Advances in assistive technology offer a new wave of possibilities for your child with special needs

Technology has a way of slipping from the sci-fi past to the present like Michael J. Foxs’ Delorean in “Back to the Future.” Remember those sliding doors in Star Trek on the USS Enterprise? Now we take them for granted. And every time I see someone open a cell phone and talk to someone, I expect to hear them say “Carry me, Scotty.” The day of the live video mail is coming soon, very soon. Every sci-fi movie I saw had someone talking to someone else from a television screen and we all laughed, however, today I heard that our IT department is supplying standard built-in webcams on all newly released laptop models.

Today I had a wide-eyed moment and I have to share it with you. I saw our doctor wave a Dr. McCoy-Star Trek type “tricorder” over my son’s chest. “What’s that?” I had asked. The doctor explained that “he would re-align the electrical impulses that were not synchronized so that his respiratory infection could heal.”

“Really?” I thought. This was real. My son thought it was tickling him and the doctor did the treatment until the levels in the front showed that the body had recalibrated. Just when you think you’re running things, something new pops up and surprises you.

I am an assistive technology specialist. I see new things coming on the market all the time. I have been following the research and development of mapping the brain’s neural network to identify the combinations of electrical impulses and frequencies that make up hand, wrist, and arm movements. There are studies at the moment on how to recreate these impulses in “bionic” arms that replace the cut ones. The research will allow our human brain to operate the new appendix through thought.

I was at a national convention this fall where I sat down and had a wireless gaze unit that wirelessly tracked my retina four feet away. As I looked around, the cursor on a large flat computer screen moved in the same direction. The cost was enormous, but the technology was there for someone who has a severe disability and wants to access life through a computer. I’m sure I saw Tom Cruise do that in a movie a couple of years ago.

There is no longer any way that one person can know everything about any niche in technology. The world is becoming more and more specialized. We have specialized services within specialized niches found in specialized markets of specialized companies. It can get pretty crazy. I’ve heard predictions that there will come a time when someone with my job in general assistive technology will no longer be able to be an assistive technology specialist. They will have to focus on a subcategory because the specialization will be very intense.

How does this apply to parents of children with disabilities? If you are a parent, you need to know a couple of things:

1. You should feel comfortable knowing that you cannot learn everything.

Do not feel guilty and frustrated by this fact. Just get an overview of the services and equipment your child may need. Be prepared to say “I don’t know, but I can find out.” That is my most important phrase. I have learned how to find a needle in a haystack on the internet when it comes to AT. I spend much of my time online researching equipment, treatments, therapies, or definitions and descriptions of medical disorders. Be prepared to view the Internet as your best friend. There is so much information that it is amazing.

Most people hate wasting time searching for information. They want it done for them. If you have a child with a disability, start looking and asking. There are answers out there. I don’t even pretend to think or want to deceive you into thinking that I know everything there is. “Everything there is” changes every day. If I were to comment on occupational and physical therapy supports, the new treatment for seizures and ADHD with neurofeedback for children using computer games and slot car race tracks, simulating virtual reality on television with a Wii etc, we would be here for the next 2 years, and by then 70% of what we knew would be obsolete and new technologies would have taken over.

2. There are new and limitless possibilities for young children with disabilities.

Where we are going will be amazing. Textbooks need to be rewritten on how we serve children due to the impact of technology on all aspects of education and the provision of special needs services. If you are the parent of a young child today, the advancements in technology to support will be incredible. It is a good time to be alive. You have options that no one had before you. There is technology to support your child that is amazing. Take the time to search for blogs, forums, and podcasts that discuss technology in education, assistive technology, and trends in alternative medicine for neurofeedback. The technology associated with alternative medicine is gaining more respect as time goes on and shows great promise as it becomes a hybrid in collaboration with traditional medicine and treatment.

I imagine that by the time you read this, I will have to be writing a second edition. It’s okay. As long as I don’t wait to catch up, I can relax and find the things that work. Still, that’s what serving children with assistive technology is all about. Find out what works to help children.