CiTR

[Deepi]

Hello everyone!

 

My name is Deepi, the Accessibility Collective Coordinator and you're listening to All Access Pass on CiTR 101.9  FM. We’re broadcasting live from Vancouver, on the unceded territory of the Hookameenam-speaking Musqueam People. In the studio today, I’m joined by my Accessibility Collective member: Lidia.

 

Lidia do you wanna say hi?

 

[Lydia]

Hi!

 

[Deepi]  

...and our Podcast Coordinator, Alex, who is handling the switchboard for us today.

 

So today's show...Oh, and then we also have Marco.

 

So today's show is a very fun one and I think you're definitely gonna want to tune in because we are sharing stories and a panel discussion on adaptive technology and fashion.

 

So what exactly is adaptive fashion? Well, Lidia, you have something to say about this so let's hear it.

 

[Lidia]

All right. So according to an article by ColesStaff published in 2018 called “Fashion is Moving Forward with Adaptive Clothing.” It describes the ways in which major fashion designers and retailers such as Tommy Hilfiger and Target have launched new adaptive clothing lines making it possible for people with disabilities to have clothing options that are the same or similar to those who are able-bodied.

 

The article also draws upon some Census Bureau reports most prominently the one conducted in 2016 which described the different ways in which disabilities can affect clothing such as people having difficulty with zippers, and buttons, pulling shirts over heads, or pulling pants over legs.

 

So up until recently, people with disabilities have often had to come up with their own solution to these kinds of issues oftentimes physically having to sew modifications onto their own clothing.

 

So at this point places like Target are now striving to quote “deliver solutions to make dressing easier”, and the things they are trying to do at this moment include things such as: using magnets on buttons so they look like regular buttons but they're are much easier to open, changing the length of backs and fronts of clothes so they're easier to get in and out of, adjusting hems and adjusting zippers...So again they're magnetized and having sort of these hidden fasteners that make taking things on and off easier but at the same time are not like Velcro and creating a look that is childish.

 

[Deepi]

Okay so that's very cool! That's very interesting that you say at that and if the listeners want to read the article further and also want to hear what Tommy Hilfiger had to say about this, you can read https://www.eastersealstech.com and type Fashion Moves Forward with Adaptive Clothing on the search box.”

 

Now, we will hear some pre-recording conversations where our Collective member, Nicole Le had the opportunity to do so while she is attending a six day conference. She and other Hard of Hearing young individuals from 16 different countries like Uganda, Armenia, Hungary, Switzerland, Russia, Slovakia, Netherlands and more are learning about social media and the policy change tools used to advocate for accessibility and policy around that. It is in support of the Council of Europe (CoE) and she was able to ask them questions on tech & fashion. So here you go!

 

[Nicole]

Good afternoon. It's about 6:00 in the morning in Amsterdam right now. And I also just came back from a conference in France where I met 37 hard of hearing young adults from 17 different countries including Uganda, Georgia, Turkey, Armenia, Slovakia, and many others. But I was the only Canadian I met some amazing people and I'd like you to have a listen to what they have to say.

 

[Pre-Recording]

Hello, my name is Zeynep. I am from Turkey. I am 27 years old. I have Treacher Collins Syndrome --it means undeveloped ears. So I use hearing aids, my glass [eyeglasses] --I know, it's funny but, my “glass” people do not know, that this “glass” are a required piece of technology. It helps me hear. Why? I have one of the rarest forms of hearing loss because of my syndrome. Some people may know it as “microtia”. For me, I don’t have an ear canal, which means I cannot have practical in-the-ear hearing aid.  …..

 

 ………  So I decided to buy a hearing aid like a glass. I can see better and I can hear better. So if you don't have contacts that are glass it means hearing aids. I hope you can buy one. Thanks, Nicole for this radio program. Thank you Canada, love from Turkey.

 

[Nicole]

Zeynep, thank you so much for sharing your story. I hope one day we'll meet again. And thank you, listeners, from Amsterdam.

 

[Lidia]

All right. So now we're going to move on to some content from our very own accessibility member Clovis. He has given us a pre-recorded message and he is going to explain his opinions about adaptive technology and the different challenges and what can be improved about this process.

 

[Clovis]

Hello everyone, this is Clovis.

 

I am here to talk about Assistive Technology for disabled people.

 

Now, I am hard of hearing in both of my ears. I have a cochlear implant in my right ear. I have had it since I was 15 years old.

