Technology: The Key to Being Free

1
Technology The Key to Being Free

• ICDR Conference on
• Technology for Improving Cognitive Function
• Washington, DC
• June 29, 2006
• Janna Starr
• Director of Disability Rights, Technology and
  Family Policy
• The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy Disability
  Policy Collaboration
• 1660 L St. NW -- Suite 701 -- Washington, DC
  20036
• jstarr_at_ucp.org -- Phone [phone]

2
What do people with cognitive disabilities want
technology to do?

• Help us do things we cannot do
• Help us do things we can do, but faster -- to
  keep up (ahead?)
• Level the social and professional playing field
  (Online, no one knows you have a disability.)
• Give us greater control over our lives

3
What do people with cognitive disabilities want
technology to do?

• Help us get around
• Help in School
• Help us get information
• Help us interact/communicate
• Entertainment

4
What do people with cognitive disabilities want
in choosing and using technology?

• Choice Nothing about me without me
• Ample time to choose, try out and use
• A chance to see how it works for others before
  getting it
• Training, training, training, more training and
  re-training (Dont just train me once and
  expect me to get it forever.)
• Durable Its gonna drop or run into the
  wall!!! Thats all there is to it.

5
What do people with cognitive disabilities want
in their technology?

• Fixable It will then need to be fixed.
• Flexible How many things can I use on device
  for?
• Upgradable When THEY move up to the next model,
  so do I.
• Friendly Nothing that takes too much
  sophistication to learn and use, please.
• Sexy Well, yeah!!
• Cool and Trendy Dude!

6
Technologies people with cognitive disabilities
actually use

• Organization and Management
• Regular timers, alarms, watches, clocks
• Talking watches, clocks, timers, alarms --
• Tape or digital voice recorders/reminders --
• Talking calculators -
• PDAs --
• Pictorial/Iconic PDAs --
• Computers --
• Braille Writers/Organizers --

7
Technologies people with cognitive disabilities
actually use

• Full Participation
• Microwave Oven --
• Custom microwave over with
  accessibility features --
• ATMs -- (NFA)
• Voting Machines -- (NFA)
• Public Transportation -- (NFA)
• Global positioning satellite systems --
• Computers --
• Switches home and work --
• Robotics --

8
Technologies people with cognitive disabilities
actually use

• Telework
• Computers --
• Telecommunications technology --
• Home adaptations --

9
Technologies people with cognitive disabilities
actually use

• Health Safety
• Personal Alarms/notification devices alert
  neighbors, providers or authorities --
• Health condition monitors Diabetes, Blood
  Pressure NFA --
• Remote health data transmitters (NFA)
• Smoke Detectors that alert neighbors/FD --

10
Technologies people with cognitive disabilities
actually use

• Computers
• Speech to text --
• Text to speech --
• Mouse enhancements --
• Keyboard Shortcuts/Sticky Keys --
• Word Prediction --
• Icon Prediction --

• Screen Readers --
• Games --
• Music --
• E-mail --
• Internet online purchasing, connecting,
  learning, meetings, socialization --

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Technologies people with cognitive disabilities
actually use

• Basic Communication
• Cell Phones --
• Auto-dial --
• Talking caller ID --
• Speech-to-Speech Relay Service -- OK
• Speech-to-Text Relay Service -- OK
• TTY --
• Picture/symbol textless messaging-both phone
  computer --
• Higher Tech Communication
• Augmentative Communications --
• Eye-gaze/ Eye-Tracking input --

12
Technologies people with cognitive disabilities
actually use

• Mobility
• Power wheelchair with regulators --
• Innovative mobility devices (IBOT) --
• Lifts --
• Home track systems --

13
Why doesnt everyone with cognitive disabilities
have the technology they need?

• There are a limited number of assistive
  technologies specifically for cognitive
  disabilities.
• Assistive technologies are often too complex for
  people with cognitive disabilities to operate
  or mistakenly thought to be.
• People with cognitive disabilities may be afraid
  of technology.
• Supervisory staff who often make low salaries may
  have lower technology skills and ability to
  support.
• People with cognitive disabilities and their
  families often dont know what exists.

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Why doesnt everyone with cognitive disabilities
have what they need?

• Expense -- The more accessible, the less
  affordable
• Lack of full access to public technologies
• Voting
• ATM
• Transportation systems
• Lack of training and ongoing support
• Inability to upgrade
• Lack of funding/tangible support from government
  programs (Medicare, Medicaid, Tech Act, TOP
  programs)

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• Only one in 10 professionals surveyed thinks
  quality of life-enhancing assistive technology is
  readily available to the majority of Americans
  living with disabilities.
• Nearly three-quarters feel that advances in
  assistive technology lag far behind those in
  other medical and health technologies.
• (According to a 2004 Survey of 350 experts
  working in assistive technology and
  rehabilitation conducted by Clarkson University
  and Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network)

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• Imagine what 350 consumers would have said!!

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Are there helpful existing Laws or other
Government Action?

• Laws
• The Assistive Technology Act of 2004 P.L.
  108-364 -- supports programs of grants to
  States, plus national Technical Assistance and
  Protection and Advocacy
• Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) -- Prohibits
  discrimination in air transportation, including
  boarding assistance and certain accessibility
  features in certain airplanes
• Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) --
  Prohibits discrimination on the basis of
  disability in employment, State and local
  government, public accommodations, commercial
  facilities, transportation, and
  telecommunications -- also applies to the United
  States Congress via the Congressional
  Accountability Act

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Laws

• Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of
  Rights Act -- (2000) Authorizes programs that
  support people with developmental disabilities
  and helps them achieve their maximum potential
  through increased self-determination,
  independence, productivity, and integration in
  all facets of life
• P As (with specific assistive technology
  advocacy resources)
• Councils on DD
• University Centers of Excellence in Disability
  (much technology research)
• Family Support and other Projects of National
  Significance
• No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 -- Prepares
  teachers to use educational and assistive
  technology.
• Fair Housing Act Amendments (FHAA) of 1988 --
  Prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of
  race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial
  status, and national origin
• Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) Act of 1988 --
  Defines hearing-aid compatibility of telephones

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Laws

• IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education
  Act) -- Provides that all children with
  disabilities have a federally protected civil
  right to have available to them a free
  appropriate public education that meets their
  education and related services needs in the least
  restrictive environment -- 2004 reauthorization
  includes assistive technology provision
• Rehabilitation Act of 1973 -- Sections 501,504,
  508 Prohibit discrimination on the basis of
  disability in programs conducted by federal
  agencies, in programs receiving federal financial
  assistance, in federal employment, in the
  employment practices of federal contractors and
  in all federal information technology purchases,
  both for employees or members of the public
• Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act --
  Requires manufacturers and providers of
  telecommunications equipment and services to
  ensure accessibility, if readily achievable
• Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990 --
  Section 3 provides for TVs to have built-in
  capacity to display captioning

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Laws

• Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 -- Creates
  a national workforce preparation and employment
  system for job seekers and employers
• Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement
  Act of 1999 (TWWIIA) -- Removes barriers that
  require people with disabilities to choose
  between health care coverage and work and
  provides Social Security Disability beneficiaries
  and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries
  with disabilities with expanded access to
  employment, vocational rehabilitation, or other
  support services

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White House and Federal Agencies

• The U. S. Access Boards Many Accessibility
  Activities, including
• ADAGG, ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings
  and Facilities (ADAAG) ADA Architectural Barriers
  Act guidelines
• Courthouse access guidelines
• Voting system Guidelines
• Current -- 255 and 508 Refresh Accessibility
  Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities (ADAA
• Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS)
  for Architectural Barriers Act
• Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) -- (DOC)
  -- Supported demonstrations of new
  telecommunications and information technologies
  ended in 2004
• A number of Executive Orders, including
• New Freedom Initiative One component
  increasing access to assistive and universally
  designed technologies

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What do all these efforts have in common?

• The result is still very little
• ACTUAL technology in the hands of ACTUAL people
  who
• ACTUALLY need it

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What do people with cognitive disabilities
recommend?

• Planning and Design
• Make sure that people with cognitive disabilities
  are part of the planning and development of
  technologies. (Nothing About Us Without Us).
• Support a wide range of technology, from low-tech
  to high-tech, including home modifications
• Design products with mass appeal -- more
  universal design principles will attract interest
  from the commercial world
• Information
• Improve awareness of technologies by people with
  cognitive disabilities, families and
  professionals
• Ensure that consumers have access to the most
  current knowledge

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What do people with cognitive disabilities
recommend?

• Access
• Dont be afraid to allow people with cognitive
  disabilities to try technologies, but be prepared
  to support them.
• Expand consumer opportunities to test the
  products in a one-stop-shopping environment
  ex. Demonstration and loan programs, technology
  fairs
• Get possible funders to talk to each other and
  cooperate/collaborate.
• Have more low interest loan programs.

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What do people with cognitive disabilities
recommend?

• Advocacy
• Advocate for federal government coverage of every
  single piece of technology a person needs to
  function more independently and have a better
  quality of life.
• Advocate for insurance coverage of every single
  piece of technology a person needs to function
  more independently and have a better quality of
  life.