Disabled | Assisted Disability

Supporting People with Disabilities and Assistive Technologies

: Image by glsims99 via Flickr

People living with disabilities have a right to make decisions and to seek advice from their loved ones, just like ordinary people. Quality life surveys conducted have revealed that people living with disabilities often feel that they do not own their own lives because decisions that concern them are made by other people like the social workers and service providers.

Idealized funding supports people with disabilities by directly providing each disabled individual with support based on individual assessment to determine their specific needs. The disabled individual is given an opportunity to determine the services he requires and to evaluate how such services are delivered. This is not just a system of accounting but an affirmative approach that turns disabled clients into real citizens by providing them with individualized support that goes beyond equality to self dignity, citizenship and self determination.

People living with disabilities face numerous challenges using things designed to meet needs of most people. A disabled person on a wheel chair will have difficulties climbing the stairs and a blind person crossing a highway risks his own life.
Assistive technologies are modern technologies that give solutions to challenges that disable people living with disabilities. Assistive technologies create a sense of independence and confidence for the disabled, making their lives more bearable.
Laws in favor of assistive technologies have been passed since 1988 to support people living with disabilities. Telecommunications companies are required to provide systems converting between speech and text for those with hearing problems.

Assistive technology for use of computers has yielded excellent results in the recent years. With the use of computers and internet access becoming inevitable in modern life, people facing visual impairments can now access and use internet with help of screen readers, while those with conditions such as cerebral palsy can independently get around by use of mobility technology and modern medical equipment, thanks to assistive technology!

Filed Under: Disabilities, Technology Tagged With: assistivetechnology, Cerebral palsy, Disability, Disabled, Service provider, Social work, United States, Wheelchair

More Independence for the Disabled

When we hear that someone is disabled, right away we think that they cannot function at the level most people can. This may have been true in the past, however with the introduction of new technology and the availability of the information super highway of the Internet, this is no longer the case. Some Americans with disabilities cannot drive to a job, others might not have full function of their limbs or be in wheelchairs, and still others might have hearing or vision impairments. There are about as many different disabilities, physical and otherwise, as there are people.

Enter at-center.com, the information assistance technology for the disabled community. Created for supporting people with disabilities, at-center.com is a website that can be used by people with disabilities, or others, to help those with disabilities live a more “normal” lifestyle. The capabilities of this website start simple, suggesting ways to help make life easier, with help with daily activities, to a full resource center for those who would like to maintain as much of their independence as possible.

At-center.com has an easy-to-use search engine, as well as blogs to share ideas with others who might just be needing that type of help. Those with disabilities have made amazing strides in figuring out ways to do things that we take for granted. This site allows you to seek out the help of others, as well as offer one’s own advice or tip through a support forum. This is also a place to just be able to chat with those who might just be experiencing the same trials and tribulations. We all know how important it is to know that we are not alone.

With its ease of use and wealth of information, at-center.com can become a useful tool, as well as a stepping stone to making living with a disability easier and more productive.

Filed Under: Advancements, Disabilities Tagged With: British Columbia, Disability, Disabled, Employment, Independent living, Jane Holland, Rich Coleman, Vancouver Island

Support Networks are Invaluable for the Disabled

Having a disability now isn’t the same as it has been throughout history. Clever and ingenious people have always come up with ways to help them cope with their physical detriments, but in the current era, coping is less of a struggle. Science has been, and continues to, research answers for how to fix virtually every human malady. It seems likely that in time, we’ll be able to grow new body parts as needed, and in the meantime, robotics have allowed people with no arms to again pick up objects by commanding mechanical limbs with their brain’s electrical impulses. Progress like this is heartening, and goes a long way beyond merely carving a wooden stick to replace a leg amputated at the knee, as was done up until modern prosthetics arrived on the scene.

All the current and future advances in assisting people with disabilities don’t address a common remaining issue, however. That is the more psychological component of dealing with a disability. While some people are born with some basic difference to the average, fully able body, they learn from a young age to handle their difference so that it doesn’t become a large limitation. Others are struck with loss of a former trait or ability later in life, and require adjustment. In either case however, those with a disability do best if they receive support from loved ones, friends, and family.

Even the most well-adjusted person will struggle to an extent with the loss of function that any disability creates. A network of supportive individuals will help deal with the emotions, or even physical limitations, which arise. There’s nothing quite so calming and soothing as an understanding voice and a listening ear when one is frustrated with their having to find a new way to do an old trick! Friends can be invaluable, as they help ensure that the disabled person gets out and about and learns to deal with their limitation.

