Low-income Children Have Greatest Dental Needs.Poor dental health impacts children’s growth, function, behavior, and school readiness. Sadly, low-income children experience the greatest amount of dental disease and fewest dental visits, even though they have the highest rates of dental insurance coverage (Medicaid and SCHIP). Thus, sources other than cost must serve as barriers. This study sought to identify factors which might prevent or facilitate adequate dental care.

The recent development of telepresence robots provides the opportunity for virtual inclusion to students who are not able to attend school due to medical conditions. Every year, large numbers of K-12 students are not able to attend class due to illness. Extended absence from the classroom has negative and overlapping educational, social, and medical consequences as students may fall behind in instruction, feel isolated from their peers, and experience difficulties in their recovery due to loneliness and depression. The recent development of telepresence robots provides a possible means for addressing this situation. Preliminary results from a local case study on the use of these robots in a public school system indicate that virtual inclusion may provide significant improvements in the educational, social, and healthcare experiences of this vulnerable population.

The universal accessibility movement has focused on solutions for people with physical limitations. While this work has helped bring about positive initiatives for this population, physical disabilities are just one of the many life situations that can complicate people’s ability to fully participate in an information economy and society. Other factors affecting accessibility include poverty, illiteracy, and social isolation. This paper explores how the universal accessibility movement can expand its efforts to reach other diverse populations. We discuss four sets of resources -- physical, digital, human, and social -- that are critical for enabling people to use information and communication technology, and provide some examples of how these resources can help people access, adapt, and create knowledge.