Tom Nabarro
26th June 2014
Professor Guttman wanted us to return to work after injury
and to have a work-sport-life balance…
We do not meet his expectations: only 20% of UK
people with SCI return to work.
Limited financial incentives
Why?
Negative employer assumptions
Lifestyle challenges
How can we use available technology to
become more employable?
The barriers that come between disabled people and
gainful employment
 My privilege and good fortune of returning to work
 Sharing my experiences in the hope that they will be
of use to others

Being
employable
Challenges
with being
employable
Brief look at
Assistive
Technology
Using “AT” to
be employable
I want to
focus on
Staying employable with an SCI is never easy.
…Things can go wrong from one week to the next.
I had to work out which factors make me employable:
My
Presentation
& Reliability
My
Aptitudes
My Skill Set
My
Performance
Relative to
Others
My Presentation &
Reliability
• Negative assumptions based on appearance
• Difficulties with timekeeping due to disabilityrelated tasks
My Aptitude
• Medications may impair performance
• Personal care needs may distract me or others
• Performance may deteriorate when in discomfort
or pain
My Skill Set
• Shortage of time (extra disability-related tasks)
• Limited opportunities due to part-time working
• Extra effort required to keep skills up to date
My Performance
Relative to Others
• Difficulties in using standard software tools
• Need help with simple tasks: I cannot plug in and
unplug hardware
I have to make sure that – despite these challenges – I am
seen to add value
How have I tried to overcome these challenges?
I use government resources (Access to Work) to provide support
worker and assistive technology devices
I ask my assistants to give extra attention to my organization,
punctuality and appearance
My assistants have learnt to be responsible for my personal care
and perform tasks in the background
I have minimized the use of medication
I have expanded my skill set using disability-specific grants for
additional training outside of work hours
I have tried to maintain my competitiveness by;
 Using alternative tools
 Using common tools differently
 Automating tasks

Innovations
that have
helped me




My Experience


My Predictions
Rapid growth in the use of voice recognition for
dictation
Improvement in voice recognition for control (lagging
behind in mobile devices)
Emerging eye-gaze technologies, integrated into mobile
devices, are on the way
Head pointer and sip-puff technologies can be used for
pointing
Voice recognition is the most portable and flexible
solution
Accuracy of eye-gaze improved: it is a functional
alternative
The field will advance rapidly in the coming ten years
 Those with SCI need to be aware of human interface IT
developments such as Google Glass, brain-computer
interfaces and wearable computing

How is it
useful?



What does it
do for us?



Examples


It helps us interact more efficiently with our IT
Compensates for our inability to use standard computer
interfaces
Automating manual tasks to improve productivity and
save time
Colleagues are impressed when we demonstrate how
assistive technology helps us improve productivity
We can potentially interface more effectively with
computers, saving time and increasing accuracy of
interactions (and encourage this good practice)
Automation: software definition, scripting, text macros
(voice)
Eyegaze: web browsing, reading (scrolling), CAD/UML
diagrams
On-the-go: iphone & ipad w/ wheelchair, reading, being
contactable
ATHENE project: “bricolage”
My rehab program focused on enabling readiness for work…
I had to:
Show myself – and others – that
my disability does not
adversely affect my efficiency
as an employee
Demonstrate reliability
and efficiency
Maintain productivity
through automating
repetitive work
Manage personal care tasks including actions that ensure
my comfort (like pressure
releases) and deal with
spasticity - without reducing my
productivity
I benefit enormously from the Access to Work program
My employers and those with whom I work have accepted me as I am
and let me show them what I can do

I AM INSPIRED BY THE TEACHING AND THE RELENTLESS
PASSION OF PROFESSOR GUTTMAN, AS WELL AS OF
THOSE WHO MAINTAIN HIS STANDARDS TO THIS DAY

I HAVE A SUPERB CARE TEAM AND A VERY SUPPORTIVE
FAMILY

I HAVE BEEN – AND AM – EXTREMELY FORTUNATE
THIS PRESENTATION WAS WRITTEN WITH VOICE
RECOGNITION SOFTWARE
THANK YOU ALL
1
Access to Work
Government initiative that can help with disability related obstacles in
employment. Help available with ergonomics and physical access; may help
with other specific assistive information technology if requested
2
www.eastin.eu
European Assistive Technology Information Network- case studies, papers
etc. (some papers may need translating)
3
www.spinal.co.uk/page/tom-nabarro
Summary of becoming employed after injury
4
www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/with-wearable-technologya-new-measure-of-independence-for-some-withdisabilities/2013/08/06/e258757e-fde4-11e2-96a8-d3b921c0924a_story.html
5
www.tomnabarro.com/?p=266
Article on my use of assistive technology
6
http://www.onelist.com/community/VoiceCoder
Mailing list dedicated to the subject of programming using voice recognition
software.