Tag: technology

Benefits of Voice Activated Lighting for People with Disabilities

Featured by caste551, posted in Uncategorized

Technology has been a key element for increasing the independence of people with disabilities. I’ve written other articles that discuss the benefits of smart homes and how they help people with disabilities increase their independence and self-esteem. There are many layers of technology available to choose from based on your needs and the features you’d like to have available to you in your home. Voice activated lighting is one piece of technology that can be added to many options someone can choose from to increase their home’s accessibility and the individual’s independence

Voice activated lights have the capability to be controlled through specific voice commands instead of being operated with an on and off switch. Depending on the type of voice activated light you choose, it also may have an on and off switch too. This type of technology helps people with disabilities who have difficulty turning on and off conventional light switches due to mobility issues, issues with fine motor control or other limitations that make it difficult to control the lighting in different parts of their home.

There are many benefits of voice activated lights and other types of home automation that help people with different disabilities empower themselves through increasing their safety and independence with these types of available technology. It also allows the person  to save money while managing the electricity use in your home.

Eneida Nieves at Pexels

People with mobility impairments can also benefit from using voice activated lighting. They are able to independently control the lights in their home without having to worry about the possibility of slipping and falling. If you have limitations with your hands that make it difficult to turn a light switch on or off, using voice commands to control the lights in your home remove the barrier from operating the lights so you can accomplish this independently. Voice activated lights can be used on their own or through automated systems like Google Nest or Amazon Alexa. They give people the opportunity to set schedules to have the lighting turned on and off or even dim the lights during certain times of the night or day. This is a good tool to use to control the electricity used in your home which can result in a lower electric bill and help you save money.

You can create schedules so that the lights in your home turn on or off in the morning before you get up in the morning. If you work late hours and arrive home when the sun has already set, you can place the lights on a schedule so that you aren’t coming home to a dark residence where all the lights are off. If you plan a vacation where you’ll be gone for a few days, this type of technology helps you set up a schedule, so your lights turn on and off at a certain time each day. These types of innovations can allow you an extra layer of security when you are on vacation.

The price range for this technology varies and it’s a good idea to research which one best fits your needs. Being able to have options to choose from when looking for technology like voice activated helps you learn which option is most budget friendly for your wallet. You can also select the features that fit your needs best to help increase your independence, save some money and maintain your safety at the same time. That can only result in a positive outcome for your well-being and self-esteem.

Back to School Survival Guide

Featured by caste551, posted in Uncategorized

Parents getting ready to send little ones off to school experience mixed emotions. As a parent with a disability, the experience isn’t any different.

During the time of a pandemic, it can seem even more nerve-wracking. Safety concerns are now more common. We need to take precautions for our children and family like never before. While keeping this in mind, don’t lose sight of the adventure school can be for our students. This is an exciting time in both you and your child’s lives. The learning and growth of our children that happens each year molds them into the adults of the future. Making preparations before the first day of school is sure to help create wonderful memories. Here are some ideas to help you get through the first few weeks of a new school year.

As parents, we are our children’s first teachers. When our kids go to school, their teachers add a layer to that learning. Although going back to school looks different now because of the pandemic, it’s important to encourage your child to do their best and enjoy the experience.

“Meet the Teacher” is typically the first thing that happens before the school year starts. This is a critical time to speak with your child’s teacher so you know their expectations of your student. It’s a good idea to work with them to form a collaboration. During this meeting, teachers can be reassured you are there to help your child while also being a source of support to them. The collaboration you form can greatly benefit your child throughout the school year. 

A valuable strategy you can use to get your child ready for school is implementing a routine at home. Routines can be of great assistance to our children for many reasons.  They provide a sense of security and certainty to how they are expected to behave. Routines also provide a schedule that lets students know the amount of time they have to complete specific tasks. Routines are also helpful for students so they can anticipate what comes next in their day at home and school. 

Don’t be afraid to be an involved parent in your child’s education. When people see you have a disability, it opens up avenues of communication. It allows people to ask questions they may otherwise be afraid to ask. As a result, your interaction with them can even dispel stereotypes they might have about people with disabilities.

