“Honey, do you know where we are?”
“I am not sure. I have no cell signal.”
Can you imagine life without technology?
The advancement of technology has radically transformed and enhanced our lives. We can access almost any information where we need it and when we need it. We can learn a new language or enjoy famous landmarks in the comfort of our homes. We can travel to distant places within hours rather than days or months. Moreover, we also have recently seen the rapid growth in the innovation and development of assistive technology.
What is assistive technology?
Assistive technology is an umbrella term “for assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices”[i] that can help maintain, improve, or increase an individual’s function and performance in daily activities. Assistive technology promotes greater autonomy and independence for people with disabilities by enabling individuals to complete tasks they were unable to perform or had difficulty accomplishing.
Who can benefit from assistive technology?
Anyone can benefit from assistive technology.
When hearing the phrase “assistive technology,” what comes to mind might be computers, smartphones, special keyboards, adaptive digital devices, or robots, just to name a few. However, assistive technology can range from no or low-tech to high-tech solutions. Examples include:
- walking sticks and crutches,
- papyrus and paper,
- magnifying glasses and telescopes,
- wheelchairs and prostheses,
- large print materials and screen reading software,
- hearing aids and cochlear implants,
- communication boards and speech-generating devices.
Depending on the type or the severity of the disability, a disabled individual may rely heavily on a specific type of assistive technology for most of everyday living. But the bottom line is that we all benefit from assistive technology, especially as we age.
What are the benefits of assistive technology?
Assistive technology can benefit people with disabilities in every aspect of their lives, from everyday self-care, communication, and getting around to higher education, gainful employment, and long-distance travel. Some examples are:
- Mobility assistive technology enables people with mobility difficulties to get around and participate in activities that might otherwise be impossible for them, increasing their independence and confidence.
- Educational assistive technology increases learning opportunities and enhances learning experiences for students with disabilities.
- Listening assistive technology helps people with various degrees of hearing loss to hear better and communicate more easily in loud or busy environments.
- Reading assistive technology can benefit people with learning or reading difficulties in numerous ways, such as building vocabulary, enhancing comprehension, improving social acceptance, and increasing confidence.
- Vision assistive technology allows people with blindness or vision impairments to access written or digital information they were formerly unable to access or had difficulty accessing.
Assistive technology opens doors for people with disabilities that used to be closed to them, allows them to participate in activities inaccessible to them before, and broadens the horizon for them to fully participate and flourish in society. More than that, assistive technology promotes the opportunity for every member of society to contribute and benefit all.
What needs to be done?
More than 2.5 billion people need one or more assistive products worldwide.[ii] The need is only going to increase. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 3.5 billion people will need assistive technology by 2050 because of an aging global population and a rise in noncommunicable diseases.[iii] Therefore, measures should be taken to make assistive technological products more accessible and available to people who need them. Ways this can happen include:
- Increasing awareness of the need for assistive technology and its development.
- Decreasing the costs to make assistive products more affordable.
- Consulting the users and their caregivers for product features and designs.
- Educating teachers, parents, employers, and healthcare professionals on different products and their uses.
- Providing better customization to meet individual needs.
- Encouraging research and innovation.
- Fostering cooperation and alliance among government, developers, and industries.
Who knows what future impact assistive technology may have on the experience of disability?
[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assistive_technology
[ii] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/assistive-technology
[iii] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/assistive-technology