http://www.patriciaebauer.com/2008/05/13/students-develop-technology-to-help-people-with-disabilities-2123/ Disability News | PatriciaEBauer.com Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:58:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 http://www.patriciaebauer.com/2008/05/13/students-develop-technology-to-help-people-with-disabilities-2123/comment-page-1/#comment-887 william peace Wed, 14 May 2008 12:41:12 +0000 http://www.patriciaebauer.com/?p=2123#comment-887 The problem disabled people encounter daily is not a lack of technological devices but rather social bigotry. I truly question whether deaf people need a cell phone or that disabled people need an interactive game to help them increase their independence at the supermarket. The major obstacles to equality are social and created by those who do not have a disability. I guess the students at Carnegie Mellon and RPI missed this little fact. I suggest that students spend less time creating devices and games disabled people are unlikely to ever use and instead read books such as <a href="http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=HhNAESaz1h0C&dq=%22body+silent%22+robert+francis+murphy&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=LVIeUacmMM&sig=UNbe_YjjMUnBk25_BCixVnXcyEo#PPP1,M1" rel="nofollow">Body Silent</a> by Robert Murphy that explains why disabled people are among the most disenfranchised populations in this country. <em> Editor's note</em>: More on Robert F. Murphy can be found <a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE7DD113CF932A25753C1A966958260" rel="nofollow">here</a> and <a href="http://www.anthrosource.net/doi/abs/10.1525/jlat.1991.3.1.44.2" rel="nofollow">here</a>. The problem disabled people encounter daily is not a lack of technological devices but rather social bigotry. I truly question whether deaf people need a cell phone or that disabled people need an interactive game to help them increase their independence at the supermarket. The major obstacles to equality are social and created by those who do not have a disability. I guess the students at Carnegie Mellon and RPI missed this little fact. I suggest that students spend less time creating devices and games disabled people are unlikely to ever use and instead read books such as Body Silent by Robert Murphy that explains why disabled people are among the most disenfranchised populations in this country.

Editor’s note: More on Robert F. Murphy can be found here and here.

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