The VR-IL Project has been a collaboration of three organizations that have developed innovative research on independent living and vocational rehabilitation issues.

InfoUse specializes in the development of health, disability, and rehabilitation information using computer technology. Staff of the firm have been involved in the fields of rehabilitation and disability services since the early 1970's. InfoUse has developed a research and development capacity in the areas of disability statistics, program evaluation, policy, analysis, and interactive multimedia production, and has produced interactive systems and materials for the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the State of California, and others. The firm was founded in 1984 by Susan Stoddard, Ph.D.

InfoUse's current projects include, among others, a program evaluation of a national family resource center on assistive and instructional technologies for children and youth with disabilities; development of a multimedia training module for consumers and providers of personal assistance services; program review of Rehabilitation Engineering and Research Centers and Research and Training Centers funded by NIDRR;; development of math tools for children with physical disabilities; and development and dissemination of disability data through a variety of print and electronic media.

Web Site: www.infouse.com

---

The RRTC-ILDP studies and disseminates information about policy issues affecting independent living. The RRTC-ILDP shares the commitment to principles of consumer control and the full integration of people with disabilities of its sponsor organization, the World Institute on Disability. The Center's program of research, training, and education focuses on providing the information, skills, and methods needed to make changes at the national, state and local levels that will benefit people with disabilities.

The study of exemplary VR-IL collaborations is the joint work of the RRTC-ILDP and InfoUse. Additionally, the Center examines policies concerning health, employment, and economic security, including SSI/SSDI work disincentives and successful work policies. It also studies policy barriers in housing and rural transportation. Another project, the Community Yardstick, is based on the principles of Participatory Action Research (PAR). The Yardstick teaches disabled consumers how to assess the accessibility of the community and to build an action plan from which to work.

Web Site: www.wid.org/ildp/index.html

---

WID is a non-profit public policy center dedicated to the promotion of independence and full inclusion in society of people with disabilities. Founded in 1983 by leaders of the Independent Living/Civil Rights Movement for people with disabilities, WID is committed to bringing policy into action from a cross-disability perspective. The Board and staff of WID include experts in the fields of public policy, research, law, non-profit management, education, training, development, and business.

WID's many current projects include a research project on strategies to ensure access to telecommunications and new information systems for people with disabilities, development of a Research and Training Center on Personal Assistance Services (RTC-PAS), and a training and technical assistance program in Moscow to strengthen the effectiveness of the All-Russian Society of the Disabled.

Web Site: www.wid.org/index.html

---

Comments or Questions? Email us.