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The Benefits of Assistive Technology in My Life
by Faye Warren
Assistive technology is the most important key for the nonverbal population because without the proper assistive technology, each of us who has severe disabilities along with speech impairments can not participate in life. Therefore, it is very difficult for us to succeed in our future. Furthermore, it is crucial for us to have communication devices, powered chairs or whatever we need for optimized communicate and full independence to fully participate with the world around us. In my case, I succeed in life because I have had the support of the assistive technologies that I use throughout my life. For example, I use a headstick as well as the reflector dot to access my ECO AAC system and electronic powered wheelchair. Now let’s go back to discover how my assistive technology has helped me this far in my life.
Presently, I live independently in my own home. I graduated in May of 2004 from St. Andrews Presbyterian College in North Carolina with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing. However, I was born in Palm Springs, California and then we moved to Memphis, Tennessee, when I was three years old. Customized seating in some form has been significant in the development my ability to sit for long periods of time, and yet, still move around comfortably. My mother and I went to the University of Tennessee to find out what kind of wheelchair and seating I needed. I met some professionals who assisted with getting my customized seating for my first powered wheelchair, an Invacare, at the age of four. They found a powered wheelchair to fit my ambitious, crazy, adventuresome personality. Due to my condition of athetoid, spastic cerebral palsy, a specialized bead seat was contoured for me at the Rehabilitation Engineering Center at U T. Further, a plain tray was made for me and later, one that accommodated my communication aid.
As a little four year old girl, I was very naive like most children are at that age and thought I could go anywhere without getting hurt. Basically, I thought I was invincible. Boy, I was wrong! I was a little dare devil as a kid. I would try anything and thanks to my little powered wheelchair with comfy seating, I was as mischievous and normal as any other kid without disabilities. One day, I decided to drive my wheelchair down the street to a friend’s house. Well, my friend’s house was on a big hill and I thought it was no big deal that I went on my own without informing my parents first as to where I was going. My friend, Jamie’s house was three long blocks away. There were no sidewalks, so I raced up the middle of the street. Jamie’s house had a huge, grassy bump with a deep ditch beyond it for water retention wrapping around the entire corner lot. Guess what happened? As I drove over the bump, into the ditch, and tried to go up the hill to her house, my power chair flipped onto its back. I was looking up at the sky, laughing my head off because I thought it was so funny. My parents were called to come and get me. Man, did I get it, when I went home. My butt was actually smoking that night. I learned my first lesson on my own that night: Listen to my parents or else! However, when I was older, my parents told me that they were actually proud of me that day for being independent and thought the sight of me in that ditch was funny.
Do you remember the terrible two’s? Well, I was the terrible four’s. My powered chair and seating gave me a license to be wild. A wild child! Fear is not in my vocabulary and it never was. I was encouraged to live life as closely as possible to that of my peers without disabilities. That was why my parents wanted me to get a powered wheelchair with special seating, and a communication device to allow me to experience life to the fullest at a very early age. Thank God that they did because I learned how to become as independent as possible at the very beginning of my life. The wheelchair and my customized seating became my new body with a pair of legs, which were the wheels. My communication devices that I had throughout my life became my new voice as well. It is a way of life and yet, I am not any different from everybody else without disabilities.
It is extremely crucial that the physical therapists and rehab engineers fit the customized seating to their clients’ bodies to keep them safe and well supported. Therefore, they will be ready and position properly to use a communication device to communicate with the outside world. This is because you never know how dangerous of a driver they are or what they will choose to do in their wheelchairs. Driving a wheelchair is just like driving a vehicle, or in my case, driving a fast sports car. The difference is that you can get out of the car, we can’t! Therefore, it is extremely important that the seating be exceptionally comfortable and supportive, but be flexible enough to move around in and do whatever is possible independently. We, as wheelchairs users, need to be able to tolerate sitting in our wheelchairs for at least eight hours straight, or in my case, twelve hours straight a day. Furthermore, my supportive seating definitely positions me to access my assistive computer device for communication with people, driving my wheelchair, working on my computer and doing other daily things like those without disabilities.
After I mastered being a race car driver, I met a remarkable speech-language pathologist, Mary Washington, who taught the English language by making communication boards. Every color symbolized different parts of speech. For an example, the orange color represented the Nouns. Green represented the verbs and so fourth. Therefore, since Mary taught me language, I was ready to use my first augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device called the Touch Talker that Prentke Romich Company had
invented. Thanks to Mary Washington who taught me how the English language worked and the importance of using different parts of speech, I found this easy. Because of the language system, I have been able to learn two different Minspeak application programs, Words Strategy and later Unity that came built into these communication devices. Therefore, I was able to use the Touch Talker, the Liberator, Pathfinder and now the Eco. All amazing communication devices to me!
Throughout my life, I’ve enjoyed doing and saying things that people have not expected of me, because of their preconceived ideas about those who have physical disabilities and cannot speak. Some call my degree of disability significant due to my supportive seating system and my use of a personal communication device accessed by a head stick mounted on my powered wheelchair. The reason why I have succeeded at achieving my life goals is my determination, my powered wheelchair with my customized seating and my AAC devices. I lead a very active life! If it weren’t for the professionals who supported me throughout my life, especially my parents, I would never have been mainstreamed into regular education classes, graduated from my neighborhood high school, and graduated from an away college with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing and English.
The saying goes that it only takes one person to make a difference in our lives or set us on a course toward success. In my case, a professional who believed children should be given powered mobility at an early age, and a professional who believed children should be given AAC language technology as soon as possible. Nevertheless, I know it is extremely important to form a group of professionals to support individuals with disabilities in making choices about their priorities and preferences. I feel fortunate that my parents’ values and expectations for me were taken into consideration so many years ago, because I have come to know others who have not been as fortunate. My disabilities do not control my life. My hope for others is that they are given the opportunity to make fully informed decisions about their AAC and mobility assistive technology, and professionals are found to teach them how to use their systems to maximize their potentials and achieve the highest performance possible.
Yours truly,
Faye Warren
Your feedback is always valued. AACConsumerNet@aacinstitute.org.
