RESNA’s new president looks to next generation

BUFFALO, N.Y. – One of Jim Lenker’s main goals in his two-year tenure as president of RESNA is to “approach, recruit and teach” younger people to the field of assistive technology. 

Here’s what Lenker, PhD, OTR/L, RESNA Fellow, who is an associate professor within the Department of Rehabilitation Science at the University of Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y., had to say about why it's important to expand the organization’s community to include early career or pre-practitioners. 

HME News: What do you bring to the table as RESNA’s new president? 

Jim Lenker: I bring to the table my dual backgrounds in engineering and occupational therapy, which are two of the largest constituency groups in the organization and which I use daily. I think OT, in particular, has an increasing role in AT, whether it’s seating and mobility or communication accommodations. The OT is also playing a more acknowledged role in the home modification process for older adults. And yet, the OT curricula around the country do a variable job with AT. They address it to a greater or lesser extent, but at least half or more are playing zone defense. They don’t have the experts on the faculty. 

HME: Sounds like there is an opportunity for RESNA there? 

Lenker: I do believe there is a value to RESNA, but there is also a value to the field. So many of us become interested in AT a few years into our careers – it’s not something we start out doing. Or we’re just helping a clinician once a week and it inspires us to get more involved. There’s an opportunity for RESNA to touch and influence someone in their pre-career phase, and that’s one of my primary goals. 

HME: What are some of your other goals? 

Lenker: Another big goal is continuing to foster collaborations with other related organizations that are mutually beneficial. The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) is an obvious one, given my background as an OT, as well as the number of OTs who are RESNA members. We’re also excited about our collaboration with U.S. Rehab on the launch of the ATP Guidance Program and continue to partner closely on advocacy matters and education with NCART, NRRTS, and the Clinicians Task Force.    

HME: You have been part of RESNA since 1988. Why has the organization been such an important part of your career? 

Lenker: I owe RESNA everything in a sense. When I paid my way to my first RESNA conference in 1989, I found the people I wanted to be working with. Walking through the exhibit hall that first day, I thought, “This is where I belong; where have all these people been?” I was working in a health care position in Sacramento, Calif., at the time but not in AT, and by the end of that year I was interviewing for a position at the University of Buffalo thanks to a contact I had made at the conference. I thought I would stay in Buffalo for three years and move back home to California, but now it’s 35 years later. Every new RESNA member you meet and counter – it's the same experience.