Cloud Computing and Disabilities, Part Two

As promised (threatened?!), here are the next few thoughts on the Coleman Institute/Silicon Flatirons conference I attended last fall.  Today I'll cover some of the perspectives offered by Michael Wehmeyer, a professor of special education at Kansas University, about cognitive accessibility.

Prof. Wehmeyer provided a brief history of the concept of "disability".  Originally, disability was understood as a medical/health problem - a problem within the individual person.  That person is viewed as "broken" or aberrant, as outside the norm and therefore requiring intervention.  This model casts a negative light on people with disabilities and in fact contributed to the infantilization of people with cognitive disabilities ("You are not "smart" like me; there is something wrong with you; I am going to tell you how you're going to live your life").


By the late 1970s, the "individual pathology" model of disability was gradually recognized as too narrow and limiting for people experiencing chronic or pervasive health issues (including disabilities).  In 1980, the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps (ICIDH) was issued by the WHO and offered a new way to classify such issues apart from the pathological model of earlier years. Health "factors" (such as an impairment in vision, say) are influenced by contextual and environmental factors, and cannot be viewed in isolation (e.g., vision impairments are relative).  In 2001, the ICIDH classification was reissued as the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (known as ICF.  I guess they were tired of 5 letter acronyms).

The philosophy behind the ICF is worth diving into.  Under this new model, disability is viewed as part of human functioning - it is being a human being.  "Functioning" is an umbrella term encompassing all body functions, activities, and participation in society.  "Disability" is an umbrella term for limitations in human functioning involving impairments, or activity/participation restrictions.  A disability is part of the continuum of "typical human functioning" and is not separate and apart from it.  A "cognitive disability" is a limitation in human functioning as a result of impairments to CNS functions.

Here's the critical point: disability can only be understood in the context of the person-environment fit-interaction, and how that impacts a person's activity or participation.  If we understand the environmental fit, we can narrow the gap between personal capabilities and the demands of the environment.  Technology - like cloud computing, like tablet computing, like text-to-speech software - can help narrow that gap.  And technology that is simple to use, has error minimization strategies, and multiple modes of presentation can do it best.

Wait, that sounds like......Universal Design.