|access-date=9 April 2013|date=14 November 2007}}</ref> "Jim Osborn, executive director of the Quality of Life Technology Center, told a 2007 gathering of long-term care providers that if such advances could delay all nursing home admissions by a month, societal savings could be $1 billion monthly".<ref name="Pittsburgh Post Gazette"/> Shortage of both paid personal assistants and available family members makes artificial assistance a necessity.