WHICH WILL REMOVE CERTAIN PHYSICAL BARRIERS TO EMPLOYMENT

AMERICAN RESOURCES CORPORATION PROPOSES TO ASSIST THE OFFICE OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT SERVICES IN THE REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO EMPLOYMENT OF THE DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED (DD). AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT, HDS AND INVENTORS OF DEVICES TO ASSIST THE DD POPULATION WILL HAVE ACCESS TO A COMPUTER DATA BANK WHICH WILL IDENTIFY THE DD POPULATION WHICH WOULD BENEFIT FROM A PARTICULAR DEVICE. THE SPECIFIC INDUSTRY BARRIERS AFFECTED WILL ALSO BE ADDRESSED IN THE DATA BANK. TO ACCOMPLISH THE GOALS OF THIS PROJECT, WE PROPOSE TO REINTERPRET THE DATA GATHERED BY HDS IN ITS NATIONAL HEALTH INTERVIEW SURVEY (HIS) AND THE HOME HEALTH CARE SUPPLEMENT (HHCS) TO DERIVE DEVICE-RELATED DATA. THE ELECTRONIC INDUSTRIES FOUNDATION (EIF) HAS AGREED TO ACT AS A CONDUIT FOR DEVICE INFORMATION AND AS A LINK TO THE INVENTOR AND TECHNOLOGICAL COMMUNITY. GIVEN THE RESULTS OF OUR PROJECT, AN INVENTOR OR INVESTOR CAN MATCH THE BARRIER-REMOVAL CHARACTERISTICS OF A DEVICE WITH THE POTENTIAL DD USER POPULATION TO DETERMINE MARKET SIZE AND LOCATION AND TO PREDICT COSTS AND BENEFITS FOR DD AND INDUSTRY GROUPS. THE EMERGING HIGH TECHNOLOGY ERA FOR THE UNITED STATES WILL INEVITABLY PRODUCE MORE AND MORE IDEAS AND SYSTEMS TO AID THE DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED. WE FEEL THAT OUR PROJECT WILL RESULT IN A COMMERCIALLY VIABLE SYSTEM FROM WHICH SUBSCRIBERS AND HDS CAN RECEIVE HIGHLY COST-EFFECTIVE BENEFITS.