bad advice from a university

[jadelennox]

How to select adaptive technology as GIFTS for people.

Explain how the gift can help them pursue their leisure interests. "Help them recognize that they have a need for this technology," York said. [...] "They need to accept their limitations."

I am utterly appalled. Buying somebody adaptive tech as a gift is a nice idea, but it has to be part of a collaborative process. You can't surprise somebody with adaptive technology. You can work with the recipient to find out something they've been wanting, or you could show them some interesting adaptive technology and explain why you think they might like it.

Even at the lowest tier this is true. I have two bottle openers for screw caps: the one somebody bought me as the gift and the one that works with my hands. One of the things this article suggests is buying people "large-print playing cards, playing card holders, talking dice and/or dice with large labels." Which is a great idea! Except there are number of playing card holders on the market and several of them I know I can't use.

In other words, I reiterate, you cannot surprise people with gifts of adaptive technology. Ask us. Work with us.

Comments

[amadi]

All of these ideas came from someone at the National Center for Accessibility.

The National Center for Accessibility.

I called the phone number at the bottom of the article, presuming I'd be connected to the "journalist" so that I could ask if they spoke to any actual PWDs before writing this dreck ("make sure the technology is easy to understand" because crips and old folk don't understand complicated stuff, every single one of us needs the simplest things available) and instead I was appallingly connected directly to said center.

I wanted to ask for this York person to ask where these ideas had come from but I didn't have the spoons to challenge it all thoughtfully so I just hung up.

But someone empowered to be quoted in universally released media by The National Center for Accessibility thinks this way about us.

I don't even know what to do with that.

[trouble]

Some other accessibility expert was telling people with disabilities in the US not to sue for accessibility violations because it upsets able-bodied people. If I recall correctly, they weren't disabled themselves. *sigh* I wish I could remember the details.

[niqaeli]

What. Just, what.

Gosh, it upsets able-bodied people? Well, I'm pretty upset when accessibility isn't accommodated, be it for my own issues or other people's!

(I had a job that was an accessibility nightmare and I am quite sure did not meet ADA, particularly as the management were ablist as hell on top of that. I wish I had sued. I didn't because I didn't have the energy to fight it. But, not because I was worried about upsetting able-bodied people.)

[trouble]

I have linked the details in a comment below yours.

[jld]

I have no words. Other than “WTF”, and “NO”, and some more “WTF”.

[trouble]

Ah hah! I found the post I was thinking of, so details!

'Drive-by' ADA Lawsuits?!??

I'm most annoyed by the reference to so-called 'advocates' who tell disabled people that suing isn't good for the rest of us: "Advocacy groups refer to the suits as 'drive-by' and question whether they actually help the community or just line the pockets of a few individuals. What’s more they say the suits can turn business owners against the ADA."

[rydra_wong]

"Help them recognize that they have a need for this technology," York said. [...] "They need to accept their limitations."

AAAAAAARGH. Gift-giving as a way of bullying someone into accepting that they need something they don't think they need; if they don't want it, obviously they're in denial about their "limitations."

[jackandahat]

Yes, because clearly able-bodied people (who probably don't even live with you, if we're talking about uni students) know better than us what we need!

[rydra_wong]

There's also a whole ageism/ablism thing going on throughout the article, where people with disabilities = older people = don't understand technology = confused and don't know what's best for themselves.

[jackandahat]

...I think that's the first time I've seen an equation that's broken at every single equals sign. *eyeroll*

[jalendavi_lady]

As well as not understanding that hearing-aids and reading glasses? Both high on the 'no I don't need that even though I really could be helped by something like that' scale and high on the 'has to be bought with the future owner's involvement' scale. Walkers can be nearly that way, between how much the walker weighs to whether or not it's got wheels.

Even with a certain family member's whole-hearted desire for new hearing aids, actually getting them is a project of many many months. And that's not even counting in that yes, there are a huge number of styles and types, not all of which work for her. (We're still communally ticked at a hearing center that sent her a Please Come In offer for a sale on devices they already had her on file as never-ever-ever getting any benefit from.)