 

Let me share my experiences of what works for me and what doesn’t work for me.

 

So for me, I was born Hard of hearing so I never really learned to listen to sound that is why some of the technology don’t feel or is comfortable for me. Lots of hearing aids use the FM system. They [the FM system] don’t do anything for me because even though I can hear the sounds better, it does not help me understand the sound.

 

So most people, they recommend to me get an FM system for a workplace. However, in a  workplace setting, it does not work, unless I have somebody who I can lip-read, which is why I prefer to use an interpreter for my workplace.

 

So what does that mean?

The technology does not work for me.

No, not that it does not work for me. In fact, I have to pick the technology that works for me.

 

My cochlear implant it helps me listen to music, it helps me listen to other sounds in the environment and it helped me to hear the sound of water or whistle in the background.

 

When I watch a movie, I usually have the subtitles on but I also enjoy the music and sound effects. So for me, sound still plays a big role in my life.

 

After all, it is hard for me to speak if I can't hear myself either.  

 

So my point about technology for disabled people is that a person’s preferences what technology works best depends on the person.

 

There are lots of hard of hearing people who can talk over the phone they can hear people talking. So an FM system works great for them.

 

They also can use lots of Google Home or Alexa. But for me, I need to have a screen to see what is going on, what the words are. If somebody is calling. So a normal anecdote would work is to pick the one with a screen.  

 

It is interesting that people understand technology but not at all is the solution

 

It is really frustrating sometimes when other people think that technology can fix your problem but not always for me.  

 

For example, if you go to Youtube channel, the automatic subtitles, a lot of automatic subtitles are disabled or wrong.

 

Subtitles it is usually done by human.

 

Now even though the speech to text is improving, there is still a ways to go.

The difference for me. Somebody if the subtitles fix it and give them the information and let them decide for themselves.

 

Thank you very much!

 

[Deepi]

Now that you have heard from Clovis, how about we listen to a pre-recording interview Lidia and Alison had the opportunity to do earlier this week? Here is Aaron Klein’s thoughts on Adaptive Technology and Fashion!

 

[Aaron Klein]

Hi, I am Aaron Klein. I am originally from Vancouver but I'm out in Toronto now for schooling. I am a Ph.D. student in aerospace engineering. In terms of my disabilities, I live with diabetes type 1 that I've had since I was 6 years old as well as a learning difficulty related to writing and languages namely second languages and I was diagnosed with that when I was in elementary school right as I think when I was 12 or 13 years old. Yeah, that is more or less my bio.

 

I think that our family has been very proactive on these issues and sometimes it's been a struggle but I think that we've handled them well and I think that it provides a unique perspective.

 

[Lidia]

Yeah! When you were a kid how did the adaptive technology work with your quality of lifestyle?

 

[Aaron Klein]

Yes. So there are two areas of this. There's the diabetic care and my learning difficulties. So for my diabetic care when I was first diagnosed there was not much in the way of technology that I started using when I was six years old. I just took two shots of insulin a day on they're both long-acting insulins.

 

So just a little bit of background on diabetes. With diabetes, you have to manage the amount of sugar in your blood. And the main ways that this is managed is by taking insulin. If your blood sugar is too high or exercise which puts the insulin the blood sugar down and by eating food or sugar if it's too low which puts it back up.

 

So when I first got that when I was first diagnosed when I was six it was just two shots of insulin and then a couple years after I got an insulin pump which was new at the time and it was filled with short-acting insulin. And this meant that instead of the traditional technique where you have to kind of plan your day and plan your meals and exercise around your first shot of insulin until the next shot you take at the end of the day, having the insulin pump meant that I could be very adaptive. I could sit down to eat lunch and decide how much I was going to eat or if I was going to have dessert in that moment. If I wanted to go play basketball or hang out or run around after school or on a weekend I could adjust my insulin levels on the fly. So that was the first big use of technology for me.

 

Then that was how I managed my diabetes for quite a while. I eventually went off the insulin pump but I kept the same technique of using a lot of short-acting insulin which again was a new advancement in the medical community. And so having that short-acting insulin and the insulin pump meant that I had more control in the moment for my life. I could make decisions the way that normal people do. If you want to have a bigger lunch or you want to exercise you can just decide to do that right then not when you took your insulin in the morning.

