The UW DO-IT Center is dedicated to empowering people with disabilities through technology and education. For faculty, service providers, and employers, DO-IT promotes awareness, accessibility, and inclusion—in both the classroom and the workplace—to maximize the potential of individuals with disabilities and make communities more diverse, inclusive, and vibrant.
DO-IT’s Neuroscience for Neurodiverse Learners (NNL) project, a collaboration with the UW Center for Neurotechnology, is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program. NNL delivers hands-on experiences in neuroscience disciplines, networking opportunities, and resources to high school and early postsecondary students identified as “neurodiverse” learners—those with academic challenges related to conditions such as dyspraxia, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyscalculia, autism spectrum disorder, and Tourette syndrome—and disseminates findings to teachers of courses that are related to neuroscience and, more broadly, STEM fields. The goal of NNL is to enhance student interest in and skills to successfully pursue STEM, as well as empower educators to serve these students more effectively.
The UW’s CNT is an Engineering Research Center (ERC) funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). CNT members are engineering new ways to help individuals heal and recover from injury as well as restore lost, injured, or otherwise missing connections in the brain, spinal cord and other areas of the nervous system. The CNT offers a wide range of classes and programs for pre-college, undergraduate and graduate students. CNT students and program participants learn in a collaborative, interdisciplinary environment that challenges them, introduces them to new people and ideas, and prepares them with the knowledge, skills and connections they will need to be leaders in STEM fields.
The CNT is committed to the inclusion of disability perspectives in the design of devices intended to benefit people with disabilities, as well as promoting diversity internally and in ERCs nationwide. The CNT partners with the DO-IT Center to broaden participation in STEM by individuals and groups that are traditionally underrepresented in these fields.
The NSF INCLUDES Alliance of Students with Disabilities for Inclusion, Networking, and Transition Opportunities in STEM, also known as the NSF INCLUDES TAPDINTO-STEM Alliance, is a nationwide project employing a collective impact approach with dozens of partnering organizations to increase the number of students with disabilities completing associate, baccalaureate, and graduate STEM degrees. Auburn University is leading the Alliance’s primary partnerships with five institutions of higher education that direct regional hubs: Auburn University, Northern Arizona University, the Ohio State University, the University of Hawaii-Manoa, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and the UW. The DO-IT Center team coordinates the West Coast Hub of the Alliance.