Disability awareness and assistive technology
A Braille keyboard discussed in Alex’s class on Braille
At Nature Links, one important part of our curriculum is the belief that we all have important knowledge to share with each other. Every few months, we put that belief into practice with our “We Are All Teachers” series, a time when participants lead one-hour classes on a topic of their choice. This series puts participants into the driver’s seat, allowing them to take control over what we learn as a community and how we learn it. In the past, we’ve had classes on supernovas, lions, dog breeds, Puerto Rican cultural celebrations or fishing, all topics that participants have chosen and researched themselves. In our most recent “We Are All Teachers” series, two participants in particular chose topics related to disability awareness. During Alex’s recent class about Braille and Ezra’s class on the Segway PT, our entire Nature Links community was able to gain so much awareness around a few tools that have a significant impact on the lives of people with disabilities.
Alex chose to teach her class on Braille, the tactile reading and writing system for visually impaired and blind people, because of her own journey as someone who has been studying Braille for the past 6 years. Alex taught us about the history of Braille, beginning with a system called “night writing” developed by a former French army officer in the early 1800’s. According to Alex, night writing was developed as a way to protect French soldier’s in Napoleon’s army as the lamps they used to read and write at night too often alerted the enemy of their whereabouts. Louis Braille used the night writing system as a starting point when he developed his own 6-dot cell system of reading and writing that is still used today. After teaching us the history of Braille, Alex helped us understand the assistive technology used to write Braille, including the Perkin’s Brailler—an 11-pound typewriter developed in the 1950s still used by many blind people today. Unfortunately, many of these technologies cost thousands of dollars, a problem we discussed as a group in her class. Finally, Alex demonstrated ways in which modern technologies such as the iPhone can be used by visually impaired and blind people. While access to assistive technologies is out of reach for many people, she taught us, newly developed technology gives her hope that blind and low vision people will continue to gain more independence through accessibility.
In our next participant-led class, Ezra informed us on the recent discontinuation of the Segway PT, a two-wheeled, self-balancing personal transportation first sold in 2001. Following a car accident that left him with balance and mobility challenges, Ezra has used a Segway as a mobility aid for the past 20 years. The Segway, he told us, allows him to get around in an upright position, giving him more dignity than a wheelchair would. Ezra taught us how the Segway works (with a subtle lean forward to go and backwards to stop or reverse) and why the technology is being discontinued (sales have continued to decline over time). We learned about other mobility aids either already on the market or currently being developed, but Ezra told us that for him nothing can compare to the freedom he gains with his Segway. What will he do now that the Segway will no longer be produced? Ezra says he thinks he can continue to use his for many years to come, but lots of uncertainty remains for the future.
A photo of Ezra riding his Segway PT on the beach
Both classes made us more aware as a community of what a significant impact assistive technology can have on the lives of people with disabilities. Thanks so much to Alex and Ezra for planning such informative and powerful classes!
