Chapter 16. Future Directions in Assistive Technologies

Overview

On the basis of the discussion in this chapter, anticipated changes in technologies, coupled with the focus on the social aspects of disability, provide a significant opportunity for major advances in the degree to which individuals with disabilities can participate in all aspects of life, including work, school, leisure, and self-care. These advances will be particularly important as the percentage of the population that is elderly rises. Concepts from universal design will be important in ensuring that this segment of the population remains active and is able to participate in society. This new group of elderly individuals will also be more experienced with computers and other technologies than their predecessors, and they may well demand greater performance and adaptability from both ATs and mainstream devices such as appliances, automobiles, and communications equipment (e.g., telephones, Internet communication). There will also be a greater percentage of individuals with long-term disabilities who join the over-65 age group. These individuals may be among the first large group to be long-term users of ATs, and their experience may have both positive and negative implications. Certainly their extensive experience with the use of ATs will make them a rich source of information regarding effective design and application of these technologies. However, the negative aspects of this use of technologies in the long run are unknown. For example, what will be the effects of vocal stress from use of ASR, or repetitive strain injury from keyboard use, or shoulder problems from manual wheelchair propulsion? It is also impossible to forecast what will be the new problems arising from the extensive use of technology.

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