Those on-the-shelf amplifiers? Not going to help.

And her eyes? Forget the magnifiers, she doesn't have the free hand when reading. Forget the store-brand grab-and-go reading glasses. She needs stuff that requires a prescription.

Sure, we could surprise her with pre-purchased accessibility aids. None of it would do a bit of good. Offering to spring for something she's said she wants, or making sure we buy books for her with decent print? That helps.

Meanwhile, she's the one who lets everyone else try out her gripper-onna-stick and tells them where to get their own if the thing helps any.

And in my experience, among her and her circle trying out each other's walkers leads to much more actual walker use than 'no, you really need this now, here I bought one for you'.

[sami]

I noticed that. It's kind of infuriating, on so many levels - as a thirty-year-old with disabilities for a start. Meanwhile my 61-year-old father is a professional computer nerd and is more at home with technology than most people half his age, almost certainly including anyone involved in producing that steaming pile of horse apples masquerading as an article.

[sasha_feather]

They need to accept their limitations! Because we know just what they need!

I can imagine how this would go with my grandmother or my mother, much less with myself. >:(

[pauraque]

Yeah, people always love passive-aggressive gifts. Don't get them what they want, get them what YOU think they ought to have!

[pne]

I think that's what bugs me most about people who "give to charity in my name" instead of getting me a present.

[pauraque]

You have a point. I recently saw something where people were giving charity in the name of a controversial politician, to a cause they knew he was against. That really made me uncomfortable. There are much better ways to express your disagreement, IMO.

[jackandahat]

Yeah... that's just creepy. Because the thing is, they think they're right... but I'm sure he thinks he's right too. I've seen a lot of cases of people giving to something like Planned Parenthood in the name of some anti-choicer, because he thinks that's evil. But how would they feel if he gave to some anti-choice group in their name?

[pauraque]

Exactly. Support the causes you support, leave other people's names out of it.

[jackandahat]

Yeah. There was one I saw - I believe it was a uni, Westborough Baptist Church were picketing, and they got warned "If you show up, for every hour you stay, we're going to donate to gay rights groups." - I have no problem with that kind of thing. But putting someone else's name on something, no, that's lousy.

[trouble]

This ... just... I...

No.

[jalendavi_lady]

Beyond the rest of the fail...

"Select subtle over glitz. Select a technology that is assistive to the recipient without calling attention to them. "People with disabilities typically do not want to use something that makes them stick out too or be different from others," York said. "If the gift technology stands out too much they may not embrace it even if they do need it." "

Um yeah, I'm pretty sure the medical supply store around here specializing in walkers and canes has that many floral and otherwise patterned canes in multiple grip and footing designs because people actually want them, not because it makes the front displays pretty.

[musyc]

When I finally get around to purchasing a cane (I don't need one yet), I sure as hell am buying the Doctor House FLAMES MAKE ME GO FASTER cane. Don't want to be different or stick out, riiiiiiight.

[sporky_rat]

Oh yes. When I get my cane/'mobility aid' I am totally getting the most badass one in the damn store.

[traykor]

I have a bright gold cane with rainbow colored cloisonne flowers (a replica from the Smithsonian shop). Understated it is not, and I use it for special occasions.

[roserodent]

"Select subtle over glitz. Select a technology that is assistive to the recipient without calling attention to them. "People with disabilities typically do not want to use something that makes them stick out too or be different from others," York said. "If the gift technology stands out too much they may not embrace it even if they do need it." "

There is an increasing trend for building hearing "assistance" into things which look like "everyday objects" and give "discretion" and such like. When I am having a conversation with someone would I rather they:

A: Thought I was really rude because I didn't take off my bluetooth headset while talking to them and was so distracted by it I hardly listened to or understood a word of what they said to me or

B: Thought I was wearing a hearing aid and had reached up to make adjustments to hear them more clearly.