Keeping up with your child’s assignments and adding to their learning experience can enhance your student’s education. Working with your child’s teacher to find out what’s going on in the classroom can be helpful in many ways.  Being informed about classroom goals gives you an opportunity to implement certain activities at home. Games and television shows can be chosen that are geared toward ideas being taught in school. This gives your child a chance to practice what they’re learning at school on weekends. These activities can provide reinforcement of important concepts.  As a result, kids can be better prepared for the materials being covered in the classroom. 

This year some parents have decided to use the distance learning option offered by certain school districts because it is the best choice for their family. Setting up a separate space for learning at home is a great idea. It helps kids stay focused on their schoolwork. Having a morning  and after school routine is another good way to put your child in learning mode. This gives kids an opportunity to prepare themselves for interacting with their teacher virtually. They can also have set activities to help them wind down at the end of the day.

Due to the nature of the pandemic, technology is being used more frequently and is more acceptable than ever before. The truth is, it has always been there to lend parents with a disability a helping hand. Technology can become your best friend to make communicating with your child’s teacher easier.  Things like Skype, email or even the phone can help you schedule conferences or quick chats to stay in the loop of what’s going on with your child’s progress in the classroom.

Having open communication with your child’s teacher using these techniques will help increase your child’s educational success.  If your child happens to encounter issues at school that need to be addressed, knowing all expectations beforehand makes it easier not only to troubleshoot problems, but increases the chances of promptly remedying the issue. 

These are straightforward ideas available to anyone. However, when you are faced with certain situations, you may not be sure where to begin.  Hopefully, you will use this as a survival guide or the beginnings of a road map that can help you come up with something similar that works best for you and your family.

Instacart Review

by caste551, posted in Uncategorized

Modern conveniences exist everywhere you turn in today’s world.  Grocery shopping is now no longer any different.  Instacart is the service where you can order groceries and other items from a selection of stores online.  Once you’ve submitted your order the items are delivered right to your door the same day.  It’s been a while since I posted about the service, however I hadn’t used it at the time.  Recently, I decided to use the service to see what it was all about.  I’m very pleased to say that my experience was very good.  Although I still plan to go out to purchase my groceries, I wanted to talk about my overall experience.  Not only can a person with a disability use this service but, it’s also extremely handy for people in a pinch to shop for their groceries.  Let’s be honest, who hasn’t had the occasional unexpected visitor suddenly appear at their front door? Instacart is a way your food problems can be solved with a click of your computer’s mouse.

Upon signing up for the service, there’s a two-week trial period to try it out to see if it’s going to work for you.  After signing up one of the tricks no one tells you about is to follow the specific sales that are posted at the online store and not necessarily the ones in your local supermarket circular, even if you’re shopping at that supermarket’s online presence through Instacart.  The idea is that Instacart is its own company.  Although your items do come from the store you choose, some of the prices are different.  There’s also a service fee that’s charged when you pay for the items in your shopping cart that can be waived.

It’s just like shopping online but has its perks. Once I’ve chosen my items, I pay for my purchase and can then choose the time I want my groceries to be delivered to me.  The cool thing is once a shopper has been assigned your order, you get a text message to let you know they have started to shop.  Also, if there’s an item you’ve picked that’s out of stock, you’ll get a text message telling you what’s going on and letting you know if there’s a substitution for the item.  My Instacart shopper has also texted me to make sure the substitution is acceptable.  When the shopper is at the checkout, you’ll also receive text message to give you a status on your order.  Finally, you’ll get an estimated time of arrival for your groceries.  The shopper arrives within the window of time stated and has been friendly and helpful with my items.

At the end of the day, this service has many benefits for many people, including people with disabilities.  Although there’s a membership fee for the service charged after the trial period, the overall benefits and cost savings that might come from its use for your situation might sway you to find a way to include it in your budget.

It’s no secret that technology and its advances have changed the way we interact with different aspects of society.  Being able to buy groceries online and have them brought to your door the same day is just another example of this.  It solves a problem and enhances people’s independence. Not only is this now another convenience we can all experience in everyday life but, more importantly and I believe unknowingly to its creators, addresses a population’s needs that had previously not been thought of in the past for various reasons.  Yet another layer of empowerment has been made available that everyone can experience just by sitting in front of their computers.

