ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY

Technology has become a part of our daily lives. There is no aspect of daily living which is not influenced by technology, from the alarm clock which wakes us up in the morning, the kettle that boils to give us that coffee start in the morning, all transport during the day, the various tasks that we have to perform until we go to sleep at night.

Technology can also however be used in a very special way by persons with hearing loss and other disabled persons to make life easier for them – hence the term Assistive Technology.

Assistive Technology therefore refers to any use of technology that can assist people in a specific way. In the context of disability and in this case especially hearing loss, it means any kind of technology that assists the person with a hearing loss to either overcome the difficulties of hearing loss or to some extent alleviate the problems caused by hearing loss.

Many assistive devices are manufactured especially to be used by persons with hearing loss. However, it is very often quite possible to adapt mainstream technology to serve as assistive technology. With a bit of creative thinking it is also possible sometimes to use mainstream technology in such a way that it becomes assistive technology.

It is important to remember that assistive technology need not necessarily be expensive or complicated.