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

[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.