By Heather Kuttai, Easter Seals Saskatchewan and Saskatchewan Abilities Council

The seemingly daily improvements to the technologies we use to communicate, work, socialize, learn, and be creative do not often start conversations. We have come to expect our e-tools to work faster, better, and more effectively. Rather, we speak out on the occasions when our computers slow down or our mobile phones cease to work, and our patience has been exhausted.

But what does technology mean for people who can not necessarily join the conversation?

For people with disabilities, well implemented technology is the voice that allows them to join the conversation. New and sophisticated assistive augmented communication devices, for example, can allow a person to touch a computer screen in order to ‘speak’ and interact. Sip-and-puff devices can select and navigate computerized interfaces by controlling breath inhalations and exhalations. In essence, technology provides possibilities.

Finding those possibilities is the main focus of Reg Bartsch, Electronics Technologist with the Adaptive Technology Department at the Saskatchewan Abilities Council. Reg’s passion for discovering hidden potential began in his childhood when he would regularly take things apart and try to find a better way to make something work before putting it all back together. When Reg was an active farmer he believed that technology could help him work better, and he recalls using computers long before they were popular. This faith in finding alternative and better ways of doing things keeps Reg grounded when he looks for the potential for technology to help people with disabilities. Sometimes looking for that potential takes a while.

Just Wait
Paradoxically, while the technology Reg uses is becoming more efficient and ‘faster’, waiting is a critical part of his job. When implementing augmented communication tools, for example, it may take four minutes or longer for a client to answer a question. Time invested in patience and waiting during an assessment ensures that Reg does not “miss something.” Not waiting, and by consequence missing something, could be dire if it means a client loses a chance to control his or her environment or the ability to communicate.

Reg explains that the first goal of assessing a person’s abilities is to find a ‘switch site’, one muscle, big or small, that can be consistently controlled. If you can blink your eye regularly, for example, you can control a switch. If you can control a switch you can, potentially, control parts of your environment. You could turn lights on and off, change the channel on your television, adjust your thermostat, or use a computer. This kind of control, for someone who may experience very little control of his or her body, circumstances, or space, can have empowering results.

Being able to touch a screen or activate a switch and say ‘hello’ or ask for a drink or tissue, creates increased and empowered personal control. Self-determination and self-confidence are similarly bolstered when, through the use of communication technology, a person can assert his or herself and say, “Do not raise your voice to me,” or “Do not interrupt me when I am talking.” A child can communicate with their family, a student can ask questions of their teacher or talk with friends, and an adult can express himself or herself independently.

Reg says that it might sound simple but an important part of his job is his belief that everyone matters. Nothing is more rewarding for him when he knows a little technology has made lives better for clients with disabilities who he serves.

For more on Easter Seals Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Abilities Council, visit www.abilitiescouncil.sk.ca