jadelennox (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jadelennox) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
accessibility_fail2011-03-23 11:13 am
jadelennox) wrote in accessibility_fail2011-03-23 11:13 am
bad advice from a university
How to select adaptive technology as GIFTS for people.
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.
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.
no subject
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.
no subject