Hearing loss is worse than an inconvenience: its side effects include social isolation, increased vulnerability to depression, and increased risk of injury. Not to mention higher stress and frustration levels, especially when dealing with people who dismiss the struggle with,…
Category: Assistive Technology
Assistive Tech for Coping with Hard Reality
Today’s post is dedicated to Mental Health Awareness Month this May. People with autism, major depression, or similar conditions often feel they’re fighting a daily battle against panic/hysteria/despair. Digital technology can help: Sometimes, the primary barrier to improved mental health…
Fun Rabbit Holes: Exploring New Technology Without Losing Your Place on Your To-Do List
Apps and other digital technology are great—until they aren’t. You may have heard worst-nightmare stories: fatal accidents due to someone’s being distracted by a smartphone; suicides triggered by cyberbullying or doomscrolling. On a less dramatic note, just about everyone has…
Modern Mothers with Disability in the Family
A special Happy Mother’s Day to all hardworking moms! Remember the family images in classic sitcoms? Every mother a full-time housewife who had it all together; every kid healthy and happy; every grandparent a bottomless source of wisdom and encouragement,…
VestLife: An Organization Solution for Families
Most people today have too much to keep track of. Work duties. Volunteer duties. Personal projects. Electric bills. Cable bills. Car-repair bills. School records. Medical records. Passwords to access all those bills and records. It gets worse when someone in…
Eye-Gaze Technology for ALS
ALS. Short for “amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.” Also known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease” for the baseball player who died from it in 1941. By any name, it’s a nightmare to be diagnosed with: it eats away the brain’s motor neurons, progressively…
National Stroke Awareness Month–App List for Managing Stroke and TBI Effects
Is someone in your family affected by a stroke or a traumatic brain injury (TBI)? Are you concerned that you or someone close to you might have a stroke? May is National Stroke Awareness Month. Mark a day or a…
Preparing Kids for Adulthood with Autism
Society is well rid of the days when “special education” meant sequestering kids in classes that rarely taught anything above kindergarten level, and post-graduation employment was limited to “sheltered workshops.” Still, autism and intellectual disorders mean extra challenges navigating the…
Turning Down the Volume for Everyone’s Health
April 26 is International Noise Awareness Day. Whatever constitutes everyday “background noise” in your neighborhood or community, your conscious brain has probably learned to tune it out—but never giving it a thought may be costing you. Noise and Health The…