Assistive Technology: Discussion with Mike Fellows from Clipboard

A few weeks ago, I had a chat with Mike Fellows from Clipboard, someone I know very well as he helped with the setting up of the assistive technology in our house. We discussed a range of topics which I believed would be useful for people to know.

Mike Fellows

The topics included:

• Support Work

Clipboard current employ around 30 care-workers and this number is rapidly increasing as demand grows. They create a support plan with the client which is then used to match the client to a support worker who best suits their requirements. These support workers would also fit into specific living routines as discussed in the support plan. This makes it super easy for a person in need of support to find someone who can cater to their specific needs.

• Assistive Technology

Clipboard currently provide a range of assistive technology such as the following:

-Eye Gaze Technology

-Proximity based Technology

-Grid Tech (Ipad accessibility)

-Smart Light Bulbs

In our discussion we also talked about how different assistive technology can be useful/not useful depending on individuals circumstances. Assistive technology has limitations depending on what the client intends to use it for; The vision pro - whilst useful for some people interested in gaming, half of the headset is controlled by hand/arm gestures which for a person like myself, with limited mobility, makes it very very difficult to use.

As for the future of assistive technology, it is advancing rapidly and there is always new products being developed and sold to improve peoples lives such as:

-General improvements to chair technology - head/eye gaze tech and voice activation (not exactly new but always improving)

-Google glasses (not suitable for people who suffer from rapid/uncontrolled head movement as there are no safety features in place to combat this yet)

-Tilted chairs with wheels that can be manually moved (is the client has the ability to do so)

-Wireless gaming technology (which I am very interested in) is always advancing and most games now show how accessible they are before you purchase them.

I must also mention that residential technology has many limitations. It was designed without considering disabilities. For example, people with conditions that deteriorate over time may eventually not be able to use their technology.

• Supported employment

They run a very similar process to that of the client/support worker process mentioned above with a few minor differences. They essentially act as a Pre 'Pre-employment' service, helping clients to grow themselves and find out what they are capable of. For example, in my case, they would assess how fatigue/stiffness would affect my ability to work and go from there.

For people who require a lot of support like myself, most funding would not cover work related support and home support at the same time, a simple fix to this for most people is to just work from home.

They also help with assistive gaming as I now know how to play video games on my own. have enabled me for the first time ever, to Play FIFA.

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to focus my posts on assistive technology around the house.

Merry Christmas to you all.