THAT DELIVERS FREEDOM,
INDEPENDENCE, MOBILITY AND DIGNITY?
“I’d rather die than use a
wheelchair,” says the bigoted woefully ignorant ableist.
The same person ironically jumps into
a sedan to drive 10 miles — because that wheeled machine covers more ground
more quickly than his body.
Assistive mobility devices are
liberating.
THE FUTURE IS INCLUSIVE (AND HERE’S HOW WE GET THERE)
Delivery bots, too, could benefit our community — if
the delivery systems are accessible.
“During the pandemic, home delivery kept many people
safe. But what if the delivery bot — whether it is bringing home supplies,
fresh produce, or a warm meal from a restaurant — doesn’t have a height that I
can reach from my wheelchair and a convenient way to hand over the products
being delivered?”
It’s all very exciting, says United Spinal Policy
Fellow Kent Keyser.
“The great news is that almost everyone leading AV
research and development is young — and young engineers see access and
inclusion as a natural.
It’s rewarding to work with people who know about
access, believe it’s the right thing to do, and know how to achieve it.”
THE FUTURE IS INCLUSIVE (AND HERE’S HOW WE GET THERE)
United Spinal Policy Fellow Kent Keyser says a fully automated passenger vehicle must have these four accessible components :
United Spinal partners with big names in AV toward
these goals, including Waymo, Beep and May Mobility.
May Mobility partnered with BraunAbility, to make
its Toyota Sienna Autono-MaaS (S-AM) vehicles wheelchair accessible.
The company uses the modified vehicles at its Grand Rapids, Minnesota, project.
Also, United Spinal is a founding member of Cruise’s
cross-disability Accessibility Council.
THE FUTURE IS INCLUSIVE (AND HERE’S HOW WE GET THERE)
United Spinal Policy Fellow Kent Keyser the nonprofit’s point person for automated passenger vehicles.
He’s passionate about ensuring accessibility is a
built-in feature, not a clunky retrofitted add-on.
“Separate but equal doesn’t work — AV fleets must be
100% accessible,” says Kent.
“The moment you segregate wheelchair users and only
provide a small number of vehicles accessible to us, we face delays, being
stranded and all the health and safety hazards that arise from that lack of
services.”
A quadriplegic injured from a 2007 fall in his home,
Kent was a senior policy advisor and chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall
II before joining United Spinal.
He spools out ways that accessible AV fleets could
save our nation money.
Think of all the medical appointments missed when
accessible transportation falls through or doesn’t exist.
That costs our nation billions.
“Accessible automated fleets could be part of the
answer,’ he says.
THE FUTURE IS INCLUSIVE (AND HERE’S HOW WE GET THERE)
Why shouldn’t wheelchair users be able to shape the built environment to be more accessible on demand?
“I see a time when people with disabilities will
design and create a comprehensive series of criteria to measure the
accessibility of a building or a space,” says Brooke Ellison, United Spinal’s Vice
President of Tech Access and Innovation.
“We could use it to isolate the quickest path from
the elevator to our desk, from our house to transit to our office.”
That’s huge.
And so’s this: “We are working with
engineers on developing fully integrated tongue touch for all aspects of
computer and work environments,” says Brooke.
That project could radically expand access for many
people with limited hand mobility.
“Engineers don’t fully understand the nature of what
people with disabilities face, so we must outline our needs so they can address
them creatively and innovatively,” she says.
THE FUTURE IS INCLUSIVE (AND HERE’S HOW WE GET THERE)
Like the late Christopher Reeve, she uses a
ventilator for her high level injury.
Reeve was so taken with her early accomplishments
that he directed a movie about her life.
“Tech is not just gadgets, but ways people can
create some real activism,” says Brooke.
“Inclusion has changed considerably with remote
work, telehealth, and other ways to be connected without traveling to a
location.”
Consider how United Spinal pioneered virtual
meetings during the pandemic. With these tools, we supported our members to
cope with medical, work, personal assistance, and other relevant issues.
And we broke down isolation, built up our community
and kept our advocacy on track.
