Week 4

We all know someone who "talks with their hands." My husband talks with his hands so frequently that we have a running joke: if I were to tie his hands up, he would be unable to have a conversation with anyone!


However, imagine if you were born with a disability or acquired a disability in life that greatly affected your ability to communicate with the world around you. How would you work and contribute to the community you lived in?

As a caregiver for developmentally disabled adults, I see the effects of such disabilities on an individual. Regardless of their intellectual disability, some of my clients also have motor function issues, speech issues and vision and hearing issues.

Now, with the invention of more compact and portable technology, individuals with varying disabilities can now benefit from a more enriched environment and workplace.

According to BBC News online, the poverty rate of individuals that are disabled is twice as high as someone without a disability.  Motor neuron disease affects 400,000 people worldwide; 2.3 million people are affected by multiple sclerosis.

However, neurons that control eye movement are more resistent to degenerative diseases, as are other parts of the face like the cheek. New technology has taken advantage of such qualities and researchers have developed a device that controls a computer based on eye movement.  This technology was first developed in the 80's but was so big that it wasn't portable and thus not many people benefited from it.

Now, the device is able to fit into a suitcase, thus making it easy to send on an airplane and making lives around the world more enriched. Developers have also made technology that senses head movement, while it requires more motor function, it is considerably less expensive.

Another interesting invention is one to help vision impaired or blind individuals see. According to the World Health Organization, there are 39 million people in the world who are blind and of these people, at least 90% have some degree of light perception. 

"Smart glasses" accentuate the differences between light and dark, thus allowing the user to see images in front of them!



There are also Talking Hands that allow individuals who suffer from deafness or blindness to access technology such as smartphones and computers!  Not only are these devices important to increase the ability of the disabled populations to interact with their communities, but it can also be beneficial to those without a disability- thus allowing for mass production and a broadened user base!