 

The next big advancement was continuous glucose monitor that I've had for a little over a year now about a year, and that is instead of poking my finger to see what my blood sugars at every two weeks I put a little device on my arm that's a little thicker than a toonie that I don't really notice. And I can swim with an exercise with and do all my daily activities with. I can scan that by my phone or a monitor and it will tell me what my blood sugar is at the moment and it will give me measurements for every five minutes for the last eight hours. And so this technology while I was already able to make decisions about wanted I wanted to do for my daily life; Before this with the insulin pump and treat acting insulin, the new monitor makes it much easier to control my diabetes and it gives me a lot of confirmation about what I was feeling with my blood sugars or especially in the mornings I can wake up in the morning and I can see exactly what my blood sugar has done.

 

So this has made it much easier to manage, there is much less sort of trial and error with trying to figure out how much insulin to take or how certain activities or certain foods affect my blood sugar. I can see exactly what they've done as I go through my day and it's as simple as just checking my phone.

 

So those are the major technological uses I've had with my diabetes and they've had a big impact on my life. I think that is the way I lived my life and how well controlled my diabetes is has been greatly affected. From the time when I was diagnosed to the care that I have now big for my support system as well. My mother as a diabetic nurse our mother and she's always been very involved in my care and support and for advocating for me. And so when the insulin pumps did come out. Healthcare professionals they weren't really sure how to use it how to adjust treatment. There were people who had diabetes who were still trying to confirm everything with their doctors before they made any adjustments to their medication. And so with the insulin pump I recognized even as an 8 year old that I had all this control I knew that if I eat something with sugar I saw my parents suggesting my insulin all the time I ate a meal I'd take some insulin so I knew I could just push a couple buttons and it meant I could have a brownie.

 

I know with my current one it's just a small accessory on my arm and it's connected to my phone so I can still wear any outfit and it still looks good. And it does even if, say I’m at the swimming pool it looks sleek on my arm. So I think that I haven't ever worn it just for the purpose of fashion but it is it's nice to have something that looks good and that doesn't stick out. I think they've done a pretty good job of making it sleek. I have a freestyle Libra which is my continuous monitor and it is it's about it's a little white disc that's a little bigger than a toonie that's on my arm. I think it's actually, they've done a good job of making it fashionable. 90 percent of the time it doesn't matter but those 10 percent of the time it can be important and it can keep people from using it. So I think that they've done a good job.

 

Issues that I have had. If I had any so far there haven't been too many. Usually, it's if I'm with a group of people that I don't know. Or when I was younger and this is more with the writing issue with adaptive technology which was using a laptop in class or in an exam or something to type on instead of writing it tends to be more of an issue when people don't really understand or they have sort of previously held beliefs that are misconceptions. That's when it can be more of an issue or if they are... So with the laptop I needed to have a lot of documentation to be able to use a laptop or basically a typewriter to write exams and it was usually a problem if there was some sort of regulations or if I didn't know the teacher as well and I was writing an exam with them for the first time usually as I got to know people better and they understood what this technology actually was or what the needs were. Then I found people to be much more easy to work with and then it became less of an issue but more with it. More as a teenager than now when I'm more comfortable in my own skin. But I think that it yeah it's important to recognize that these pieces that people are wearing you know it might not look super sleek or fashionable but it makes a big difference for them and I think that's something that people should accept and be willing to accommodate.

 

[Lidia]

Lastly is there anything you would like to say to our listeners on adaptive technology or fashion?

 

[Aaron]

I think I was thinking a bit about this and what sort of message that I would give would be I think for people who have disabilities or learning issues or issues with accessibility. I think with the technology, my advice would be to try different things out and find what works for you and also to try to be open and accepting with telling people about what you're using and accepting that other people if you work with someone who uses adaptive technology to try to accommodate the differences. Once people accept that people are using this I think it has a big impact and things go back to normal very quickly. So I think it's it's good to test things out and let people know be very open about it.

 

[Lidia]

Thank you!

 

[Aaron]

Thanks for having me!

 

Music Plays

 

[Deepi]

Well, that was Aaron Kah-lin --Klein, sorry about that, talking about Adaptive Technology and Fashion!

 

So earlier we were going to play Nicole Le's interview with participants from the hard of hearing young participants in that are in the conference in Europe. Unfortunately due to technical difficulties we weren't able to play that. However, right after this live show we will be at podcasting hopefully later today or tomorrow and we'll get the entire interview. So please stay tuned.