I want a hearing aid that is big, bright, and right freakin' in their faces, perhaps that way I get a chance to hear something.

[adrian_turtle]

I read it differently. I thought it was pretty clear that they were talking about a specific subset of people with disabilities--people with gradual progressive impairments, who don't think of themselves as disabled because they weren't disabled a few years ago. Sudden changes after illness or injury can make a person start thinking of themselves as disabled, but it's easy to ignore gradual changes.

It's still easier for me to think "I used to really enjoy X, but it doesn't seem to be worth the trouble anymore," instead of thinking about why X has become so difficult recently and looking for ways to adapt it. That's for me, after years of disability awareness. I'd expect it to be even more challenging for somebody who was also working against ageism, without the support of organized disability awareness.

[lilacsigil]

Yes, but even that subset of people are not all disabled in the same way, and aren't going to find the same things useful. I work in a pharmacy, and when people want their elderly parent to get a walker, we always say "What does [parent] want?" Sometimes they want a cane! Sometimes they just want one of those walkers with seats because they're fairly steady on their feet if they can have a rest every now and then, and the area through which they walk doesn't have seats, or not in the right places. Sometimes the parent is too tall for the more common walkers (I'm fairly tall and when I needed to get a gripping stick to pick things up off the floor, I had to find an extra-long one). Sometimes they just want to get a disabled parking permit so they can be closer to the shops and not have to walk through uneven and dangerous carparks, but are totally fine once inside.

And that's just one example of fairly common assistive technology.

[sami]

In that quote, maybe, but the article mentions things like balls that flash/make noises for children.

[yarram]

"They need to accept their limitations."

o.O

Yaknow, I think I know my own limitations pretty damned well. Sometimes I have a damned good reason for fighting a limitation, especially if it's externally-imposed or the result of TABs' failure of imagination. Sometimes it's sheer bull-headedness.

...and sometimes, like children, I test limits just to prove to myself what they really are. I've been pleasantly surprised more often than not.

That quote just absolutely drips with condescension, even in cases where it might possibly be true.

[sami]

I read the whole article. All of it drips with condescension. "Balls that flash or make noises" - hey, if I knew a kid who would be helped by that, I'd still be tailoring the gift to the kid's own tastes. It's so damn reductionist, like the only thing to consider in buying a gift for a person with disabilities is the disability.

[barakta]

Argh yes annoying.

I work as an equipment/tech advisor for disabled students, and I only make suggestions after spending time with my students. And often it's a case of one or two things to TRY and I make it very clear that if something I suggest doesn't work for them, that they know themselves better than I do. I am merely knowledgeable in one area and they are knowledgeable in another and our meeting is to bring those two together.

Often I will say "I am wary about X for reason Y" and sometimes I am right, and sometimes I am wrong. I try to be as honest about my concerns and think about their spoons for new stuff and whatever situation they are in.

I do wish there were more opportunities for disabled people to visit disability/assistance centres. I was taken to one by an occupational therapist of mine as a teen and it was really interesting as well as 50% utterly crap. Some stuff I could see being useful for some people but a lot had been designed by people paternalistically thinking they knew all about disability innit and had missed really crucial things out.

[sami]

What the hell?

I'm trying to think of a way to rephrase "Help them recognise they have a need for this technology" so that it's more condescending, but I'm kind of failing.

My parents are getting older. I wouldn't dream of buying my mother a new phone that's extra-simple with great big buttons, because if she wanted one, that would be HER DAMN CHOICE, and she would either buy it herself or tell me she wanted it. I select gifts for people I love on the basis of will this make them happy, not will this show them how I only think of them in terms of their disability/increasing decrepitude.

[pauamma]

What are the chances that whoever came up with this would get it if provided (in great ceremony) with shoes bought without their advice or knowledge?

[pne]

Clever!

And even better than things like ties or shirts or socks, where you might not like the pattern but at least chances are it'll fit tolerably well, while shoes are much more up to the individual what will be comfortable and what won't.