Technology making a difference for people with disabilities

Chandra Hottinger, who is blind, demonstrates how she navigates through her iPad and how it can help her with day-to-day activities. The Licking County Board of Developmental Disabilities helped Hottinger get her iPad

 

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Chandra Hottinger’s day begins when the alarm on her iPad wakes her.

She uses the tablet to listen to music or audio books before she goes to sleep. When she’s working or spending time at home, the device never is out of reach.

“I don’t even want to think about not having it,” she said. “I’d be lost.”

For Hottinger, who is blind, getting the iPad in September drastically changed her daily life. Using the device’s VoiceOver function and a variety of apps designed for the visually impaired, she’s been able to stay more connected to her family and friends and accomplish tasks more efficiently.

“I’m amazed by it. There is so much I can do,” she said. “I think it would help with other disabilities, too.”

The iPad is one of several devices that have made a big difference for people with physical and developmental disabilities in the past few years, said Nancy Neely, superintendent of the Licking County Board of Developmental Disabilities.

“Just like technology has changed the average person’s life through cellphones, computers and the numerous applications we have that make our lives so much easier, all those things work for people with developmental disabilities,” she said.

Every person with a disability is different and technology gives them more options to find solutions that work for them, Neely said.

“We are able to deploy technology to help people be more competent and have more independence,” she said.

Hottinger, 27, lost her vision at birth. She was born 10 weeks early and developed the eye disease retinopathy, which caused her retinas to detach.

She only can see a small amount of light through her right eye. Her left eye was removed in 2003 to prevent further deterioration.

Hottinger learned to read braille when she was 5 and was a student in Newark City Schools for several years before transferring to the Ohio State School for the Blind in Columbus where she graduated in 2006.

“I loved it there,” she said. “I loved the fact that they had all this technology.”

After leaving school, Hottinger carried a BrailleNote, a device with a braille keyboard and display.

Although she was able to use it successfully, it didn’t hold a charge long and people often asked questions about the device.

When one of her friends told her about some of the things the iPad offered blind people, she approached her service coordinator Tom Pellett and asked him for assistance in buying one.

At first Pellett was skeptical, but Hottinger insisted it would be a good fit for her.

“I promised I’d be able to use it,” she said.

With some federal funding, the board was able to purchase the iPad Mini. After a few weeks, Hottinger had memorized the gestures she needed to use the VoiceOver technology and downloaded apps to customize her device.

“With the flexibility and the diversity of the iPad, you can put it in someone’s hands and there are so many different things they can do,” said Matt Young, information technology manager for the board. “In the past, devices were thousands of dollars more than the iPad and could only do one thing.”

Neely can remember a time when families had to write letters and grants to get a piece of technology because of the cost. Many devices were large and hard to transport.

Now tablets, such as iPads, and other devices are replacing communication boards for children and adults who are nonverbal. The board’s physical therapists are able to bring iPad’s to their home visits and take video of a child’s progress.

Improvements to cameras and streaming also have given the board the option to offer remote monitoring to some of its clients who can live at home with minimal supervision, Neely said.

Certified agencies use the cameras to watch the clients and contact the board if they need assistance, she said.

“It makes them feel like they are so much more independent and in control of their own life,” she said.

Several other county boards have visited the Licking County board recently to observe ways the staff is implementing technology, Neely said.

Although some of the board’s senior clients aren’t interested in trying new technology, many of the adults, teens and children it serves are embracing it, she said.

“It helps them connect to friends and family and express their creativity,” she said. 

Source : Newarkadvocate , 25th Jan 2014