Aren’t we Lucky?

We live in a fortunate age.  With all the problems, crises and disasters in the world, it’s sometimes hard to remember that, but we really are a  lucky crowd.

I happened to run across Roger Ebert’s “Ted” video recently which describes his journey to find his own voice again after cancer surgeries  destroyed his ability to talk..  A remarkable technology is allowing him to verbally communicate again with friends and loved ones, but he’s also been able to reclaim his career by moving online to write reviews and  blog, to become an active film journalist again.

Ebert’s  remarkable story is dramatic and moving but also is an indicator of how technology is opening up the world for people who just a short time ago would have been isolated and housebound.

In my experience, as a board member for a learning disabilities organization, it has always been a struggle to provide tools that can really help people overcome sometimes crippling learning disabilities and be able to participate in the larger world.    In the past few years all kinds of assistive technologies from software to  hardware devices,  alternate keyboards and mice, voice recognition, monitor  magnification, multiple switch joysticks, and text-to-speech communication aids have been developed to help kids and adults learn, communicate and cope within the bigger world – a real miracle for some.  I’m happy to say that we are  (as an association) helping kids and adults adopt new technologies by running an innovative Technology Camp this summer.

The object of the camp  is to  help kids identify their unique learning styles and then  develop learning strategies and tools that will help them be more successful at school.   They’ll use assistive technologies to help them develop the skills needed to be able to cope at home and in the classroom.  The best part is that parents are included in the process, so they too can learn how to use the technology when working with their kids.

So no matter where you are on the spectrum from Roger Ebert’s dilemma to the kid who just needs some help reading, advances in technology are making huge differences in all our lives.    Like I said before, aren’t we lucky.  What do you think?

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