Assistive Technology For People With Disabilities

Judy Heumann, an American Disability Rights Activist, once said, “For people without disabilities, technology makes things easier. For people with disabilities, technology makes things possible.” The technology mentioned is specifically known as assistive technology, which is defined as any item, piece of equipment, software program, or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of persons with disabilities (Assistive Technology). This technology can be used to assist those suffering from deafness, impaired mobility, blindness, and other disabilities. Assistive technology positively affects the evolution of disabled medicine and overall improves the quality of life for those who are a part of the
Marshall Chasin, an audiologist and Director of Auditory Research, elaborated on the newest type of hearing aid, the bone anchored hearing aid or BAHA. This is designed for individuals who have conductive or mixed hearing loss. A subtype of the BAHA, the percutaneous, allows for a stronger and more predictable signal to be delivered to the cochlea, due to the external aids direct contact with the magnet under the skin. The percutaneous hearing aid is suitable for both adults and children, providing a higher quality output than conventional hearing aids (Chasin). Similar to Chasin, Robert Briggs, a researcher at the University of Melbourne Departments of Surgery, discovered a new form of the cochlear implant. One that has the ability to increase the quality and amount of hearing the patient receives. The totally implantable hearing cochlear implant or TIKI, is designed so the patient does not have to wear an external hearing device. This allows hearing in conditions where the external processor is not able to be worn. However, the TIKI has some disadvantages; the implanted microphone has caused some complaints to arise because of the body noise interference patients have been experiencing, which overall limits the devices use (Briggs). The new advancements in technology, regarding those who are deaf, have introduced significant increases in the quality of hearing and accessibility the patients
The ReWalk has the potential to help millions of people walk on their own, even if paralyzed from the waist down. The ReWalk has been approved by the FDA because it mimics the natural movement of walking, instead of the legs just being picked up and set down. The system contains three main parts; the exoskeleton, the communicator watch, and the battery pack. The communicator watch controls four different modes that the ReWalk can perform: sitting, standing, walking, and climbing stairs. The ReWalk allows the user to stand and walk independently, which helps improve their mental state, but the user’s physical health is improved also improved, including their bone density and cardiorespiratory function (Purewal). The ReWalk is a revolutionary device that has the power to help those who were told they would never walk