 

And now we are going to get into our panel discussion on, of course, adaptive technology and fashion. And we had three panelists here in this studio. So we're gonna get each of them to introduce themselves. So panel number one you want to introduce yourself?

 

[Kevin]

Hi Deepi.

 

[Deepi]

 

Hi!

 

[Kevin]

 

My name is Kevin Tjia. If you guys -- if anybody out there is an avid listener of the show you might recognize me. I used to be- I used to participate more but I just been missing for a few months. A little bit about myself. I've been at UBC for a long time. I did my undergrad out here and a Bachelor of Arts in English and History. And then I later went on to Law school. I was called to the bar in September 2016 became a corporate lawyer and nowadays I'm a business owner.

 

A bit about my disability. I was born hard of hearing. I affectively have no hearing in my right ear and I have about 30 percent in my left ear. So I wear a hearing aid in my left ear.

 

[Alison]

Hi I'm Alison. I’m Alison. And I am a Masters student at Athabasca  University.  I am part of the Collective, which is awesome. I have a learning issue, which is a hidden disability but doesn't stop me from doing a lot of stuff.

 

[Yat]

Hi everyone. My name is Yat, contrary to most people in this room I did not go to school at UBC. I went to SFU and I studied communication. That was many years ago but currently I'm working for a nonprofit organization called the Western Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, where I manage and lead their communications and marketing efforts. I was born with profound hearing loss on both ears. I also have atresia, a condition where I have really small outer ears which requires me to wear prosthetics right now and I also had bone anchored hearing surgery when I was twelve years old. So I wear a bone anchored hearing aid on my right ear. So right now I can only hear on my right side.

 

[Lidia]

Great. And according to you guys,  can you give us a quick rundown on what adaptive technology is?

 

[Kevin]

That's a great question Lidia. So for me adaptive technology and fashion would be just things that- things that understand my unique context and you know in some way or other fit around my disability and how I live. So I guess it would be as simple as you know a hat that fit around my hearing aid or a helmet that fit around my hearing aid, things like that.

 

[Alison]

Adaptive technology for me is having a computer or any type of adoptable bold technology that helps my quality of life. So that could include having a computer or a tape recorder in class. So it is, it will help me learn, help my quality of life.

 

[Yat]

That's a great answer. And Lidia a great question as well! I think adaptive technology to me is an umbrella term that houses technology and assistive devices that allows someone to really be able to use technology to adapt to their current situation given their circumstances.

 

For myself I think you know an adaptive technology is something like an alarm clock with a bed shaker. That helps me wake up when I don't wear my hearing device at night because I can't hear anything or a system, unification system where someone knocks on the door and I'm not wearing my hearing aid, an alarm goes off or a flashing light goes off or a bed shaker wakes me up at the middle of the night knowing that someone's outside the door waiting for me.

 

[Deepi]

Great answers everyone! When you were a kid. Were you into fashion? So we'll start with Alison maybe? When you were a kid were you into fashion?

 

[Alison]

I was very much into fashion (chuckles) but I was such an awkward child to begin with and I went to private school and at that time people would laugh at me or whatever...I, Because all of the other girls were wearing those wickedly high platform shoes, high heels. I wanted to wear them but I constantly fell because like I was so clumsy. It was not a good style.

 

[Deepi]

How about you Yat?

 

[Yat]

For me when I was younger I thought I was into fashion. Maybe I was but I would dress up like someone that you know mix and match the worst things ever onto my body and no color you know matching at all. I would wear like khakis with you know long you know Tapper shirts , Valentino over my hands and fingers and I thought the larger I get,  that as I grow up I will fit into those shirts. But I guess I didn't but I always looked up to my mother because I think she's very fashionable. I think I let her down when I was younger. I think now I'm starting to get that back and learning from her and from my friends how to dress. And I think now I'm a little bit more fashionable slightly.

 

[Deepi]

How about you Kevin?

 

[Kevin]

I can sum up fashion in my youth with one face metal band. So, the metal band actually came about because I was really insecure about where am I going and growing up. I didn't want people to see it and treat me differently. So I grew my hair out and I also played guitar and it just seemed logical to go all the way and start a metal band with my friends. So I dressed all in black. There were black belts. We played shows live. I probably damage my hearing more onstage and it was it was a great time. Nowadays it's different.

 

[Deepi]

My question for that I guess that is further. Have you ever had any challenges finding the right clothing or accessory related to your disability?

