Monica is an eighth-grade math teacher who was injured about six years ago. She remembers not wanting assistive technology at all in the initial days following her injury. “When I first became a quad, I was really opposed to having any kind of helpful little devices. It was hard enough accepting a wheelchair and using the things that I absolutely had to use. And so, anything else was like ‘no.’” Monica did not want to draw attention to herself by using a lot of “extra stuff,” hoping instead to do things as she always had—on her own. Gradually, “reality set in” and she began to explore assistive technology as a way of making “life easier.” Today she uses a range of devices both at home and in the classroom.
Go directly to:
When selecting her first (and current) wheelchair, Monica and her physical therapist worked together to address several issues involving image and the chair’s performance. Among Monica’s primary concerns was the way she would come across to her students. In fact, their response has been positive. “They love my power chair…. I’ve had a couple of kids ask me, ‘Isn’t it fun driving around in the wheelchair?’ And well yes, it probably seems that way to them, but of course I’d rather not.” For a teacher, being visible in the classroom and being viewed as an authority figure is important, and this had implications for the height of Monica’s chair. In her words, “Usually, when you’re listening to someone, they’re either standing up or at a podium … but when you’re sitting and can’t really see the person who’s talking, it makes it harder to pay attention.” For this reason, Monica decided to make her chair about two inches higher than most. Although she sometimes has difficulty getting under tables, the height has generally not been a problem.
Monica also wanted speed. She is strong enough to get around in a manual wheelchair, but she chose a power chair because it enables her to accomplish tasks more quickly and with less effort. Monica has always liked speed and prior to her accident she found walking to be a slow process. “When you have to go to the office and check your box or run off papers and go back to your classroom, it’s like let’s just hurry up and get it done. Why does it take so long to walk down the hall? And so if you can zoom down the hall, that’s all the better. It’s an efficiency kind of thing.” Initially, Monica felt uncomfortable with the idea of a power chair and believed that, “Being in a power chair makes you look, or so you think, more disabled than a manual chair … I don’t care anymore.”
In addition to speed, manoeuvrability was critical in meeting Monica’s mobility needs, both in the classroom and in her minivan. A tight turning radius and small front casters enable her to get between narrow rows of desks in a small classroom. While larger front casters offer a smoother ride, Monica says she is willing to “sacrifice a little smoothness for ease of manoeuvrability.”
Monica is beginning the process of purchasing a new power chair before hers “falls apart,” leaving her dependent on her back-up manual chair for an extended period of time. Her power chair is getting old—the specific model is no longer being produced—so it has been difficult to get parts when it breaks down. In deciding on desired features for her new chair, Monica is using her own experiences and consulting with friends, checking websites, and attending tradeshows. Over the years, she has developed a good relationship with a vendor who responds to her repair needs quickly, and she believes that her vendor will be open to letting her try out several models before making her final decision. Monica hasn’t yet explored her funding options, but she believes that financial support for her new wheelchair will come through her insurance company.
For Monica, the overall look of a wheelchair is important. “Why do people care what clothes they put on in the morning? Because they want to look decent in their own estimation…. I don’t want a dorky bright fluorescent orange chair—I’m more into having it match and look smooth.” Monica’s current chair is red, but her new chair will likely be black and, although she hasn’t yet decided on a particular style or model, she is clear that she doesn’t like the chairs that “have a piece of fiberglass over the whole thing.” Monica also knows she doesn’t want a standing chair, which she tried on one occasion while her power chair was being repaired. In spite of her students’ interest in the standing chair and the fact that it would be helpful to be in an upright position for some activities, such as lunchroom duty, Monica finds this type of chair more bulky and “not worth the added little benefit.”
While she was in rehab, Monica received driver education training and got her new driver’s license. However, due to confusion about the funding system, she didn’t get her own van for quite some time. Until then, she relied on the local paratransit system for work and says that although they were “very accommodating,” this system offers no evening or weekend service. This greatly restricted Monica’s social life and eventually she decided to look into getting her own van. Monica sought assistance from vocational counsellors at the rehab centre and the state vocational rehab program. Through the rehab centre, she applied for a federally-run program whereby a portion of her own income would be deducted and automatically put into a fund to be used to purchase her vehicle. Once approved, Monica applied to the state vocational rehab program for funding for the modifications.
Although she would prefer to drive a car, Monica acknowledges that this would be a difficult prospect. After researching her options and hunting around for a while, Monica decided on a specific model of minivan for several reasons, including its safety record. Besides being more comfortable with the overall look and size of a minivan, as opposed to a full-size van, Monica says that a minivan is easier to drive and gets better gas mileage.
Although the state vocational rehab program was funding the adaptations, Monica says she had a fair degree of input into deciding what they would be. The state, however, chose the vendor who modified her vehicle. She says that while some of her friends had difficulties with their modifications, she got lucky and has had no problems. These modifications included hand controls, a ramp and a lowered floor. In spite of some initial trepidation, Monica says that it’s been “kind of nice to be able to drive again.”
Once Monica started driving again, friends urged her to purchase a cell phone for convenience and as a precautionary measure. In addition to peace of mind, Monica has found the cell phone helpful when she’s running errands. For instance, when she needs gas or supplies from the drugstore, she calls ahead of time to make arrangements for someone to come out to pump gas for her or bring out her supplies.
Monica keeps the telephone and an address book with her at all times. Recently, she got an electronic organizer and she plans to input all of her telephone numbers and other pertinent information. In spite of the benefits of having a cell phone, Monica has found it somewhat difficult to manage these payments along with all of the others. She found a company that gives her a slightly reduced rate because she is a teacher but for her, a cell phone is a necessity and most companies do not offer special rates to individuals with a disability.
