How Technology Can Help People with Disabilities

At EmpowerTech, our mission is to educate, train, support, and empower people with physical and developmental disabilities through assistive technology (AT). Our TRADE Program's main goal is to instruct people with disabilities how to use technology and empower them to help find employment. We have found a great article that demonstrates just how beneficial technology can be for people with disabilities.

SPEEDING UP WORK FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

"With technology, people with disabilities, many who are unemployed or under-employed, can now take a job and be highly productive. After all, this group is an incredible adopter of technology because they depend on it for their livelihood...

All of this is positive for the future of work because people with disabilities add tremendous value to the workplace. People with disabilities are creative problem-solvers and technology adopters with fresh perspectives that organizations need.

Hiring people with disabilities enhances employee retention and engagement, as there are many job candidates with or without disabilities who want to work in holistically-diverse and socially conscious environments. We've found they have low rates of absenteeism and turnover, which reduces a company's recruitment and retention costs.

Hiring the disabled helps companies develop new products and services, expanding their customer base, which is increasingly filled with older people starting to encounter disability. All of this bodes well for the modern-day workplace.

I've said it before: If you want someone who thinks outside the box, hire someone who lives outside the box. So let "work speed up" begin for people with disabilities. With new technologies on the horizon, we can tap this underused talent pool and move our notion of how and where we work solidly into the 21st century."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19588052

Here is a link to our TRADE Program for more information:

http://empowertech.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=101&Itemid=105