How Can You Help When A Friend Or Family Member Becomes Disabled

How Can You Help When A Friend Or Family Member Becomes Disabled

How Can You Help When Somebody Becomes Disabled In Your Environment?

You can often hear that due to an accident or illness, somebody becomes disabled. The most frequent question I get from people is that somebody just recently became disabled in their family or circle of friends and they would like to help, but they are not sure how. Either because they don’t know what is the best thing to do, or they have an idea, but it appears to be very expensive.

The first thing you can do is to understand what is help for the individual. Often times you can see people trying to help with their best intentions, but they end up causing more harm, because they haven’t researched what is the best way to help. This can be any number of things depending on the situation, most importantly what you should do is help your friend or family member to regain the independence he/she used to have.

These days, one of the most effective things to do is to help people use available technology, especially computers to compensate for their disability. First, understand how people with disabilities use the computer, or any other technologies. The first shock you will encounter is that it is extremely expensive. There are numerous funds to purchase technology, however, it is not always the most expensive solution that is able to help most effectively. These days relatively low-cost hardware and software are available to make a major difference. Much of it is mainstream technology, which you most likely already own. For example, when people injure their hands and they are not able to type, in an hour you can set up Microsoft Office with voice recognition.

There are many support groups and associations for people with different disabilities which you can turn to. They can offer practical assistance, as well as put you in touch with other people with similar disabilities. Support groups can help a great deal coping with the difficulties, and getting quick advice on useful equipments, training opportunities, or just about the altered life circumstances in general.

Many people refer to disabilities as different abilities. And it is absolutely true. These days social programs and technology are able to help people to integrate into society and gain the most possible independence. Many people, who live with a disability claim that it is not their disability which creates the most challenge in their lives, which was quite different several decades ago.

The aim of this post is not to give you an extensive resource list. Rather, to give you a couple of ideas when you just start researching this topic. However, if you are in need of resources, I will be happy to put you in touch with the right people or institutions.