“Are our disabled bodies a problem, or is society the problem here?”
The thing I learned the most from the talk is how scary society’s judgment is when people care more about what others think rather than anything else. High tech and a cool appearance don’t mean that they are the best of the best. In reality, most people who would need them will never have access to them, and there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution in technology. From the videos, we can tell that these high-tech devices have a lot of functionality issues and prevent people from doing things they want to do. They serve more as barriers rather than alternatives. Though there are products that can provide clear accessibility benefits, they often come with a price tag that is extremely inaccessible to most. However, I am curious whether those high-tech companies are actually using society’s judgment as a marketing tool to grab attention and awareness, rather than creating something that serves the purposes and provides alternatives for people who need it. If they do so, they are the worst of the worst.
Ultimately, I learned that people with disabilities don’t like to be treated differently. Praising them for only little things that everybody else can do does not help and it worsens their image. ‘We are more disabled by the society that we live in rather than by our bodies and our diagnoses,’ as Stella said.
Personally, I have little experience working with people with disabilities. I have been committed to disability-inclusive hiring since last October, and I have two deaf baristas working for my restaurant back in Indonesia. Before I worked with them closely last year, I had only ever experienced disabled people as objects of inspiration because that is what society has been teaching me.
I really like the line where Stella said, ‘Where we value genuine achievements for disabled people.’ At first, it is super hard to do this because you always want to differentiate them, and in your mind, you put limitations that are not even there. When I first decided to do disability-inclusive hiring, my mentor told me, ‘We are the same; you have to treat them like you treat the rest of your team.’
Simple things I do include calling them if they do something wrong and telling them how to improve. I give them the same deadlines without any exceptions, and I pay them the same amount of money I pay the rest of my team.
In short, please do not pass judgment and impose limitations on others without knowing the truth first. ALSO, trying to meet other people’s expectations will lead you to nothing. YOU DO YOU and embrace your differences!”
Technology designed that benefits people with disabilities and one that doesn’t.
The one that benefits: HEARING AIDS
Hearing aids are one of the coolest invention that is actually beneficial for people with hearing loss. They help you hear better and have smoother conversations with people. People around me use this and they are extremely grateful for this invention. By turning up the volume and making sounds clearer, hearing aids make it easier to catch every word and be part of the action. Also, using hearing aids can actually help you blend in with society and avoid being labelled as having a disability. Nowadays, hearing aids are designed to look like regular earphones or other inconspicuous devices. This means you can fully participate in social interactions without drawing unnecessary attention to your hearing aids.
The one that doesn’t: Liftware, an example of price inaccessibility
This is a design of cutlery for those with hand tremors. It is an electronic stabilizer for with a selection of spoons, forks, and sporks. While the product may provide significant benefits, it fails to be truly accessible due to its price of $300. Price inaccessibility is a big problem for the disabled. I believe not only Liftware does this high price accessible products, many companies also do this. From the design POV, people need to readjust the way they feed themselves and the charging port is clearly not designed for people with tremor(to small), would be better if the spoon comes with wireless charging, should be so helpful for them when recharging