Does it matter?

I was reading a book on my Kindle last night that I wanted to read years ago when it came out, but couldn't get in an accessible form.

Does the name of the book matter?

Perhaps only to me.

Does the fact that I can now read what I want matter?

Again, perhaps only to me.

In the quiet of the room, with my cat sleeping on my lap, I thought these things.

I want to believe that people care whether people with disabilities get at the assistive technology that is so necessary to them. Maybe that's because I have a disability that requires quite a bit of it, so I tell myself that to calm myself down.

But I don't see efforts to make that happen, except on a one to one basis. I don't see changes in legislation, changes in social policy or even a discussion of the issue in the elections.

Did you know that in 2005, the median annual household income of working-age Americans with disabilities was $35,000, while for working-age Americans without disabilities it was $61,500?

And those are the people who are working. It says 62% of people with disabilities aren't. Leveling the playing field is one factor: a college degree, according to the study. When a person with a disability acquires a college degree, it equalizes many of the statistics, the study claims.

There are a lot of assumptions in that study, however. It assumes that people with disabilities can get the services they need and, yes, the assistive technology they need to get the education.

So we're back to that assistive technology issue again. It opens the door to fully participating in life - to working, getting an education, being part of a community. And it costs money, so much money that paying as an individual for it in this age of insurance denials makes much of it out of reach (no pun intended for us quads).

I wanted a page turner for the last decade, to have the freedom of working without being in pain. I priced them and the only one that would work on the materials I need to read cost $4000. Now the price is up to $5000.

So I use a headpointer and it's slower, which cuts into my billable time. Since I have been busy buying wheelchairs, eating utensils, assistive stuff so I can write on a computer (the only way I can write), equipment so I can turn lights on/off, etc., the page turner has never happened. Things break and have to be replaced, which often puts other items down the list.

When the Kindle came out I thought - hmmm. $399 compared to $5000. Here's the irony that people with disabilities know: if an item is not made as a disability item, it's cheaper. Part of it is that it's mass produced, but there are other reasons.

The Kindle is not a total solution for me because I have to have my work scanned to use it for that. But in this increasingly digital age, I'm looking forward to a strategy that uses more mass marketed items as assistive technology, paying less and spending more nights reading a book than staying up to work extra hours to afford items made for disabled folks.

I know that matters to me. And if you have a disability and are reading this, perhaps my experiences will help you decide how to spend the dollars you have (or your family has) wisely. Because if buying the assistive technology screws up your quality of life, it may not be worth it.