Living With A Disability In A High Tech World

3 Feb 2011: As technology advances, the disabled world must advance along with it. I’m sure there’s at least one person you know who has an I-Phone at the moment. I thought it would be a great opportunity to look up some applications that are useful for people with a disability.

For those of you who haven’t crossed into the 21st Century yet, an application is another way of saying that you are downloading a program to your mobile phone. There are literally hundreds of thousands of applications available for free or to buy. Some are very intelligent and useful, while others are just for entertainment or to pass the time while you’re waiting at the doctors.

There are some wonderful people and companies who have created apps especially for people with disabilities. I have listed 10 very practical apps that I found whilst doing some research.

1. Proloquo2go by Assistiveware - $239.99 - This is an app designed especially for people with autism or those who are non-verbal. It provides natural sounding text-to-speech, up-to-date symbols, powerful automatic conjugations, a default vocabulary of over 7000 items and much more. While the price may seem steep, it’s not much when comparing it to a voice assisted computer.

2. Talking Flashcards - $4.99 - This is an app that has visual and audio tools that will assist with communication.

3. BraillePro - $5.99 – Teaches family and friends how to use and understand Braille. This app can also translate English into Braille, which could become very handy.

4. Glucose Buddy – Free – This is an app to help manage your diabetes and blood sugar levels.

5. Braille 123 – Free – A free app that will teach people how to read Braille.

6. RIDBC Auslan Tutor - $49.99 – A tutor that has been developed by the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children, to teach a child who is born deaf to learn the Australian sign language. It also encourages early communication amongst family members who may be deaf.

7. iConverse - $12.99 – A tool to assist people with autism or communication difficulties to express their needs or emotions.

8. TuneWiki – Free – An amazing tool for the hearing impaired, that allows your I-Phone to show subtitles along to the beat of a song or music video.

9. iHearClear - $3.99 – Is like an amplifier or a hearing aid for people with a hearing impairment.

10. A Special Phone - $1.19 – To assist people with vision impairments, this app allows people to dial contacts in their phonebook without ever having to look at the phone.

Do you know of any other useful apps for people with disabilities? If so, please share them, and if you have used any of the above apps, did they help you? Would you recommend them?

Proloquo2go


Proloquo2go


BraillePro


RIDBC Auslan Tutor


TuneWiki