Project 2 – Assistive Software & Technology [Universal access for IDD people]
Lets first clarify what we mean by Universal Access. It is an access to natural and engineered environments, societal institutions and services, and human interactions commonly available in a convenient and equitable manner to general population. People with IDD however have both the internal and external [rules imposed on them] barriers that make their access not only difficult but often practically impossible.
Most of the barriers in regard to access to natural and engineered environments [including residential] have to do with a presumption that people with IDD can’t navigate and exist safely on their own, i.e. they can’t walk alone, they can’t use transit, they can’t be allowed into public spaces without trained escort, and they can’t even be in their own homes without an oversight, etc. – commonly citing their safety and safety of others as the primary reason.
The equitable access to societal institutions and services purchased by monetary means is denied to IDD people on presumption of incompetency and is substituted by exploitative arrangements which often are restrictive to the point of enslavement while their exploitation is profiting the special needs industry.
The barriers to human interactions result both from the differences in the way many IDD people communicate, and from the practice of isolation and segregation that begins in childhood and which exacerbates these differences, as well as the stigma that permeates our society.
Many of these limitations [inherent and imposed] however can be solved via the use of assistive tools, and specifically assistive software and technology, and most of the limitations can be significantly lessened allowing the individual a higher degree of participation and leading to their full integration into society.
This project is intended to define and develop these tools:
- Access to natural and engineered environments [intent and safety]. We’ll call this tool a “Personal Assistant”. Here we describe the broad features of this tool:
a. It would consist of three integrated parts – one would assist in planning the events, the second will alert the person in regard to the planned event, and the third would guide the person in the execution of both planned and unplanned actions [acting as a personal guidance and navigation system].
b. Personal Assistant may be a mobile app for a commonly used communication device [ex. smart phone], but in the case of Autistic/IDD person it may be best to incorporate logic in a small robotic character [with eyes and ears and other senses as developed] that could be modeled as person’s favorite trusted real or fictional personality. It would recognize the speech and the manner of speech as well as other [programmed] means of communication used by the person, and it may commonly sit on person’s shoulder or be carried sticking out of the pocket [like “Bowtrucles” in Fantastic Beasts]. It would communicate with the host person enroute.
c. The second stage of this project would include a design of technology of various intersectional systems, including transit and vehicular systems to include smart software that would be aware and would react to “Personal Assistant”.
To note: while most of IDD people do not need Personal Assistant to function [and we state here from experience that we each are uniquely equipped to develop our own personal assistant inside us when given a chance], this tool however would be helpful not only to IDD people but also to general populations. We’ll be seeking top international talent [developers and wizards] to launch this as an independent effort [with understanding that while there’s an obvious trend for developing products of this kind for general public, it is unlikely to be inclusive and therefore universal].
This is an exiting project that would merge the latest breakthroughs in robotics with specifics of individual human functioning.
- Equitable access to societal institutions and services generally accessed by the public via monetary means [commonly purchased].
This access is rarely available to an IDD person – it is an imposed barrier instrumented through a denial to direct access to the funds [allocated specifically for the IDD person] on presumption of their incompetency.
This barrier however can be easily overcome by a number of rather simple integrated apps to comprise an expert rule-based software that would overview all the financial accounts where person’s funds are kept and which based on the rules [set by the depositing/donating party] would make an instant decision in regard to transactional and overall usage of personal disbursements exercised via commonly used instruments like credit or debit card.
A consolidated account with internally handled sub-accounts would be ideal as it would allow an easy way to implement an integrated rule based expert logic across all the funds. This software would ideally reside and function as a part of transactional clearance by a participating bank. This expert system would also incorporate and produce all the mandatory reporting required by the donors/grantors/governments.
The apps would include “Trustee Assistant” for SNT funds, and other specific “assistants” for parties that are regulated to approve access to specific purpose funds, functioning as plug-ins that together would comprise an expert system which for now we’d refer to as “The Fiscal Custodial Assistant” [name contest planned].
A version of this Expert system would be created to support the operations of Autistic [IDD] Defense Fund and The Generosity Trusts [see project 4]. - The barriers to human interactions – The Personal Assistant may include a vocal interface that can be prompted by the person to handle some limited communications on person’s behalf.
This project is seeking top software, technical, and business people to develop and bring these products to the market – consequently evolving it into an independent company or an independent Program under Divergent Labs auspices. The project is in a state of definition and recruitment. For participation and to contribute useful resources contact echolaliaproduction@gmail.com