The city of Boston, Massachusetts came alive during the hazy summer evening of Tuesday 12th August 2025, as the Latestsale.com Founder dropped into the Museum of Science, Boston, #USA in-person to celebrate #DisabilityTech as part of the “Disability Tech: Innovation for an Accessible Future” showcase.
A stellar panel awaited all attendees including,
Brittany Palmer, Managing Partner of Adaptation Ventures, the first angel investment group in the USA that invests in early-stage disability and accessible tech startups.
We also gained invaluable insights from Jon Farrell, Technical Software Lead for the Brailler Innovation Team at Perkins School for the Blind, where he champions the creation of software solutions that accelerate braille literacy. The SMART Brailler is described as, “an early learning tool designed to promote an interactive educational experience between students, teachers and parents.”
Meghan Gagne, Director of Product for Braille Innovation at the Howe Innovation Center at Perkins was also in attendance.
Samantha Johnson, Founder and CEO of Tatum Robotics, a company dedicated to creating innovative assistive technology for the Deaf Blind community, through customizable linguistic variations in algorithms, made an enigmatic appearance.
Finally, attendees were treated with the appearance of Paul Kent, Founder of disAbled Life Alliance, a public benefit corporation, committed to accelerating innovation and equity across the disability spectrum.
Robert Ludke- regular U.S. Senate and House of Representatives Policy Adviser
Book Signing and Keynote
Constantly on the move, forever pushing forward sustainability initiatives and providing counsel for impact focused enterprises wishing to improve their corporate governance, supply chain management, and environmental projects, through robust ESG strategies, Robert Ludke was delighted to announce in front of a packed audience that industry sector alignment has been achieved for companies in the retail, oil and gas, transportation and the finance sectors who comprehend the importance of embracing DisabilityTech.
Together with advising policymakers in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, Ludke has championed advances in inclusive employment for persons with disabilities to drive innovation, expand untapped market opportunities, whilst creating long-term value across the global economy.
An accomplished author of two books including, “Case Studies in Disability-Driven Innovation: A Better Future Through an Inclusive Economy,” published in February 2025, the book illustrates the strategies that drive social impact businesses forward whilst simultaneously unleashing the positive benefits of forgotten or undiscovered markets worth trillions of dollars. The Latestsale.com Founder was honored to have met Robert Ludke and to have received her signed copy of his book: “Case Studies in Disability-Driven Innovation: A Better Future Through an Inclusive Economy,” that unveils the “exciting future of disability-driven innovation” with endless case studies to support the argument for inclusion and diversity.
Accessing Artificial Intelligence through creative endeavours as seen by Steve Gleason, former NFL player for the New Orleans Saints who in 2011 was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), an incurable neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons. Steve’s love for the arts, his lifetime passion has not stopped thanks to his creative arsenal. “Thanks to Adobe Firefly incorporating custom eye-tracking technology that turns his eye movements into text prompts he still creates beautiful art.”
Ludke’s second book, “Transformative Markets,” assesses how markets can create a more sustainable society through collaboration. Alongside his books, Robert Ludke is the creator of the “Voices of Nature” podcast in partnership with Global Conservation Corps.
The DisabilityTech market, comprised of an endless array of innovative products and services is destined to uncover a more inclusive ecosystem. This transformative market is expected to grow to as much as $40 billion by 2030. Massachusetts, USA has taken the lead by pioneering support for DisabilityTech, thus emerging as a national hub.
Bob Ludke emphasized the importance of mission critical issues, sustainability, disability employment and disability driven innovation such as ramps and the electric toothbrush that first came to bear because of disability needs.
Ludke referred to the role the DisabilityTech community have to play in the advancement of new products and services, again highlighting how the Smartphone touch screen feature benefits mobile phone users thanks to the implementation of this useability-first mechanism for those with disabilities.
“A more accessible world has derived direct from the DisabilityTech community,” Ludke declared as he continued to present more examples, from revolutionary devices and flip phones, that developed from the Blackberry and evolved into the iPhone. Even virtual meetings can be traced back to DisabilityTech developments, with the known blurred background initially used for those with impaired hearing in need of using their skills to read lips and therefore finding this more difficult with movement in background, hence the blurred Zoom meeting backgrounds we are all accustomed to using.
Ludke concluded by reiterating the lasting impact of disability driven innovation but communicated that inequalities persist with those with disabilities still struggling to access business funding. Ludke called for more equity for marginalized communities, often the most innovative who are prevented from reaching their full potential in an ever more inaccessible world.
The Lowell Institute and DisabilityTech advocates
The underlying theme of the evening, “Being human” provided a spotlight on mental health, communities, innovation, and what it means to be human in the age of technological developments with an expected 19% of the global population reported as having a disability, and 90% of children with a disability not attending school.
Immediately following the panel, guests were able to mingle and connect with DisabilityTech advocates and entrepreneurs, at a specially organized networking expo, where we met with numerous representatives from the Assistive Device Center at Perkins, Echobatix, Tatum Robotics, Tufts University and MIT Beaver Works.
“Since 1836, the Lowell Institute has sponsored free public lectures and educational programs throughout the Boston area.” The Museum of Science Boston, and all attendees thank the immense generosity of the Lowell Institute, whose sponsorship ensured that guests enjoyed the highest level of hospitality at the Museum of Science, Boston, Massachusetts on Tuesday 12th August 2025.