SHARE Foundation

SHARE is the fundraising arm of the Center for Rehabilitation Engineering at UMass Dartmouth. At the Center, technicians and engineers create, build and adapt computer equipment for children and adults with disabilities such as ALS, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, blindness, spinal cord injuries and a host of other conditions. Each system is custom made to suit the needs of each client. Since its inception, the organization has assisted approximately 2,600 people, primarily in Massachusetts and Rhode Island but in 37 other states and several foreign countries as well.

SHARE's mission is to empower physically challenged non-speaking children and adults to express their basic wants and needs, communicate with others, control their immediate environment and achieve the greatest possible level of independence. SHARE, which funds the work done at UMass Dartmouth's Center for Rehabilitation Engineering, directs resources that enable the design, adaptation and fabrication of high technology equipment tailored specifically to the unique needs of every individual who seeks help. SHARE was founded in 1982 by three professors at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in the electrical and computer engineering department. SHARE has been successful in devising, designing and improving a number of systems that have enabled clients with extremely limited physical abilities to control computer systems in innovative ways. Examples include eyebrow switches, facial muscle twitch systems and electronic filters that separate voluntary from involuntary eye blinks for use by those for whom eye blinks appear to be the most promising means of controlling their adaptive systems. In addition to receiving equipment, clients receive training on the use of their systems and follow up visits are made to keep their systems updated and the most valuable to them.