Duckworth to Join VA

President Obama has chosen Tammy Duckworth, director of the Illinois Department of Veteran Affairs and a veteran of the Iraq war, to be an assistant secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs. In the role, she will be responsible for the VA’s public affairs operations and programs for homeless veterans. I had wrongly predicted that Obama would pick Duckworth as VA Secretary, but he chose Gen. Eric Shinseki, who has more experience in Washington and was removed from the then-impending Illinois senate scandal. Before former governor Rod Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell the Illinois senate seat, Duckworth had been mentioned as a possible choice to replace Obama. Her chance never materialized, though it's likely she wasn't influential enough for Blagojevich's ambitions. Duckworth, who lost both her legs in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in 2004, ran for Congress unsuccessfully in 2006.

A New Dawn for Assistive Technology

Before I start blogging about the gadgets and devices that I discovered at the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) conference in Orlando, I wanted to write about something I have been chewing on for the last 24 hours, which has ultimately altered the way I am going to approach my upcoming book, The Illustrated Guide to Assistive Technology (due out in late 2009). While there were lots of cool, new technologies exhibited at ATIA, I also had the chance to attend a half-dozen seminars that, when tied all together, painted a fantastic yet mostly under-reported picture of the future of assistive technology and the driving forces that will allow people with disabilities -- whether they are born with one, have been injured during a war, or are experiencing the effects of aging -- to live longer and more fruitful lives. Here are five trends that today are shaping the assistive technology environment:

1. Globalization of access. A young boy in an African village uses an old cell phone, which provides the majority of Internet use among poorer people in Africa, to download books to teach himself to read and learn English. He also uses a global commodity trading site to benchmark daily prices of chickens and goats to sell and trade in his village. Whether this boy has a disability matters not, because he is still able to educate and employ himself using the power of the Internet that began in wealthy nations and is trickling down to the third world. Globalizing information to make it available and accessible to everyone, with or without a disability, regardless of whether they have a computer, is a philosophy that has recently been coined among a group of researchers as "Raising the Floor." This team is working to develop a free, open-source model among researchers and developers by which users anywhere in the world can log in to their profile, which has been customized for their Internet accessibility needs. The concept is similar to Google Language, but for accessibility and disability. With enough resources and dedication, its impact across the world will be astounding.

2. Universal design is the next green. Universal Design is a framework, in particular, for technology that is created to be usable by the widest range of people operating in the widest range of situations without special or separate design. For instance, a computer or mobile phone that has built-in access features for anyone with a sight, hearing or mobility disability, which can easily be turned on or off (similar to Microsoft OS Accessibility Options, which have improved substantially in Windows 7.) The Institute for Human Centered Design compares universal design to green design, saying that green design focuses on environmental sustainability, while universal design focuses on social sustainability. Universal design MUST be how companies design -- and consumers interact with -- technology in the future. Having assistive technology built into the process, not just the product, will effectively eliminate the need to distinguish between disabilities -- which is a cornerstone of global disability classifications -- and will also add more sustainability to products as users age or develop a disability.

3. Web-savvy grandmas. When our grandparents were senior citizens, they spent most of their time doing the typical activities: cutting coupons, traveling, finding the early bird specials, enjoying time with family, taking care of health matters, and so on. This hasn't changed, but the computer age has changed how we -- and the next generation of older Americans -- are doing it. The examples mentioned above all can be conducted online now, on websites like Redplum,com, Expedia.com, Yelp.com, WebMD.com. Meanwhile, programs like e-mail, instant messaging, Facebook, Twitter and Skype help us keep tabs on our family and friends. With 78.2 million baby boomers, there's a real need to make high technology accessible. Not only will this generation demand it, they will require it in order to continue their livelihoods. The aging population gives another dimension to the disability technology issue; this group will crack open the market for high-tech assistive technology, and create incredible opportunities for companies like Dell, RIM, Nokia, Google, and others to design technology without accessibility limitations.

4. iPhones of the future. As devices and gadgets become more sophisticated, technology will be more of a harbinger of productivity than ever before. Apple's iPhone, for example, allows you to be a multi-tasking savant: Find the cheapest gas station and a recipe for risotto while learning Spanish and booking a golfing trip? No problemo. (One of the newest iPhone apps is iSpectrum's Color Blind Assistant.) The only way to make these cool gadgets more accessible is to push for and utilize advancements in technology that are still in their pioneering stage, especially for mobile devices, like tactile multi-touch, alternative mouse formats (eye-controlled iPhone, anyone? Apple already put out a speech-enabled one), speech recognition, text to speech, closed captions, screen magnification, and the list goes on. New technologies work best when they're built in from the start, not retro-fitted.

5. America's disability agenda. Barack Obama is the biggest disability celebrity since Casey Martin, who successfully challenged the Supreme Court to use a golf cart on the PGA Tour. President Obama knows the facts: Under his watch he has 54 million Americans with disabilities, two million American children ages five to fifteen with special needs, and 60,000 U.S. service members who have been wounded or become mentally ill from battlefield experience. He has already laid out his agenda for helping people with disabilities succeed, which can be read here, and it includes boosting education and employment opportunities by providing resources such as assistive technologies. What's more, President Bush in September 2008 signed an amendment to the Americans with Disabilities Act that more strongly ties the ADA to Section 504, the civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities and requires schools and companies to provide equal access through accommodations and modifications, such as -- you guessed it, assistive technology.

Assistive technology is the hope on which the future hinges for large sections of American society as well as those in developing nations. Assistive technology, it can be argued, is as important to humankind as the protections we are putting in place for the environment as it protects people's creativity, productivity and intelligence from diminishing under artificial barriers. Assistive technology will level the playing field, raise the floor and open the doors. Millions of people will be knocking, and assistive technology will let them in.

Shinseki is Obama's VA Pick

President-elect Barack Obama formally announced Sunday that retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki is his pick to be secretary of Veterans Affairs. Obama chose Shinseki, 66, over front-runner Tammy Duckworth, who many, including myself, thought would be chosen as Obama's secretary. A decorated veteran, Gen. Shinseki served two combat tours in Vietnam and lost part of his foot. Shinseki has been cited as an example by Pentagon critics who say the former Army chief's advice was ignored in 2003, resulting in too few U.S. troops being sent to Iraq after the invasion." The Washington Post obtained a private letter that Gen. Shinseki wrote to Donald Rumsfeld in June 2003 just before stepping down as chief of staff, in which he wrote that "Without people in the equation, readiness and transformation are little more than academic exercises." The letter was never publicly released. On Meet the Press on Sunday, Mr. Obama said there is no one "more qualified" than Gen. Shinseki for the job. Shinseki, like Obama, is a native of Hawaii. Obama made his announcement about Shinseki on the 67th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. If confirmed by the Senate, Shinseki would control one of the federal government's largest agencies, which administers health care and other benefits for the nation's active military and veterans, as well as their families and survivors. The 240,000-employee department is the government's second largest, behind the Defense Department.

Fighting, and for Disability Benefits, Too

In an L.A. Times story today, many soldiers are fighting another battle -- trying to collect disability benefits after being injured on tour in Iraq or Afghanistan. According to the story:

In a little-noticed regulation change in March, the military's definition of combat-related disabilities was narrowed, costing some injured veterans thousands of dollars in lost benefits -- and triggering outrage from veterans' advocacy groups. The Pentagon said the change was consistent with Congress' intent when it passed a "wounded warrior" law in January. Narrowing the combat-related definition was necessary to preserve the "special distinction for those who incur disabilities while participating in the risk of combat, in contrast with those injured otherwise," William J. Carr, deputy undersecretary of Defense, wrote in a letter to the 1.3-million-member Disabled American Veterans. The group, which has called the policy revision a "shocking level of disrespect for those who stood in harm's way," is lobbying to have the change rescinded.

Obama Gives Disabled a Voice in Victory Speech

Americans with disabilities were given a voice last night with President-elect Obama's victory speech in Chicago. "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer...It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled -- Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America." By including the disabled as a specific group, Obama has sent a message that he will put disability issues on the map. No other president of our time has done this before, not even Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president, who struggled with an illness that left him paralyzed from the waist down. In order to win the re-election, FDR believed he had to convince Americans that he was getting better; he wore iron braces and leaned on his sons or aides in public, but used a wheelchair in private. Today is a new day for Americans with disabilities, and the opportunities are vast. Take employment: Of the 22 million working-age Americans with disabilities, only 38% are employed, vs. 78% of those without disabilities, which I wrote in a Wall Street Journal article. Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan who are returning home with severed limbs and brain injuries need rehabilitation. Children who are being diagnosed with special needs require a strengthened education plan. An aging population that can benefit from new technologies such as hearing aids needs better healthcare options. Obama has made it clear throughout his campaign that his vision for America includes the needs of the disabled, the nation's largest minority group. His task in 2009 will be to listen to these issues and find comprehensive solutions that help all Americans -- disabled or not disabled. A rising tide lifts all boats.

Iron Man vs. Iraq Superhero

I've often argued that people with physical disabilities are functionally more 'interesting' human beings because they've incorporated machines into their brains and bodies. For those of you who haven't already seen Iron Man, the superhero escapes from a cave in Afghanistan in part by building a pair of robotic legs. This sci-fi movie is more grounded in reality than it appears. Earlier this month, researchers at a university in Japan unveiled a robotic suit that reads brain signals and helps disabled people walk. The suit, known as HAL -- short for "hybrid assistive limb" -- is available to rent in Japan for $2,200 a month. (Cost to buy will be around $15,000-$20,000). This invention will have far-reaching benefits for the disabled as well as the elderly, giving them the "potential to lift up to 10-times the weight they normally could." Other researchers around the world, including those at MIT, are working on similar robotic suits that increase mobility and lighten the burden for soldiers and others who carry heavy packs and equipment. Which brings me to my point. Today I watched a video of Army Sgt. Erik Schei, who was shot in the head in 2005 while serving in Iraq and given zero chance of survival. Schei is now 23 years old and uses a wheelchair. He can't stand by himself. He can't feed himself. But with the help of a computer that he activates with his head, he spoke in an ad on behalf of Tom Udall, a Democrat running for the Senate in New Mexico. To compose his ad, Sgt. Schei used hardware -- a computer screen attached to his wheelchair -- and software, such as an on-screen keyboard and perhaps a word-prediction program. He also used a text-to-speech (TTS) synthesizer to 'deliver' the ad for him. I noticed that his TTS program doesn't offer the best-quality speech -- some advanced programs on the market have very human-like intonation, such as the AT&T Natural Voices, or the voice-over programs built into Windows XP and Mac OS X Leopard. But Sgt. Schei is just getting his bearings; he can always upgrade to better programs, even ones that include fully functioning PCs so he can surf the web and check email. I also mentioned that he activates the computer with his head. This doesn't show in the ad, but it's likely that he uses a wireless optical sensor which tracks a tiny, paper-thin sticker placed on his glasses or his forehead. It connects to a USB port and works just like a computer mouse, with the mouse pointer being moved by the motion of his head. He also seems to have a microphone near his mouth, which he may use for executing computer commands using vocal chords, or maybe for practicing his speech and synthesizing it to the computer for clarity. Sgt. Schei is telling viewers that he appreciates Congressman Udall's push in support of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act of 2007 which became Public Law 110-28. It included $600 million in funding for post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries. Maybe when Sgt. Erik Schei gets stronger, he can run for Congress, too.