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We want to hear from you: please tell us about your experience of the online community.

Can technology make everyday life safer and easier for disabled people?

Darking

I’ve become increasingly interested in how technology can help people manage everyday life, particularly those of us living with mobility difficulties or conditions that can make ordinary activities more challenging.

I have a Falls watch myself, and I can honestly say it gives me greater peace of mind. Knowing I can summon help if I get into difficulty makes a real difference. It doesn’t remove my difficulties or mean I no longer need assistance, but it does help me feel safer and more confident.

There are many other developments too, including GPS tracking, fall detection, powered wheelchairs and mobility scooters. These can all play an important part in making everyday life more manageable.

But I think there is a bigger question worth discussing.

Does technology genuinely make our lives better, or are we sometimes expecting it to do more than it realistically can?

For example, my personal alarm can summon help when I fall, but it doesn’t help me get back on my feet. GPS can help someone find if I become confused or lost, but it doesn’t prevent that confusion happening in the first place.

There are also questions about affordability, reliability, training and whether these devices are designed around the actual needs of the people using them. I believe technology should complement human support, not replace it. Needing assistance doesn’t mean someone has lost their dignity, choice or control over their life.

I’d be interested to hear other people’s experiences.

Has technology made a genuine difference to your everyday life? Is there a particular device or piece of equipment you couldn’t imagine managing without? And where do you think technology still falls short?

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Comments

JD_INCINERATOR

Yes, technology is definitely the best asset we have to improve our everyday lives. The problem besides the sheer expense of it, is that many invented technologies don't reach mainstream success or notice. There are so many problems we could solve if we fully utilized technology. I don't think laws would be required if technology took the reigns. So many of our problems could be so easily addressed and we'd be far more protected than ever before.

Darking

@JD_INCINERATOR could you give some examples of how you're affected or what you want?

CarNineSix

@Darking a lot of technology has been around for much longer than you think. If you look at the world as a whole, what has been the most visible leap in technology in the last 20 years? Batteries.

They power everything from cars to ear buds. Cars used to be able to go 50 miles on a charge now it's 500 miles. Ear bud used to last a couple of hours now it's all day.

You have a fall detector, does it need recharging and how often? Although it can't help you back on your feet, it knows who too call to do so. So it is an insurance policy/device, it gives you peace of mind.

With technology some of it is the same just repackaged, laptops basically do the same thing they did before but the battery life has gone from 2 hours to all day. Same basic technology just better batteries.

Technology normally helps but at what cost?

Normally it is the Pounds you lay out to purchase and or to run tech.

Then there is the tech that costs but give benefits, battery powered tin opener for one handed people, wheelchair and powerchair for those that can't use their legs.

But then comes the other price, this might be controversial but the technology that allows you to give up and not try to do something.

I used to live in a place where Veterans got the prime parking spots, only two or three by the doors of supermarkets and the disabled bays were further out. This slightly confused me and I ask what and why it was happening. It turned out the Veterans were honoured with these bays and the disabled bays were further out as someone decided they needed more exercise.

But as with the technology a lot of the time it is someone else that decides things for you, how many times is a good idea scrapped because you can't make money out of OR part of the tech does not exist yet or is the wrong size?

Most of the time if you use technology for good it id good, but as with the recent hacker attacks turning fridges and freezers up it can be weaponized.

Littlefatfriend

Thank you very much for opening a fascinatingly positive subject Darking.
Yes, by gum, technology can be extremely good for people with disabilities!
It was a quirk of fate that in late 1990 I broke my back. This (and an incredibly attractive OT named Flora at Hexham Spinal Injuries Unit) led me to have an internet connection at home in 1991. My apologies, I'm going to struggle to be brief in this answer.
A: by 1992/3 I was being employed to produce and manage websites. At that point most people only used t'interweb for email. Very few British businesses had any presence on the web.
B: in 1996 some friends from university and I started the first of two digital marketing companies (the webshed.com, M62.com, in 1999 the second address was expensive but useful, few companies even then had a just 7-digit URL, the M62 was how most of us and our clients got to Liverpool, where we were based).
C: By 2007 I had moved from marketing to teaching/advocacy for people with disabilities. Blind people, deaf people, people with learning disabilities, even french-speaking people! Many of them I helped into work and improving their situations.

Almost everything can now be automated/assisted.
Living independently but at risk of falling sounds complicated to me. It pleases me greatly that technology has made emergency pendants so useful and reliable. I've witnessed the help they can provide.

Decades ago I allowed my mind to think of more interesting things than directions. I'm not a London cabbie. My mind was only enabled by GPS.
I honestly look forward to a point where I may be able to settle into an electric wheelchair, a friend of mine has one that will do almost 30mph! Obviously it would be awkward to lift into a car...

Realistically, there isn't currently a feasible means by which we could be mechanically helped to get up if we fall. Nor prevent your confusion in certain situations. Always please put yourself first.

Affordability is an unavoidable consequence of the costs of materials and research. My (manual) wheelchair cost me @£3000 (not including the 3-spoke back wheels which I already owned). But it's worth every penny. Reliability and training only come with experience, and many businesses here and elsewhere have a lot of that experience. Human support is literally a spiritually different thing. Computers will never understand jeopardy. People are expensive consumers.

