Technology Leads to More Opportunities for the Disabled

There is a general belief that technology limits human contact and there has been a lot of talk about how technology disconnects people from the rest of humanity.

John Kinnaird, a 42-year-old resident of Good Shepherd’s Conrad W. Raker Center, represents the flip side of that belief.

Kinnaird is a quadriplegic, and is unable to express himself through speech or sign language. For years he struggled, but by using infrared environmental controls — he can now communicate, access the computer and control electronics such as a television. Most recently he began learning how to send email using a computer, which he can operate thanks to Pathfinder.

Kinnaird is an example of an individual who uses several different assistive technologies.

According to the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, over 16 million Americans with disabilities use special equipment aids or assistive technology.

United Disabilities Services is among the organizations in Pennsylvania that helps disabled people by providing equipments to use on a trial basis. The organization works in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Initiative on Assistive Technology.

Individuals who use their services have a wide range of disabilities, from cerebral palsy, polio and muscular dystrophy to spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

There are many technologies available through PIAT and similar organizations in Pennsylvania such as keyboards designed for typing with one hand, computer mice that can be controlled by feet and eye-control systems that allow computer cursors to be controlled by eye movements. There is technology for phone calls to be received by the deaf and hearing impaired. There are also systems that convert computer text to voice or to Braille for individuals who are blind or visually impaired. Active case manager for United Disabilities Services, Carol Sneath said, “We have devices which can assist people with all types of disabilities.”

Approximately 10 million blind and visually impaired people live in the US, according to the American Foundation for the Blind. More than 1.5 million blind and visually impaired Americans use computers with adaptive technologies.

There are magnification programs for the computer screen, computer screen readers, Braille displays and printers, and speech systems that help blind and visually impaired people use computers.

Other systems, called screen readers, translate text and links on a computer screen into speech. JAWS is a program in which everything is done through hundreds of keystrokes to navigate through Web pages and offline programs. A synthesized voice lets users know what they’re doing. The computer screen stays dark.

Visually impaired people can use programs such as ZoomText to magnify things on a computer screen to up to 30 times the normal size. Such programs also use speech to augment the magnified screen.

PIAT and the Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Lending Library help people to try out such technology before committing to a major purchase, as equipment is not cheap.

“The higher-tech communication devices are the most popular devices borrowed from the library,” Sneath said.  She gives an example of Melissa who borrowed an environmental control unit to control electronics.

Director of sales and marketing for Abilities of Northwest New Jersey Inc. in Washington Township, N.J., Sue Zukoski said, “Remember, assistive technology can be simple and it can be complex.”

At this center many people use simple assistive technologies to help them do their jobs, such as workers with limited hand coordination might use a plastic device designed to hold paint cans while they complete the task of putting a label on the can. On the other hand, a blind or visually impaired worker might use a small tray to line up papers before stapling them.

“Although it’s simple, they wouldn’t be able to do the job without the technology,” Zukoski said.

Despite an upsurge of advances in assistive technology, many people who need it are left behind, according to a national study conducted by Clarkson University and Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network.

The Barriers to Assistive Technology Transfer in Society survey found four key barriers preventing people from taking advantage of assistive technology: funding challenges; lack of public awareness about the technology’s potential and availability; shortage of trained experts; and poor collaboration among researchers, clinicians and users.

Efforts are being made to see that those barriers are overcome. At the end of October, President Bush signed the Assistive Technology Act of 2004, which ensures that individuals with disabilities have access to the technology they need to help them be independent in school, at home, in the workplace and in the community.

In short, technology enables people with disabilities, to become more involved with society. It allows them to mobilize, communicate and hold jobs. It literally opens the world to them, putting it within reach.

Source: The Express-Times