Comprehensive Telecommunication for People with Tetraplegia

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There are over 700,000 Americans with severe physical impairments (SPIs) who have few options for independently accessing telecommunication services such as voice calls, text messaging, and video calling. The inabilityto independently and reliably access these services impacts many aspects of their lives. Nurturing friendships becomes more difficult, it is practically impossible to meet new social and professional norms for communicating or to manage personal care assistants and medical needs, and independent access to emergency services is often not possible. Perhaps even more devastating is the impact on self-image and mental health. There is a critical distinction between having a physical impairment and having a disability. It is the inability to participate in lifestyle factors, including community connections and social networks, that makes someone disabled. Assistive technology, when implemented well, can remediate a disability caused by physical impairment