Until recently, people with developmental or cognitive disabilities have relied heavily on human services for support, anything from cooking and personal hygiene to organizing and reminders. Sometimes this human presence is desirable and necessary.
Naturally, remote assistance can be challenging to some families and caregivers for these adults, who worry about safety and security. But “we owe people the dignity of risk,” says Holly Reiff, an assistive provider relations specialist with the state of Missouri’s Department of Mental Health. “We need a culture shift, not just in the field but in the entire social system. We need to value every single person and look at their abilities.
On a visit to the lending library, Boucher might demo some tablet-based scripts that can be set up for personalized reminders or task sequences, like the one Brian Villani has at home. Or perhaps a cooking timer that integrates with a stovetop, turning off the heat if a pan is left too long. He might introduce clients to an app for the smartphone they already have. Smart home tech and IoT products assist adults with all kinds of bodies, of course—those with and without disabilities.
But “independent” living is a big idea, not restricted to a literal arrangement of life in a dwelling alone. Think of it in the spirit of the, or ILM, which claimed a creative, open framework for thinking about the real meaning of independence. Initiated by a cohort of disabled students in the late 1960s and ’70s around UC Berkeley, these adults learned to take charge of their daily needs for personal care.
On a Friday afternoon, Olivia Gaffney has an appointment with her job coach via videoconference. She’s at home, planning her grocery list and looking at the week ahead: a mix of social and family time, plus morning and evening shifts in her job at a hospital kitchen, building trays of food for patients with complex medical needs.