For many young people all over the UK, starting University is a huge milestone towards gaining their independence and starting life on their own. I thought that now might be a good time to write a blog about how University life has been for me as a student with a disability and how technology is helping me.
I’ve just written a blog about 3D printing and the potential it has to significantly impact the lives of people living within the disability community. I’ve since come across a project where centres called Makerspace are springing up all over the UK and with different skills being used, there is potential for this to become big news in the world of technology for disabled people.
I’ve been hearing a lot about 3D printing over the past six months, and when I read up about it I was sure that it could be used in some way to manufacture specially adapted equipment for disabled people more cheaply. I decided to read about how 3D printing is helping disabled people to explore new ways of facing challenging situations and overcoming them.
I am housebound due to several medical conditions that include both M.E. & Fibromyalgia. As well as feeling generally very unwell and in pain my conditions greatly affect my energy, mobility and dexterity often rendering me bedridden.
I became housebound at a time when home PC technology was still in its infancy, and with Aidis Trust help I am learning to better utilise assistive technology such as voice recognition typing software to help where using traditional methods causes pain and exhaustion. Updates as I progress!
As well as being a lover of computer games, I am also an avid Mac user, having been bought one as an 18th birthday present! Julian from Aidis is going to follow up this post with a review of accessibility on the iPhone, but for now I am going to take you through a rundown of the Mac’s accessibility features, and also explain how I make use of them myself.