Monica’s school was built in 1990 and it is considered an accessible building. The one thing she required to make it fully accessible to her was an automatic door opener at the school’s main entrance. Upon her return to work, the school took several months to install the door opener. Monica recalls, “They kept saying, ‘It’s on order … it’ll get here.’ They knew I was coming back for three years. They had plenty of opportunity…. After I made a little comment to the newspaper that it would be nice if I could get into my school, it was done very soon thereafter.” Other than that, very few modifications were needed—just a slightly higher desk and lever knobs on her classroom door.
To help with getting back to work, the state vocational rehab program funded a home computer and software. Monica relies on her computer for both personal and work purposes, and says it’s “one of the best things [they] bought me.” Her word processing program allows her to prepare tests and assignments at home. The Internet enables her to search for new curriculum and lesson plans as well as being a hobby. She has the school’s grading program on her home computer, so she can record her students’ grades from home and email them to her computer at work.
To input text, Monica uses one of two methods depending on the task at hand—the one-finger “hunt and peck” approach, or discrete speech input. She prefers the latter for preparing long documents such as letters. However, she finds speech recognition less effective for inputting numbers and symbols, so she mostly uses the keyboard to create math tests.
Although Monica has a continuous speech program on her computer at work, she doesn’t use it much. She is a good one-finger typist and she’s satisfied with her current set-up. Monica feels that perhaps she should invest some time to learn this program because it’s available to her and might be helpful, but she believes that these newer programs still have a fairly high error rate. She wonders why software that is supposed to be helpful should require such a time commitment to become efficient.
An overhead projector in the classroom is very common in the teaching profession today. Monica likes this device because it allows her to face her students.
As a teacher, handling paper is a must and discovering hanging file folders was, in Monica’s words, “a big day.” Due to limited finger dexterity, stacked file folders made it difficult to get at specific pieces of paper. Now, Monica separates documents into regular file folders and then inserts them into hanging folders, which are suspended with metal edges on a rod along the length of a desk drawer. This allows her to retrieve files by slipping her hand into the desired folder and pulling out the document she needs.
Monica uses a backpack to carry her paperwork to and from school. While she is able to manage small stacks of paper, she has difficulty handling larger volumes. Monica has sometimes dropped large stacks of paper and tried to pick them up with her reacher. For her, this “makes it worse … with a reacher, you just can’t really pick it up very nicely…. It’s better to just leave the pile and get someone else to do it.”
Like many of her colleagues, Monica sometimes has her students mark each other’s quizzes. Other times, her PCA helps her to grade tests and other assignments and then document the results. Monica says that in her profession, the paperwork can become overwhelming and in order to minimize the amount of paper she needs to handle, she routinely recycles assignments once the students have had a chance to review them.
Monica was introduced to reachers while she was in rehab. Initially, she was reluctant to use them, but now she finds she likes them. She keeps several around, including one behind her desk in her classroom. Monica says that her students often play with it and consider it “cool.” Over time, she too has come to perceive the reacher as “just kind of a cool thing … not an adaptive device that makes you look like you’re disabled.” Although they have their limitations, the reachers give Monica easier ways of accomplishing frequent tasks such as grasping things without bending or reaching too far, or adjusting her heat and air-conditioning.
Monica also resisted using a lapboard at first, but gradually found benefits. “It came in handy once in a while.” She now uses one almost all the time at home and at work. Hers is stuffed with a bead-like material, which enables her to position it according to her needs—either on an angle or flat. She keeps almost everything on her lapboard, from paperwork to meals.
For safety, Monica has an emergency alert phone at home. She mainly uses it when she is in bed or transferring to or from her chair on her own. Should an emergency occur, Monica presses the emergency alert pendant she wears around her neck, activating the speakerphone, which automatically dials the monitoring station. A representative from the station calls Monica. Depending on the situation, the representative will either call 911 or the individuals listed as her emergency contacts.
Monica uses an inexpensive environmental control unit, which she purchased at a local electronics store. It operates on the X-10 system and can control simple on/off appliances such as lights and fans. The control unit plugs into the wall and sits on Monica’s desk. It has a series of numbered punch buttons, each activating a specific appliance. Each appliance has its own module, which sits between the power outlet and the device being controlled.
Monica uses an electric hospital bed, which enables her to change position on her own. This is particularly important when she is feeling ill and not breathing very well—it allows her to sleep in an elevated position.
Monica has experienced difficulty with her bladder and sometimes she gets headaches—a symptom associated with autonomic dysreflexia. This potentially dangerous complication of spinal cord injury is characterized by elevated blood pressure levels caused by, among other things, an over-full bladder or bladder infection. Although she has some difficulty physically putting on the cuff, Monica is able to monitor her blood pressure and determine the severity of her symptoms.
Due to limited strength and dexterity in her hands, Monica uses dycem—a non-slip material—to help grip and twist bottle tops (e.g., makeup) and other containers. She keeps a supply of various sizes of dycem with her at school and at home.
Monica’s perception of both her disability and assistive devices has changed over the years. Today, she is much more open to the idea of assistive technology and says, “It’s okay now. I’m over that kind of, ‘I don’t want to use adaptations [attitude].’ … I’m realizing that they are helpful.” Monica is still conscious of the way devices look and this affects her assistive technology choices. As a consumer, she continues to look for and demand both image and function.
To those who are newly injured and making decisions about assistive technology, Monica believes that, “Everybody has their own opinion on things.” Because of the cost and complicated funding systems, she advises new consumers to take their time to identify those devices they want and need before purchasing them.
In Monica’s experience, having a disability and being active can be a financial drain. In her words, “It’s expensive being a real person again.”
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Home © 1999 - 2010 All Rights Reserved |