 

[Kevin]

Yeah I'll answer that one so my disability is you know I'm...I feel that I am lucky that might just a bit of it still does not require too much in the way of accommodation. It's just that showing it to my ear however I can tell another story. I've been wearing just I guess the standard hearing aid for most of my life which has a clear ear mold and a flesh-toned hook behind the ear and I guess the intention- most people just want to hide the technology as much as possible they wanted to blend into the skin and I guess you could say I, I went from extreme to extreme I went from having long hair and hiding it to getting into law school. I still had long hair then and I did okay in my first year I got hired downtown and I don't remember who told me: “Kevin get a haircut! You're going downtown” so I got a haircut. It felt really weird to show my hearing aid for the first time and then I got used to it and then I grew to love it and then I remember going to get my new hearing aid you know you get a new one maybe every two or three years. And I was at the Western Institute of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing which is where Yat currently works and my audiologist showed me all the colors and their flesh-tone, there’s purple, there’s all this sparkly ones and there's black and I got a completely black one and a completely black ear mold and I remember she said at the time “we're gonna have to custom order this.” This is gonna be really really apparent like everyone is gonna see it. And I said that's cool you know what am I what do I have to hide.

 

[Yat]

It's so amazing. Cause like yourself, growing up I had really long hair. I covered my hearing aid, I covered my prosthetics because I didn't want people to see and that was my part of being adaptive to this society's hiding but until I got you know a shorter haircut and just being free and being myself I felt like my career was able to lift off that way because now I'm truly myself and no different. And then about our question here, it is so important to find yourself and it is so important that you know adaptive technology and fashion helps us to work in society.

 

[Deepi]

Great stuff. So what are your thoughts on designers or real estaters like Tommy Hilfiger coming up with custom and adaptive clothing lines for disabilities.

 

[Alison]

I think it's great. Like just being able to have clothing that is like a design label. I take it. And being able to say: “Yes I'm wearing Tommy Hilfiger.” “Yes I have a disability but look I can wear the same clothing as or the same designers as everybody else and make them look make me look as normal as possible.”

 

[Deepi]

Right.

 

[Yat]

Growing up I always had these shirts where I had really tight crew necks and they were really hard for me because if I put them on with my prosthetics or hearing aids, it might fall off and it’s just a big nuisance and especially when I'm trying to change whether I'm going to the gym or something they might fall off and that's very embarrassing and awkward just to see Tommy Hilfiger recognize that and to create shirts and fashion that are adaptable for people that are like myself,  those who have cerebral palsy or a wheelchair or whatnot. It's just so amazing and it's just so uplifting to see as a community person to see that in society.

 

[Deepi]

Very well said! How about you Kevin what are your thoughts?

 

[Kevin]

Those are some really good observations. I'm gonna approach it from a different angle. I think that this new rise in you know major designers tackling such a... you know is something that still won't be capturing like a huge part of the market right. It's a very specialized kind of clothing and still it's very specialized kind of clothing lines. This is really I think I see it as part and parcel of the rise of online retailing because with online retailing you no longer- Tommy Hilfiger doesn't have to worry about where can I reach these folks who need these special kinds of clothing who need these diverse you know articles of clothing he can just place them online and you reach the world or at least wherever your company is shipping to that is that kind of world. So it's amazing it's it's great.

 

[Deepi]

Well said! How about when you were a kid and did you use any sort of adaptive technology like computers and other learning aids? So Kevin we'll go with you first.

 

[Kevin]

Yeah. So the major one was closed captioning so you know the beginning when I was born in 1988. Growing up we had those old fuzzy TV, rabbit ears and I remember there were certain shows that had closed captioning and those were the ones I love The Simpsons had it, Frazier had it. The combination of those two shows probably explains a lot of why I am the way I am today. And then technology became amazing computers came around. YouTube came around. Captioning came around, captioning that was automatic came about when I didn't have to wait for you know people to watch a show in a significant amount and then they would be captioning society would decide OK we'll get this show captioning I could just click auto caption and anything. And that technology got better over time. So my life is just I've seen I've seen my ability to watch and enjoy media go from no to anything. Life is good!

