Tracey Humphrey was such a light. I could have listened to her speak for the whole day. Coming from a place where inclusion is not necessarily an important component of education, it warms my heart when Tracey shares examples about her family and the community. My sister Aya has Down’s syndrome and growing up in Lebanon with her, it was not always easy to allow her access to education for a variety of reasons. Later on, in life, my parents saw that technology would represent a wonderful entry for Aya to communicate, connect, learn, work on her typing skills and do her personal research. She was provided with a big-screen phone and today, she is able to communicate with her friends and family without having to worry about someone assisting her and that is big!
For our family at home, Aya was always viewed by my parents as having this super magical power rather than being disabled. I did not know such a word existed as “Ableism”. But now the word makes total sense! As Tracey says: “using technology with the goal of independence or resiliency”. Viewing it as a wheelchair, a pair of eyeglasses, or a simple adaptation to human needs. “Using technology honors their strengths and challenges”. I learned about designation and IEP when I was working at Oak and Orca Bioregional school as an EA. Some students had some challenges expressing themselves orally, and when they used a computer, they were able to show, present, and draw, ideas, that otherwise, would have been hard to see.
Another example is my partner’s cousin who has muscular dystrophy and has no mobility except in his fingers (to maneuver his wheelchair). With hand-free technology and voice assistance technology, he was able to have a lot of freedom. Now, he can turn the lights off, change the TV, change his lights, call people, put music on, etc. And for the first time ever, since 3 years ago, he lives alone! If anything happens, he has this instant access to calling his family and assistant people. That is wonderful 🙂
Although tech is not the answer for all students, it is definitely the answer for many students, especially during covid. I see my sister Aya using technology and thriving and this is awesome!
Photo: Aya, on her 30th birthday – Video: Aya inviting people to her birthday in Arabic
