By MATP Staff Member Kathryn Wyeth
I have this powerful assistive technology and haven’t been using it effectively. I noticed my mom was having trouble using her Android phone to make calls. She is losing vision due to a variety of issues including Macular Degeneration.
In researching and playing around with settings on her phone, I realized the Google Now assistant could help. Google Now is already installed in all Android 4.1 (and above) devices and can be downloaded on Windows Phone and iOS devices too. Setting up Google is simple: Just open the “Google” app and answer a few questions, like your home and work locations, transport means, interests, and so on. (You can skip questions you don’t want to answer.)
First, I needed to move the Google app to her home page, since it wasn’t there. She still wants to lock the phone, so does need to unlock it first, but now can just say “Ok Google” followed by what she wants the app to do.
So calling people was the first issue. Now she can just say, “Ok Google” then the person’s name as it is listed in her contact. Of course, the contacts were a bit of a mess, with multiple listings for some of the people, so we spent a bit of time cleaning this up.
Then we found this tip: How to set up Google Now Contact Relationships.
Google has updated Google Search (and thus Google Now), adding the ability to recognize commands based on the relation the contact is to you. So for people she calls often, like me, she can now say “Ok Google” then “Call my daughter.” This avoids some potential confusion with multiple contacts who have names that are or sound a like.
The other thing we needed to do was make sure that phone numbers for people who had multiple numbers had descriptions that she could remember. If there is more than one say, Mobile or Home number listed, it could be confusing. So in my listing, we edited the contact, selected “custom” for the phone type and gave it a name she’d remember.
She has more than one son. We set them all up as “Ok Google, ____ is my son”. When she says “Ok Google, Call my son”, the phone lists the first two names or and then she can say the name of one of the other 2 sons if she wanted to call someone else. So not quite as good, but it still works.
Mom on 80+ birthday
So I wondered if we could assign nicknames for some of her contacts who had the same or similar sounding names. For example, if there were two Susan’s she might call frequently, one could be “Neighbor”, the other would be “Susan”. This did not work. Only relationship names seemed to work.
The advances in technology are great! Now many things that used to be expensive assistive technology are built-in. Voice input can help everyone, including people with disabilities who either can’t see, manipulate a touch screen, or have better spoken than written literacy. My mom and I have just started the learning curve in using Google Now via voice command. Do you use it? What do you use it for?
Here are some additional resources for using Google Now
- How to use Google Now
- The complete list of ‘OK, Google’ commands from CNET
- Huge cheat sheet tells you everything you can do with Google Now voice commands
With more natural light in the warm months along with more opportunities to be outside, I don’t need to use the light box every day. I usually taper off sometime in the spring, typically by the beginning of June and then start again in mid-September.
There are so many types of assistive technology, or AT, available today, which improve the daily functioning, quality of life, and independence of individuals with disabilities. One example of AT is a modified vehicle. Residents of Michigan who have a disability or their family members can apply to borrow money from the Michigan Assistive Technology Loan Fund (MATLF) to obtain needed equipment or tools (assistive technology or AT), modified vehicles or modifications to a vehicle, or home modifications for accessibility through this program. A person can apply to borrow funds to modify his or her own vehicle or apply to borrow monies for a new or used modified vehicle. For such a purchase, it is common for applicants to seek financial assistance through other means such as grants. A wealth of information and resources may be found in the blog article, 
A woman sought a loan to purchase a modified vehicle which would allow her to obtain a van with a wheelchair ramp, for her electric wheelchair. She has a lot of back, leg, and nerve issues, and her husband has cerebral palsy, and he could not help her in getting into the vehicle and getting her manual wheelchair out of the vehicle was difficult for him. She said that this is the first time that she needed a modified vehicle, and She commented that she is “part of the world again”,” saying she was able to go to a White Caps minor league baseball game, which was the first time in six years since she was able to go to one. She said that using MATLF to purchase a modified vehicle changed her life in many ways. She also said that she regained her social life, and was not lying in bed forever anymore, and became able to go out to accomplish her own shopping, explaining that she is now able to shop for her own personal items like clothing. She stated that the loan application process was pretty easy, and complimented UCP of Michigan’s website, for its overview of what information is needed, the loan application process, and outlining how long it should take, that the information was straightforward. She worked with Clock Mobility, who she said was aware of our application process and time requirements, they told her about us, and she selected a vehicle. She made sure it would meet her needs, and ensured that she would be able to get in and out of it on her own.
While presenting and facilitating a training session with a group, I was told to “point louder”, a humorous way to let me my pointing was not effective communication, since some members of the group were blind.