 

[Alison]

I did use a lot of tech adaptive technology like computers when I was a kid because... I... like when I was tested when I was really little, they found out that I need, like I have really poor writing and output issues. So writing is physically, writing is difficult. I am a lot slower in writing if I have to write something long than an average person. So having a laptop solves the problem because it's just pressing a button and then you get a letter. When laptops first came out to being popular, they were clunky and big and I had to lug it to school this clunky big thing on my back. Now like I can, a laptop is so much smaller so much lighter so much easier. I'm not separated from my peers, my peers in university are more likely to be using computers just in general and writing using computers for like writing papers and all that so I'm one of the crowd which is nice. Note taking is adaptive technology, I can also get online lecture notes which solves the problem of actually making lecture notes by myself which is so much better for me. I like it.

 

[Yat]

For me, I was kind of like Kevin as well. I relied heavily on closed captioning but I was a sports junkie so I always get the wrong kind of caption for a sports live sports TV because they never do it properly and it's not their fault sometimes because of the names and some especially in hockey you know Russian players back then a bit of them and they always get the names wrong. But I can still remember some of them.

 

One of the adaptive technology I used in school was the FM system. I hated it because I mean everyone knows that “hey that one person, that one kid in the corner. the Chinese kid over there, the immigrant is hard of hearing and he's requiring our teacher to wear something different.”  So I felt like a nuisance and I felt like it was me embarrassing myself and being awkward as well so socially I wasn't too interactive so growing up, it was more of you know Okay well maybe I wouldn't use it because I don't want people to know that so I kind of stopped using that FM technology.

 

The F.M. system is something that a teacher would wear and the user like myself would wear a cable and a teller coil plugged into my hearing aid where I wouldn't hear directly from the source.

 

[Deepi]

Wow it's so cool! How about now? Yeah Kevin you mentioned YouTube and Netflix and things like that are a little bit better. But do you use any unique adaptive technology that is easier?

 

[Kevin]

So this is an interesting answer. I had access to some of the devices that Yat is alluding to. We share such similar set of difficulties or challenges and but I had my hearing loss, it was right on the cusp of needing it and I had that choice. And so I just I refused to use the FM. And I made life a lot harder for myself but I was just a really really stubborn kid. But then once I was always getting so many pieces of technology and it just sat on my joy at home and wasted away and I just want my hearing it and I hid it under my long hair.

 

Nowadays though hearing aids have come so so far. Back then if I wanted my hearing aid to connect to a music device that was a third party thing that was also running out of battery if I wanted you know basically I'm wearing a five thousand dollar computer on my year that can intelligently you know lower certain voices in a crowd depending on whether or not I talk to them more and when my iPhone starts calling it immediately tappers by Bluetooth to my hearing aid. It's amazing what a hearing aid can do now compared to when I was a kid. It's also water resistant now. Imagine that when I was a kid I when it started to rain I'd run for cover. I'd always get so sad. But nowadays I just walk about. It's great!

 

[Yat]

You know there are certain things that people don't realize. We being hard of hearing and we wear hearing aids have issues with it and we are always so much scarred in a way because I myself was because growing up all right my hearing wasn't that advanced. And when I wait at the bus stop for a long period of time and it was raining you know it's “raincouver” for a reason. I get so scared and I get so anxious because I'm like “When is the bus going to come?”  Because I can't stand here any longer. Or else I have to shove five thousand dollars worth of hearing aid or something.

 

[Deepi]

Alison do you want to add anything?

 

[Alison]

It was mostly like using computers for school so I didn't have to worry about that as much. But I did have to worry about like stigma and being seen as a separate human being. So...

 

[Deepi]

What are your thoughts and what do you think the future will bring with these devices meaning in more decorative to like more advanced?

 

[Kevin]

Oh I've been waiting for this question. One of my favorite video game series growing up. It's a video game series called Deus Ex which is Latin for you know God in,  but Deus Ex Machina- God in the machine and it's a series about I mean it's a series where you play a futuristic cyborg dude who has lots of things called augmentation so you can you know augment your hand and get blades out of your hand. You can get super sight, super hearing, all of these things and you know I played, Oh I played a whole bunch of video games growing up and that video game series when I played it for the first time I thought this is who I am. This is more what I might be in the future I might have blades coming out of my hands and my hearing might also be completely fixed. It might even become better than human which is sort of the point of the series. It was transhumanism which is to transcend your biology and live 200 years,  jump three stories you know, Yeah. Anyway, I'm done. That's enough about videogames.

