Loyola speech pathology professor, Libby Kumin, recently received a grant of $178,352 from the National Science Foundation, which will fund her research on improving the abilities of young adults with Down syndrome to use computers for work, socialization, and daily activities.
Kumin initially began "… [working] with children with Down syndrome and their families [in] 1980." Since then, she has been affiliated with the Professional Advisory Committee of the National Down Syndrome Congress and the Board of the International Mosaic Down Syndrome Association. She founded the Down Syndrome Speech and Language Center for Excellence at Loyola's Columbia Center, and wrote several books on this area of study. In addition, she has been listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare, Who's Who of American Women, and is among the Foremost Women of the Twentieth Century.
Over the course of the past five years, Kumin has "… observed many young children with Down syndrome who use computers for play, learning, and school assignments." Among all of the children she worked with, a ten-year-old boy, Alex, stood out, sparking her interest in what is her current field of study by "… [showing her] a powerpoint he had done about his hopes for the future…, [thereby making her] think more about computer skills for people with Down syndrome."
Ever since her experience with Alex, Kumin has been collaborating with Dr. Jonathan Lazar and Dr. Heidi Feng, two professors of computer and information sciences at Towson University. Together, they have "… received 600 responses, … [have been] able to learn a great deal about the strengths and challenges people with Down syndrome experience using computers…," and took home the "Best Paper Award" at the Association for Computing Machinery 2008 Conference on Computers and Accessibility, the foremost accessibility research conference in America.
After having so much success with their research, the three decided that they had to take their study to the next level and applied for the prestigious National Science Foundation grant.
The purpose of Congress' National Science Foundation is "to promote the progress of science, to advance national health, prosperity and welfare, to secure the national defense…," Kumin said. To achieve this goal, approximately 10,000 endowments are given annually; fortunately, Dr. Kumin was one of the chosen, as she admits that "[the] research would not be possible without the grant, to provide funding for the extensive time commitment of the researchers and the participants."
The project, which began on Sept. 15, 2009, is scheduled to run until August 31, 2011, and once again will involve not only Kumin's expertise, but the insights of Lazar and Feng as well, as they collaboratively research and develop surveys in the hopes of "… [learning] more about computer usage in young people with Down syndrome from ages 5 to 21...."
The research project has already been efficiently organized and mapped out with each year of the study having its very own agenda. "In year one, [they] will be studying young adults with Down syndrome who are expert computer users…, [exploring] many different areas of computer usage. In year two, the researching will focus… [on] applications that are typically implemented in the workplace and in daily life."
In the past, researchers have failed to specifically study people with Down syndrome in relation to how they interact with computers. According to Kumin, this is a travesty, as she believes that "[people] with Down syndrome have unique strengths and challenges…," with her additionally stating that "[this] work… could create gateways to employment for people with Down syndrome…."
"Since [people with Down syndrome] are strong visual learners, computer skills could be an asset for jobs, social networking, and activities of daily living." Therefore, Kumin, whose research has the potential to make a great impact on the Down syndrome community, could "… improve the quality of life for children and adults with Down syndrome."
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