Dialling for enablement and empowerment

OTHER than my wheelchair, I use another piece of equipment I consider an assistive device. It has been a lifesaver on many occasions. Most of us have one. Some carry two or three. When we lose or misplace it, we would feel like a part of us is missing. As you may have guessed, this device I am talking about is none other than the smartphone.

I started using a mobile phone in 1998. If I remember correctly, it was an Ericsson with very basic functions compared to the devices of today. It was around that time I first travelled alone by flight from Penang to Kuala Lumpur since becoming disabled. Being able to carry it around saved me a lot of trouble as I had difficulty picking up coins and slotting them into payphones to call friends and back home.

Fast forward to a few years later. My mother was seriously ill. Fearing her condition could take a turn for the worse at any moment, I carried it around with me all the time and had several numbers on speed dial just in case I needed to summon for help immediately. The phone was never turned off even when I went to bed. I have changed many phones since then but the one habit that remained was the phones were never turned off except to replace the batteries or SIM cards.

While I never had to use the phone to call for help for my mother, it was instrumental in getting help for me when I needed it. Even though I have a landline with a cordless phone, the handset is cumbersome to be carried around the house with me all the time. I am home alone most of the time and do not fall off the wheelchair often but when that happens, I am unable to get back up without help. Having a mobile phone within reach has saved me more than a couple of times.

Earlier this year, I replaced the four-year-old smartphone I had been using with a more advanced model. A faster processor and more memory meant I could do a lot more with it. Other than the ability to surf, receive and send emails, update to social media on the fly, shoot photos and videos, and do a thousand other things, it has enabled and empowered me in many other ways.

I bumped into a friend at a shopping mall one day. She is deaf. I do not speak sign language and there was no sign language interpreter to help us. We whipped out our smartphones and typed out our conversation. It was as simple as that. Traditionally, we would have used pen and paper. She would have found it difficult to decipher my handwriting.

The Google Translate app proved to be very useful when I was in Tokyo. I do not speak Japanese and some of my counterparts there do not speak English. We communicated by typing it out in our respective languages and got it translated. Although the translations were not perfect, it was sufficient for us to understand each other.

The evolution of smartphones has turned out to be a blessing for disabled people. They have become multipurpose devices rather than merely functioning as phones. Accessibility options in these devices have improved tremendously over the years. Many of the features that make them more functional for people with various impairments are built-in. The flexibility to add apps to enhance functionality makes the possibilities almost endless.

Screen readers and the ability to display large text in high contrast settings are useful for the blind and visuallyimpaired. Voice commands makes it easier for those with limited hand function to operate the device. Vast improvements in data speed and video quality allow the deaf to chat via signing, lip reading or text. These are all examples of everyday technology put to good use.

Nevertheless, a good thing can also turn bad if misused or abused. There was a time when I was so addicted to Korean dramas that I used it to watch several episodes in succession during bedtime on the phone. Needless to say, my sleeping hours became irregular. I slept just before my wife went to work and woke up late in the afternoon. The obsession with chasing the dramas interrupted my daily routine so much that it was beginning to affect my work and health.

Fortunately for me, the device came with a function for turning it on and off at pre-determined times every day. To break that bad habit, I set it to shut down at 11pm and turn back on at 8am the next morning. That swiftly and effectively curtailed my nocturnal drama-watching sprees although I suffered some withdrawal symptoms during the first few days. I am glad to say I sleep better now without such a distraction.

When my wife found out I have started to turn my smartphone off every night after all these years, she asked, “What is someone needs to call you urgently?”

“Last time it was because of my mother. There is no reason for anyone to call me in the middle of the night now,” I told her. “If you have anything urgent to tell me, I am just an arm’s length away.” And we both laughed at that. But the smartphone is no laughing matter where disabled people are concerned. Our lives have been made simpler and safer by its various functions and apps. Who would have thought the mobile phone would turn into something so practical? In time, I foresee advancements of this device further improving the lives of disabled people in ways we have never thought of.