What assistive device has made the biggest difference in how you live? An environmental control unit. It allows me from my bed to blow through a tube that turns on the T.V. that has a menu. The menu has telephone, coffee turn on/off (runs on a timer), allows me to open doors, turn lights on and off, and has an emergency alert system. It makes life so much easier!
Was it difficult to get the things you needed? Yes, because
Medi-Cal [at first] denied it and it had to be resubmitted with
[something called] a TAR (treatment authorization request). If
that [hadn't] work[ed], I [would] have [had] to go through
Tri-Counties regional center. I've had an opportunity to have an
electric wheelchair that reclines with a chin control. It's a lot
of money. It's a problem to rely on other people to pay for your
things.
Is there anything you would like to see developed that could help
you with your needs? One day I would like a voice-activated
house: "please open the door, please close the door, please flush
the toilet." We want to be as independent as possible but we need
help too. I had a friend who died of M[uscular] D[ystrophy], but
when she was alive she had a bed operated by a timer that would
turn her from side to side during the night. It was wonderful.
Do you think technology is the answer for helping people with physical limitations to live more independently, or are there other things that are more important? I think it's important to some degree, but there are other things we could be doing. It's half and half_technology and people, eating, and surviving. But don't ever stop the technology because in the long run it helps people.
Imagine That! is a quarterly newsletter about supported living published by Allen, Shea & Associates, 1040 Main Street, Suite 200 B, Napa, CA 94559, (707) 258-1326 under contract with the California Department of Development Services HD390061.