First-ever Mongolian app for the disabled launched
Mongolian software engineers have created a phone application, Shuvuu (bird) 1.0, to assist people living with disabilities. It is the first of its kind launched in Mongolia.
Autism Mongolia – And NGO and the Autism Association of Mongolia initiated to develop the special communication assistant app to cater to the needs of young and old people living with disabilities and facilitate their interaction with others. It is expected to enhance social and communications skills, the biggest challenge for most disabled people in Mongolia.
Shuvuu Khugjuulegchid (Bird Developers) NGO was founded in 2017 through the initiative with support from the Down Syndrome Association Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar Rotary Club, Redpath Mongolia, Namuunzet Production, Dualzet Studio, Procraft Studio, Leaders Advancing Democracy-Mongolia Program, IFC, ikon.mn, trends.mn, Tseren Tours, Tiny Air Project, and Zorig Foundation.
Shuvuu app has a vocabulary of over 230 words and is supported by both Android and IOS systems. The simple format allows both children and adults to freely use the app, have words and sentences read out loud, and input more words and pictures into the system. The app can be used anywhere even when not connected to the internet.
Software developers noted that the app can be used by 30,000 or more people and that they are open.
Currently, there are over 120,000 registered people living with disabilities in Mongolia. Their disabilities include visual and hearing impairment, speech disorder, mobility impairment, mental disorder, autism, and Down syndrome among others.
People with disabilities experience increased dependency and restricted participation in their societies on top of insufficient health care. Half of disabled people worldwide cannot afford health care, compared to a third of non-disabled people, according to the 2011 World Report on Disabilities. The report determined that people with disabilities are more than twice as likely to find health-care providers’ skills inadequate, nearly three times more likely to be denied health care, and four times more likely to report being treated badly than non-disabled people.
People with disabilities face barriers in accessing services, including health, education, employment, and transport related services among others. Many of the barriers people with disabilities face are said to be avoidable, and the disadvantages associated with disability can be overcome.
Taking the stereotypical view of a disabled person in a wheelchair as an example, it’s not that these people are incapable of working – they are unable to work because employers haven’t provided necessary opportunities and conditions for people in wheelchairs to work. Hence, they are automatically labeled “incapable of doing labor” in Mongolia and in other countries.