To watch the YouTube video that goes along with this post click here.

Home of the Future

by caste551, posted in Uncategorized

When I think about home accessibility, things like ramps, grab bars, and walk-in showers come to mind. While I realize the list I’ve mentioned is in no way all-inclusive of the modifications available to make a person’s home more accessible, recently, I ran into an article that discusses how new technology has the potential to increase someone’s independence by introducing various forms of technology and really takes this idea to the next level.

This article will discuss the advancements of technology and how it increases the independence of  people with disabilities.

For those with a disability, accessibility in your own home is like a breath of fresh air. At least I like to think of it that way. Not only have I worked with people to make their homes accessible and have had home modifications completed for my own home but many years ago I was invited to speak to a group of realtors and discuss homebuying as a person with a disability. 

The speech focused on the importance of accessibility for someone with a disability in their quest for home ownership and how different modifications and accessibility features were a necessity so that the homeowner could fully enjoy all of the amenities their home has to offer.

Binyamin Mellish at Pexels

Accessibility allows individuals with disabilities to do things for themselves they may not otherwise be able to do.

Now let’s talk about what I’m calling the “home of the future”.  The reason I’m using that term is because when I read this article that spoke of different types of automation like video doorbells and smart thermostats, it made me think of movies like “I, Robot” starring Will Smith, or even “The Jetsons”, a Hanna Barbera cartoon from the l980’s. Equipment I never dreamed would be available in my lifetime will be more readily available in the not-so-distant future. Lights being controlled by smartphones and voice-activated television guides for the visually impaired were just some variations of technology that were mentioned. This is definitely a game-changer to help people with disabilities thrive in their own homes.

Right now, there’s a significant cost for such innovative technology. However, there are currently some organizations offering assistance for individuals with disabilities to get the equipment and upgrades they need to make these pieces of equipment available to them. As the years go by, hopefully these gadgets won’t be so difficult for someone to obtain on their own so that independence is not so far out of reach.

The assistive technology we use every day not only helps people with disabilities be more independent but adds to our quality of life and self-esteem. It helps us accomplish this by increasing the number of tasks that we can accomplish independently.

The advancements being made now will only help us reach our goals more and more as time goes by. In the long run, there’s no limit to what people with disabilities will be able to accomplish.

What gadget interests you the most?

Author’s note: The article that was originally included in this blog post was no longer a viable link. Updated information on home automation can be found here.

New Uses of Technology in Special Education

by caste551, posted in Uncategorized

It’s been a few weeks ago now that I was watching the news and saw a report of how one of the local schools was using IPads with students in Special Education. This got me thinking about how far technology has come since I was in school. Advances like the IPad have far-reaching effects, not only on society, since we’re very much on-the-go and rely on devices that travel with us, but on the students in today’s classrooms too.

While I had certain accommodations in school, the thought of what the IPad may be able to do to help students reach their educational goals was very interesting to me. When I started doing some research, it was clear that the IPad was definitely an asset to the classroom. Students were more involved in their work as well as with their peers. Then a light bulb went off in my head when I read about the speech-to-text function. That’s perfect for anyone who has limited use of their hands and needs to type something.

Unfortunately, there’s limited research available on the usefulness of this device in the classroom. One can only hope that maybe as more schools get on board with the idea, someone will conduct further research to determine the positive and negative effects that exist. Although, like everything else, the IPad isn’t a substitute for certain things, and isn’t a feasible tool for all disabilities, it’s encouraging to know it can reach students in alternative ways. It allows students the opportunity to be excited about learning. Once you can engage students in the learning process, the outcome can’t be anything but positive.

What other advances currently available might be able to assist a special needs student in their quest to learn?

Thanks for reading..

cr

For more information go to these links:

http://www.post-gazette.com/news/health/2013/09/09/Breaking-Down-Barriers-iPad-helpful-tool-for-special-needs-students/stories/201309090197

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/06/13/321058641/ipads-in-special-ed-what-does-the-research-say