“This integration of technology into the achievement
of human rights represents the new vision of Tech Access for United Spinal,”
says Brooke.
“But we need to think much more broadly about how
tech can facilitate full, rich, and productive lives.”
THE FUTURE IS INCLUSIVE (AND HERE’S HOW WE GET THERE)
Designing technology to be inclusive on all levels is a game-changer for people with disabilities.
That’s why United Spinal Association ensures its
members are involved in developing tomorrow’s technology before it rolls out.
It’s not just about sending rockets to the moon —
although United Spinal’s Rhonel Cinous guided a spacecraft by voice controls.
It’s also about improving telehealth and ensuring
delivery bots don’t drop our packages where we can’t reach — and everything in
between.
TO TELL DISABILITY POSITIVE STORIES
I put on my
public relations hat and l reached out to friends at WSVN to pitch the story of
Rhonel Cinous' virtual flight to the moon.
Reporter
Kevin Ozebek delivered a pitch perfect story
I hope
everyone -- from space exploration fans to those who champion equity and
inclusion for people with disabilities – will share this story.
Rhonel's work with the Artemis1 crew for NASA was made possible by the amazing folks at the United Spinal Association.
Brilliant
Chief Marketing Officer Tom Scott led this.
United
Spinal's leadership by CEO Vincenzo Piscopo is opening new horizons for people
with disabilities.
I’m proud to work with a client as successful at United Spinal.
Here’s the story:
AS THE NEW GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN ARCHITECTURE DIRECTOR
Professor
Joel Lamere, the U-SoA’s new Graduate Programs in Architecture, received his
Master of Architecture degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Before joining the U-SoA, he was Assistant Professor of Architectural Design
and Homer A. Burnell Chair at MIT.
“Our approach is very consistent with the roadmap vision of lifelong learning
at the U-SoA,” he said. “With the ecological, economic, technological, and
social disruptions that will characterize the coming century – we have to
prepare students for this uncertainty, not mere competency. This requires
fostering many kinds of literacy and an expanded view of the field – preparing
our graduates to be lifelong learners.”
Lamere emphasized that technological progress is not, in itself, enough to
tackle the world’s many problems. Lamere believes that technology can foster
more collaboration, which in turn can help with diverse community building, but
for architecture to truly address issues of equity and inclusion, it must
reconsider who it serves beyond its clients. “A more just architecture will
need to commit to a broader constituency, and codify what qualifies as a public
good in such a way that those interests cannot be ignored.” He added that U-SoA
Graduate Programs in Architecture “have the distinct mission to prepare
architects to be good in two senses: to be good at being architects, which
means navigating rapid changes in the profession, but also good as citizens,
focused on how we can be agents for positive change in the world.”
https://mailchi.mp/mhttps://mailchi.mp/miami.edu/usoanow-january2022iami.edu/usoanow-january2022
AS THE NEW GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN ARCHITECTURE DIRECTOR
Professor Joel Lamere, the U-SoA’s new Graduate Programs in Architecture Director, approaches his duties with a balance of education in core design knowledge blended with preparing students to be perpetually empowered to adapt to new tools and technology.
“The nature of architecture is flux; there’s a lot of stable core knowledge
necessary to become an architect, of course, but the way we design and the way
we build are both contingent on technologies that are evolving exponentially,”
he said. “Even the outstanding technology and lab capabilities we have today –
those will be rapidly advancing and changing during the graduate student’s
career.”
Lamere praised Prof. Allan Shulman, the previous director, for solidifying
essential elements of the programs and having long discussions with him to form
curriculum adjustments and changes built on a solid core.
“One cannot, at this point, even imagine an architecture of the future that doesn’t engage computational design processes, augmented reality environments, and so forth,” Lamere said. “The disruptions will be more profound still: robotic fabrication, automated construction, outsourcing enabled by instantaneous communication and virtual collaboration, and A.I. replacing human labor throughout the creative disciplines.”
https://mailchi.mp/miami.edu/usoanow-january2022
