Brain Awareness Week: Help disabled people change lives with assistive technology
For most of us, a slight improvement in technology means that we can access our emails a little quicker or store more music and video on our mobile phones. But for some of the people in the video, it helped change their lives.
This week to mark Brain Awareness Week (Monday 11 March to Sunday 17 March), the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability (RHN) is highlighting its digital campaign using the hash tag #TechnologyMeans. It is hoping to raise funds for Electronic Assistive Technology to help some of the most disabled people in the country.
Take Deirdre featured in the clip below who, thanks to technology, can control the TV or open and close her curtains via her smart phone just by moving her head. Or how about Zita – who suffered a stroke at the age of 26 that left her unable to talk or walk – who is now able to communicate by blinking thanks to the computer team at the RHN.
Says Sarah Myers Cornaby, Director of Fundraising at the RHN: “Where I might use my tablet to do my weekly online shop, it can give a patient at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability their voice back through eye tracking and speech synthesis apps. Our new film has been designed to use bespoke, device specific endings, mirroring the way in which technology is adapted at the RHN, to give patients the best chance of regaining their independence.”
Because it is Brain Awareness Week, all donations received until Sunday will be doubled by an anonymous donor, to help pay for electronic assistive technology. You can either donate via the newly launched website at www.rhncharity.org.uk or text BRAIN to 70111 to give £3.
In order to encourage a bit of friendly rivalry between mobile phone user the charity will be using device detection technology to determine whether Android or Apple users are the most generous!
You can see the video for the campaign below:
