By J.M. Denooyer
Spring 1995
Editor's Note: John Denooyer has cerebral palsy and has been employed as a computer programmer in the Seattle area for the last five years.
Currently there is a high tech fad sweeping the country, if not the globe. It seems, if we are to believe the whiz kids from Redmond, that bits and bytes will solve all of society's ills.
This certainly has applied to the disAbled. If only these people could get in front of a keyboard, (or some other input device), then they could communicate, find a job, GET OFF THE PUBLIC DOLE! and become upstanding corporate citizens, then everybody would win!!
Unfortunately, life is not quite that simple. What was once thought of as a panacea, away to liberate those with disabilities, has sometimes turned out to be a way to isolate. This is not to say that technology has been a harmful Trojan Horse. It has provided a means for many people to communicate, to get out and be involved in their community. Voice synthesizers have provided those with severe speech impairments a means to speak; inventive devices (such as sip and puff mechanisms) have allowed quadriplegics to perform activities ranging from operating a computer to sailing a sail boat!
However, as most of life, too much of a good thing can be harmful. Having a disAbility is often isolating, and having a job which requires being in front of a computer all day also tends to be isolating. As far as social activities go, this does not add up to a very gregarious lifestyle. Indeed, it can be frustrating.
It does seem that it takes a special kind of person to diligently sit in front of a terminal for an eight hour shift (or more) and get some kind of satisfaction out of it. Indeed, the paradox of technology is that it has not freed up time in our lives, it has made increasing demands on our time, asking more of our attention and energy. What does this mean to people who are disabled and hence have limited stamina, and are trying to hold a position in a corporation? It means that they will be pulled into the vortex of exhaustion and lose their positions in this down sizing corporate environment.
In this age of over achievers (Yuppies, if you will), it seems that hi-tech has become an end in itself. The field of technology has paradoxically set high standards that most people cannot meet, certainly not the disabled who always play a game of catch up. The more advanced technology becomes, particularly in the workplace, the more it requires of us; for a disabled person these requirements become an impossible task. A forty hour work week is sufficient. There are other aspects of life to pursue, such as being with friends, reading a good book, working in the garden. These activities make life worthwhile.
Technology by itself does not bring love, does not bring compassion, or understanding. It takes the human spirit to encompass these emotions, these needs; technology cannot replace it.
We must look at technology as a tool, and not entirely as an end unto itself. Whatever the advances coming out of the land of bits and bytes, there is no substitute for human compassion. This will be the challenge, after the fad of hi-tech has passed: to incorporate technology into our existing lives, and to make us a better, more compassionate people, who will embrace all the diverse parts of our community, and accept every person for what he/she is.