 

[Yat]

I can't wait to see Kevin jump three stories on his blades and with his hearing aids and be like I have bionic hearing and I hear most things like you guys don't! You  know I just love technology right now because just roughly when I got these new hearing aids two years ago I was able to hear on my Bluetooth. I could scream I could listen to radio directly from the source. It was such an amazing moment and I've never ever experienced before and never thought I could because when I was younger I always pretended I could wear headphones but I couldn't. So I just put a mirror around the hearing aimed at the time but that wasn't, it couldn't come close to the experience as a normal person with normal hearing does. So it's very different but I just love what technology is doing right now. There's Bluetooth capability some, one day even I think the hearing can be implanted into your head so there won't be any worry about getting your hearing aids when will just be like I'll turn them up I'm on my phone right now. I'll have selective hearing if I wanted to

 

[Deepi]

And having these technologies especially made for you were you ever bullied by your peers?

 

[Kevin]

Yeah I was but I don't think it was because of the technology. I think it was because I was just an obnoxious kid and so I attracted a lot of attention from other boys. I wouldn't say it was because of the hearing. Remember that I hid my hearing aid. Yeah, I...was just... I deserved what I got, In terms of bullying.

 

[Deepi]

How about you Alison?

 

[Alison]

I was bullied a lot to a point where I was a selective mute for five years. Now you can't quiet me down half of the time. So and I was one of the first kids in my private school to have a computer like just have a computer on my desk. And of course, these desks were not big enough for me to have the computer and my textbook open at the same time. So I was obviously separated from the group. I looked different because I had this computer and this huge backpack I had one kid tried to steal my computer like twice in the same day from me and I was like I need this like piece of technology otherwise I'm not going to be able to learn.

 

I didn't fight my parents about like needing help or needing the resources or computers. I fought like just like I fought the students about actually needing this adaptive technology.

 

I now go like Well I want to look normal as possible and there's... so... you will see people will still see it, and me now like trying to pass as normal and I did try to pass as normal by trying to write down my notes- physically write down my notes and that didn't help.

 

[Yat]

When I was younger I was certainly bullied quite a bit because of the way physically I looked because I had small external outer ears, I wore a hearing aid that wasn't as discrete as I have right now. It was a high band that I had to wear. And being a new immigrant going to elementary school in the 90s you know being a minority as well made me an easy target for people. So I remember being pushed around not only in the gym but in classrooms when teachers were out you know papers thrown at me and stuff what not. So you know I remember those very vividly and they live with me forever.

 

But I'm just so glad that society now is so accepting and friends and family are so accepting that I've gone I've been able to you know just be more empowered to be myself and to share with other people that it's OK to have a hearing aid, it is ok to live with disabilities because there's so much we know so many things out there that are better for you and that you can also be empowered.

 

[Deepi]

Thank you for that. What are your thoughts on adaptive devices or technology viewed as a fashion accessory?

 

[Kevin]

Oh yes amazing. It's the leap from me wanting to hide it. To me I wanted to show it off, I can't wait for light to your hearing aids.

 

[Yat]

I wear a phone clip from the bone anchored hearing aid company called Cochlear. And I just clip along on my shirt like a lapel and all my music and stream comes from my phone to the phone clip and into my hearing aid. And I can know what I can also do is still amazing as I can mute my surroundings and just listen from the source. And sometimes I'm on the phone and when I'm on the phone talking people are like “Who are you talking to?”  Because I'm kind of looking dead in this space or wherever I'm going and I'm like oh hey look at this I'm on my phone and they're like they pause for like four or five seconds they're like “What? I don't have this! Can you share this with me?” I’m like yeah sure if you get a bone anchored hearing aid.

 

[Alison]

I think it's great. Just like even though I don't wear hearing aids or like need glasses I think it's, it's something like, people I've seen now people like wear those fake glasses as fashion and then like you know people want to wear glasses and like even sunglasses like it's a fashion accessory. Protecting your eyes.

 

[Deepi]

Yeah. No it's just great that I wear a hearing aid as well. So it's not as fancy. But it doesn't even look like a device,  people they think of it as you know a fashion accessory. I take it. I embrace it. So what devices of adaptive technology would you like to see be more fashionable? And Yat maybe we can ask you first.