D: In @2007 the company which makes my wheelchairs, with whom I have an auld relationship, put mouth controls into a 250nph supercar for a guy who could afford it and still likes to race that car around tracks. It was an incredible achievement of sensors and controls, controlled by electronics, for his entertainment. He's quadriplegiac, I'm paraplegic. I've had all sorts of cars and my jaguar XKR is crazy mad!

Good luck, we're still improving...
😇

Darking

@CarNineSix I think you've raised an interesting point, particularly about the difference between technology that gives people greater independence and technology that can sometimes encourage others to make decisions on their behalf. My Falls watch does need recharging, usually daily, but I see it as a small price to pay for the reassurance it provides. You're right that it cannot physically get me back on my feet, but it can alert someone who can. Having experienced falls and the confusion that can follow, knowing help is available makes a considerable difference.

Where I would perhaps disagree slightly is with the suggestion that technology allows people to give up trying. I think we need to distinguish between giving up and recognising that something is no longer physically possible or safe. Using a wheelchair, powerchair or personal alarm doesn't necessarily mean surrendering independence. Sometimes it's precisely what allows someone to retain it. I also think your supermarket parking example illustrates a much bigger problem. Someone deciding that disabled people need more exercise, rather than listening to what they actually need, is a perfect example of well-intentioned thinking becoming patronising and potentially dangerous.

For me, the real measure of technology isn't simply how clever it is, how long its batteries last or how much it costs. It's whether it improves someone's quality of life, gives them choices and allows them to retain as much independence and dignity as possible.

Technology should expand people's possibilities, not give someone else another excuse to decide what those possibilities should be.

Darking

@Littlefatfriend What a fascinating journey, and thank you for sharing it. I'm particularly struck by how you turned what must have been a life changing accident into an opportunity to embrace technology and eventually use your experience to help others. That's quite an achievement.

Your early involvement with the internet is especially interesting. You were involved long before most people appreciated what it could become, and then went on to use that knowledge to improve opportunities for people with disabilities. I imagine you've seen some extraordinary changes over those years. I agree with you about the importance of technology, but also about the human element. My Falls watch gives me reassurance, but it's the people at the other end who make it genuinely useful. Technology can recognise a problem and summon assistance, but it can't replace human understanding, judgement and compassion.

I also smiled at your comment about GPS. It's amazing how something many of us now take for granted can make such a difference to everyday independence. And the story about the supercar controlled by mouth operated technology is absolutely remarkable. It demonstrates what can be achieved when engineers, designers and people with disabilities work together rather than simply making assumptions about what someone can or cannot do.

I think that's perhaps the most important point. Disability shouldn't be a reason to stop innovating. It should be a reason to innovate better.

Littlefatfriend

Thanks again Darking,

I've always been quite practical and I haven't had an adrenaline response in 36 years. These things are always more straightforward than they may appear.

I've seen quite a few people improve their lives with technology. If our brains cease needing to know where anywhere is, we really will use that part of our brain to do more creative things!

It's a wonderful whirled!

😹

Mary_Scope

This is a really interesting topic @Darking! What's your opinon on the topic?

CarNineSix

The main issue most people face able bodied or not is understanding and knowing technology.

Some of the fault here is with developers/programmers/designer such as myself who wish to protect their income stream or like to feel good when helping others.

Then some of the blame falls to the feet of those that don't want to know how or why just that it does.

Some of the problems are caused by the money people, I'll leave that one alone though.

I have been involved in several projects where I was not the main man, but I had to deal with two or three people all main men and all had their own "thoughts" on how a project should be done. Luckily for me I can be a bit arrogant, big headed and know what I am doing when it come to my field. The main man/man is never the one to listen too, the one to listen too is the one who does the job or here the one with the need. They know what they want or need only when they are in need or want something, "necessity is the mother of invention" .

At the end of the day the best technology is invisible with no special knowledge needed to use it and make lie easier.

Darking

@Mary_Scope I’ve always had an interest in learning, understanding how things work and having a go at something new. Living with physical and cognitive difficulties has changed many aspects of my life, but it certainly hasn’t taken away my curiosity or enthusiasm for computers, engineering and innovation.

In fact, I sometimes think people would be surprised by just how much I get involved with.
I teach my grandson how to build and programme robots. It’s something we enjoy together, and hopefully I’m passing on practical skills, knowledge and curiosity.

I service, programme and maintain my own mobility aids. I don’t just use them, I enjoy understanding how they work and keeping them in good working order.

I use a Falls Watch, which can detect falls and help summon assistance. It provides valuable reassurance and an additional layer of protection.

I have a powerful gaming PC and a VR headset, allowing me to explore gaming and virtual environments that might otherwise be difficult to experience physically.

I regularly use Microsoft Office to produce PowerPoint presentations and spreadsheets. I enjoy organising information, developing ideas and creating useful resources.

None of this means my disabilities have disappeared. I still face physical limitations, and my cognitive difficulties present their own challenges. There are things I can no longer do, and I have to adapt.

But I refuse to let those limitations define my interests, abilities or ambitions.

Perhaps our society needs to look beyond the disability and recognise the skills, knowledge and potential of the individual.

For me, computers, robotics, gaming, virtual reality and assistive equipment aren’t simply gadgets. They are tools for learning, creating, problem-solving and enjoying life.

Being disabled doesn’t mean being disconnected from innovation or having to give up on learning new things.

I’d be interested to hear how others have incorporated computers and digital tools into their lives, particularly those living with disabilities.