Technology

Welcome to selfbuildinnovations.com's special section on assistive technology. What is assistive technology? Assistive Technology is any device that helps a less able person do something that more able people can already do. Assistive technology enables elderly and severely disabled people to live more independently and safely at home.

Home automation and environmental control systems help people who lack full mobility to open doors, answer telephones and intercoms, and operate a host of electronic devices from lamps and televisions to motorised chairs and beds. Various interfaces can be incorporated such as - keyboards, single switches with scanning menus and screen-based icons are available, as are different levels of sophistication in communication output, from several phrases for someone whose speech may just be slow or impractical for telephones, to a large array of words and phrases, to full support for those who lack any speech but can formulate complex concepts.

Users of these systems typically have Multiple Sclerosis, Motor Neurone Disease, Cerebral Palsy, a Head Injury, Muscular Dystrophy, Rheumatoid Arthritis, a Spinal Injury or have suffered a Stroke. TVs, radios, doors, intercoms, telephones, lamps, curtains, windows, riser recliner chairs and beds, and alarms are among the devices that can be controlled. The good news on these systems is the national health provide systems to people free if you qualify.