I just finished reading the Illustrated Guide to Assistive Technology and Devices by Abledbody.com founder Suzanne Robitaille. The book is one of the most comprehensive treatments of the devices disabled people use to live full lives.
Robitaille has been profoundly deaf since age four resulting from spinal meningitis. Her overview of technologies for the deaf is top-notch, as one would expect. But I was also impressed with her coverage of products for the blind and visually impaired and those with speech and learning disabilities.
In addition to profiling assistive devices, Robitaille includes mini case studies of how persons with disabilities use various products and includes information on some of the industry's renowned innovators, such as Ray Kurzweil.
More than anything else, Robitaille's book underscored for me the rapid pace of innovation and the number of opportunities for career and community building that technology has created in just the past few years.
The guide is available through Amazon and as a digital Talking Book from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.
Suzanne Robitaille has worked for the Wall Street Journal and wrote an assistive technology column for BusinessWeek.com. In 2009, she founded Abledbody.com, a website dedicated to disability news, issues, and technology.
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