Filed Under: Advancements, Disabilities, Technology Tagged With: Accessibility, Disabilities, Disability, Disabled, Employment, Hotel, United States, United States Department of Justice

Assistive technology available to disabled persons

: Image via Wikipedia

Assistive technology includes a wide range of products that aid a disabled person. Also known as adaptive technology, the phrase includes assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative equipment and devices. The phrase assistive technology also broadly encompasses the process to selecting those devices.
Assistive technology allows a disabled person to perform tasks that they previously could not, or helps them complete the task easier and quicker.
Many technological advancements can’t be used by some people. Assistive technology devices help people with a range of disabilities handle a variety of issues.
For example, a blind person can’t use a typical computer and word processing software. An assistive technology product allows a seeing impaired person to use word processing software by using voice commands.
The invention of the telephone changed the way people communicate, but the traditional telephone as is leaves out hearing impaired persons unless assistive technology is used to allow deaf people to read what the person on the other end is saying using a device.
Persons suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome or someone just dealing with sore wrists benefit from using a keyboard designed ergonomically that lessens the strain placed on wrists while typing.
Persons with learning difficulties also can benefit from assistive technology. Diagnostic software diagnosis some learning disabilities.
Some disabilities are temporary and assistive devices are needed only for a short time period. A broken leg might require the use of crutches or even a wheelchair to get around.
At the same time, others might use those devices permanently, a person without use of their legs might have a wheelchair designed to make them mobile.
Assistive technology used by a family member often requires the rest of the family to adapt and learn to how the device works so they can help the disabled person.
A wide variety of assistive technology exists today allowing many people to function in society better and faster.

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: Assistive technology, Disabilities, Disability, Disabled, Hearing impairment, Learning disability, Resource Directories, Technology

Helping People With Disabilities How Can You Do Your Bit?

How can you do your bit to support people with disabilities? We all know that technology has the potential of revolutionizing persons with disabilities. Earlier, a bedridden person was no more than a vegetable. His or her entire life would be spent being cared for by family members.

However, it is possible to make use of technologies to regain control and independence. One can control the bed, television, computer and other facilities by simply breathing into or out of a tube. These technologies have helped individuals enjoy life better. Of course, such persons will still remain bedridden. However, they need not be constantly dependent on others for basic activities.

The biggest disadvantage with these technologies is the expenses involved. Secondly, most individuals are forced to opt for universal design. The end result of this approach is that there is no scope for customization. Going in for customized technology from the scratch is going to cost a lot of money. Well, you can do your bit by using the equipment in your hand in a better manner.

Rather than throwing your keyboard, you can spread word that you are ready to offer the keyboard as an experimental device for any person who wishes to try and modify it for disabled persons. If an existing keyboard can be improved and if size of the keys can be enhanced, it might help a person with visual disability to see the keyboard better at lower cost.

Having a reasonable quality keyboard to begin with and getting it at low cost will help the service provider offer cheap services. Whether this approach will work or not is uncertain.

However, what matters is the desire to make a difference. Most persons have good intentions but never proceed to translate it into real work. You can make a difference by starting to act on your intentions today.

Filed Under: Disabilities, Technology Tagged With: Alf Morris, BBC, Disabilities, Disability, Disabled, Employment, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Rory Cellan-Jones

Let The Disabled Person Choose Assistive Technologies For Best Results

What factors should you consider when getting Assistive technology for a person who has led a life of good health before becoming disabled? Adopting the same approach used for a person who has been disabled from birth is not going to work. For starters, a person who has lived a healthy life will be used to being independent.

On the other hand, a person who has always remained disabled will be resigned to the fact that he or she will always need care. In such a scenario, even the smallest level of independence will please the latter. However, a person who has enjoyed good health in the past will not be satisfied very easily.

The first complication arises when family members decide to go in for Assistive technology without consulting the disabled individual. This is obviously going to create problems. If you want the individual to enjoy more independence, the first step is to create a change in your attitude and approach.

The person should be given the freedom to make the choices. Of course, those things that the person cannot handle on his or her own will be the responsibility of family members. The disabled individual will use Assistive technologies. Hence, this choice should rest with the disabled.

In the past, people had no option but to proceed on their own because getting the disabled individual to check out different technologies and equipment was very difficult. However, the web has simplified matters today. All one has to do is log on to the internet and one can check out a large number of technologies and equipments without even stepping out of the house.

This will herald the beginning of the rebirth of the individual. As he or she becomes more independent, the negative impact of the disability will automatically come down. It is just a question of time before technology replaces the lost faculties of the disabled individuals.

Filed Under: Disabilities, Technology Tagged With: Assistive technology, Disability, Disabled, Health, Individual, Resource Directories, Technology, United States

Helping People With Disabilities & How Can You Do Your Bit?