4 Practical Technology Solutions Making Life for People with Special Needs Easier

People with special needs face a wide range of challenges in their everyday lives. Seemingly easy tasks such as dressing in the morning can be complex. Fortunately, the world is becoming more accommodating, and technology is playing a significant role in this. 

From dressing in the morning to keeping up with developments on social media, people with special needs can do it all, thanks to technology.

Here is an overview of four technologies making life easier for people with varying special needs:

Adaptive Apparel

Many people with special needs have difficulty dressing in the morning. For example, it can take hours to button your shirt when your hands tremble from Parkinson’s disease.

Fortunately, adaptive apparel is designed to be easy to wear. For example, adaptive t-shirts feature a magnetic strip and open snapbacks. This simple technology makes them possible to slip on, which is easier than pulling them over the head. Adaptive clothes are also designed to be more comfortable and look stylish.

Photo Technology for the Blind

Blind people rely on their sense of touch – using their hands or the white cane – to detect things around them. This is convenient, but it is not always possible to precisely tell what is around you. Fortunately, visual audio technology is changing this through photo technology for the blind.

Photo technology for the blind utilizes apps to take pictures of things around the person and describe them in words. For example, the user can take photos of different types of furniture to get the outlay of a new house setting.

This technology is impressively precise, and there are lots of competing apps. For example, Tap See is an app that does all this when the user double-taps anywhere on the screen.

Folding Travel Grabber Stick

Grabber sticks are not a new concept. However, modern grabber sticks are utilizing technology that improves their capabilities. For example, some grabber sticks are fitted with magnetic tips for picking up metallic objects such as keys and coins. Modern grabber sticks also feature an action trigger design to make dressing easier.

These grabber sticks are ideal for people whose special needs limit their reach. For example, people in wheelchairs can use them to pick items off high shelves.

Wearable Braille Technology

Braille has chiefly been limited to paper. However, technology is bringing braille to wearable gadgets – and making them more versatile and valuable.

Wearable braille gadgets use smart screens to form new lines of text in braille form. Small dots appear on the gadget’s screen, enabling the user to read or type something. This opens up lots of new possibilities for blind people, including keeping up with developments on social media, reading their mail, texting, and more.

Wearable braille technology is relatively new. One excellent example is Dot, a wearable braille smartwatch.

Final Thoughts

Technology is making life easier for everyone, including people with special needs. These five technologies are efficient and easily accessible. They have everyday uses, from dressing in the morning to finding your way around the apartment.