The Blind & IT Technology

PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak invited Malaysians last week to share their ideas with him for the 2011 budget.

The occasion is expected to be tabled in Parliament in October.  

The news was music to the ears of Mr Yam Tong Woo.

The 57-year old who used to work as an automotive engineer has been blind since January 2008.

He lost both of his eyesight completely within a week after developing a bacterial infection. 

“What should have been an end of the road for me, fortunately didn’t turn out that way,” he says, and credits all the praise to Internet technology.

Speaking to Wheel Power in an interview this week, he says:

“I certainly hope that our Prime Minister will strongly consider opening the doors wide for the entire disabled community in Malaysia so that we too can access the super information highway technology that is still revolutionizing hundreds and thousands of peoples’ lives every day.

“It will take a special and well-thought out budget to make IT become a reality for all disabled Malaysians whether they are white cane or wheelchair-users and others.”

Yam who now volunteers his time in helping more than 100 other blind people like himself to access the Internet through what are called “assistive” devices and software programmes, laments the fact that money is always the obstruction factor. 

The blind, for example, are not able to use a regular computer without a basic assistive technology called a screen reader software. This usually cost approximately RM4000.00; more than the price of a normal computer.  

What the gizmo does is that it allows the computer to read everything out loud. The blind use the same keyboard through keystrokes, the mouse becomes redundant to them.

“A total subsidy to the price of the special software will certainly help make the item more affordable to blind Malaysians who have no choice but to purchase a screen reader if they wish to get online,” points out Yam who has a special passion and mission to get more elderly blind adults to become Internet savvy.

  

The other key players, according to Yam, to get disabled persons with all types of categories of disabilities on the IT bandwagon are the Internet service providers and telephone companies.

There are discounts currently being offered for handicapped subscribers by some providers and telcos; but the packages being given to the able-bodied are far more attractive that forced many disabled subscribers to abandon their so-called “discount deals” to what the non disabled are getting.

This is because the “disabled discounts” usually come with unfair limitations that curb their use of IT rather than encourage them.

Yam points out that this is not right at all.

Instead service providers and telcos should re-study their packages for all subscribers with disabilities and stop at nothing but to offer them the very best.

“Years ago, a number of disabled societies came together to request a flat rate of RM5.00 to be charged to disabled subscribers for the telephone, mobile, as well as the Internet fees,” Yam explains.

“But these good suggestions only fell on deaf ears. It’s time to revive that idea and give the disabled what they really need in order to help them access IT just like anyone else,” stresses Yam.

It is not difficult to see why Yam feels so passionately about IT and its benefits to all the disabled community in Malaysia.    

When Yam was struck with blindness, he literally had no one to turn to for help.

His only real friend and guide was a computer.           

By surfing the net, he got to know more about what caused his blindness. He couldn’t get much information from his doctors.

More importantly, he also read about many blind people around the world and how they learnt to cope with their disabilities through their powerful stories.

The information and knowledge helped him – and the scores of others that he is trying to get into the net today – become more confident about themselves and become independent.

By getting online, the blind and other people with disabilities will have more opportunities to find jobs – as well as those that they can work from at home. 

Even a mobile phone can help a blind person know where he or she is when they are in the middle of the street.

Instead of having to rely on others to give them directions, technology can provide them with the answers at a mere touch of the button with a software reader.

And there’s no end to finding new friends and keeping in touch with them via email, etc, getting to know what’s happening in town and in the world – the possibilities are virtually endless!

Please consider the disabled and IT, Mr Prime Minister. Thank you.  

The End

PET+BLOGSPOT is an ACTIVE ONLINE BLOG of the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (Petpositive). We strive to keep our reports and stories CURRENT, ACCURATE and RELIABLE. We offer both local and foreign news on animals, disability and the elderly. PET+BLOGSPOT was first established in October 2007. Our hits since then is now 55,000 and counting. PET+BLOGSPOT is updated daily. Sometimes even twice and three times a day. Kindly take note that views expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of PETPOSITIVE. You may also visit our Webpage by browsing: www.petpositive.com.my You can also find us in Facebook as PETPOSITIVE EMPOWERMENT. Thank you for your support.