 

[Yat]

Yeah that's a great question. I mean there is always something I always want and you know in terms of fashion is being able to wear hats and helmets. Growing up I always dreamed about being the current Crosby because I love playing hockey I always had a stick in my hand. But you know I could never play professionally because I can never wear a proper helmet. And I can't wear a proper helmet because I wear prosthetics and my current hearing aid is situated where the helmet kind of sticks on your head. So if I wear a helmet I can't hear. And when you can't hear on the ice that's a very very tough thing because it's scary, because you can't hear someone screaming behind you and can't hear your team talk or communicate with you. So you know in terms of fashion slash wish list I wish there was a helmet that fits me.

 

[Kevin]

I can relate. I'm 23 years old. I don't care about living or dying. I get a bike and I get a full face helmet. And the first time I put on my full face bike helmet it just doesn't work. It doesn't work for my hearing aid. And it was always a struggle. I would wish for a better motorbike helmet for people to wear hearing aids.

 

[Deepi]

So what are the benefits of adaptive technology that is fashionable?

 

[Kevin]

It makes people proud to wear it and it makes people it helps to battle insecurity and that's the goal for everybody. I think. Disability or not.

 

[Yat]

One thing I'm really looking forward to is in April when I go on my Asia trip is to be the fly on a plane and be able to hear the infotainment for the first time. These are certain things that people take for granted when you're flying. But I've never been able to listen to music or watching movies on the infotainment system because it never kind of plugs into my hearing aid and I can't wear those headsets because it will be so loud on the plane. So I've been equipped with a multi kind of clip that allows me to plug the headphone jack in there and wirelessly transmit the same music or sound from the infotainment to my hearing aid and be able to hear directly from my store. So I'm really really excited about that!

 

[Deepi]

Awesome! What do you think are the disadvantages or problems with fashionable adaptive technology.

 

[Kevin]

Hard question to answer. I don't really think for me off the top of my head, I don't see any disadvantages but making the devices that people have to wear any way sexier, better you know. Yeah. What about you?

 

[Yat]

I think the major disadvantage really is having to constantly clean the system or check the batteries because you know you would wear them and you don't know when they would die on you because they do charge and they do take the point of the battery and usage right now with the technology in place. I mean that's the only disadvantage I can see is mostly positive.

 

[Deepi]

So just to conclude our panel, unfortunately, is there anything that you would like to get your thoughts on before we end the show. Like what do you think adaptive technology can do better, I guess, in terms of the future? And what is working and what is not working?

 

[Yat]

I really encourage people to look for deeper technologies like a set of devices for their day to day use. Alarm clocks have bed shakers even notification wrist bands but you can wear and tie them to your phones sort of vibrates. It's just so amazing to you to have that with you. It's just a really cool tool. That being said you know I also encourage people to look for you know fashion that helps support the cause. Currently, I'm also on my side high so I try to connect fashion and hard of hearing together which is why I started acoustic where it is to start up a brand that helps people raise awareness about hard of hearing and people who are deaf.

 

So I have three lines of shirts that say “pardon me” with a D that has a little cupping on the hand, a question mark with a hearing aid. Here I stand and I am me. So I encourage you guys to check that out. You can visit me where I work at Western Institute for Deaf and Hard of hearing but also go on acousticword.com to find out about me as well.

 

[Alison]

I think you accept the person for who they are and to be able just to go with the flow and go with the flow with whatever they need.

 

[Kevin]

I think the future is bright and I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Lidia]

Great! Well, thank you so much to all of our wonderful guests for sharing their experiences and insight here.

 

We're on our way out but if you're interested in working with us further shoot us an e-mail at

accessibilitycollective@citr.ca.

 

[Deepi]

Thank you to our panelists and guests Alison, Kevin, Yat for coming in and talking to us today, Clovis for sending that audio file on his challenges with adaptive technology and Aaron for allowing us to interview him. We also like to say a big thank you to the young and hard of hearing participants from that conference happening in Europe and our collective member Nicole Le. And remember we will have that interview right after we do the podcast after this live show.

 

[Alison]

Please like us on All Access Pass Facebook page

 

[Kevin]

And if you’re on Twitter or Instagram or both please follow @access_citr

 

[Lidia]

And if you want to listen to this show again. Or yes a third time check it out at citr.ca under

All Access Pass

 

[Yat]

Thank you for listening and tune into all new episodes of All Access Pass in two weeks Wednesdays at 2 p.m.

 

[Deepi]

Stick around for more CiTR programming coming right up next! Thanks, everyone. Bye.

 

In unison: Bye !

 

[Alison]  

Bye Grandpa!