research-article

Supporting Social Inclusion with DIY-ATs: Perspectives of Kenyan Caregivers of Children with Cognitive Disabilities

Authors:

Patrick Mbullo Owuor,

Michaela Hynie,

Melanie BaljkoAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing, Volume 16, Issue 3

Article No.: 20, Pages 1 - 27

https://doi.org/10.1145/3616378

Published: 21 September 2023 Publication History

Abstract

Do-It-Yourself assistive technologies (DIY-ATs) that can be designed, fabricated, or customized by non-technical individuals can enable people with disabilities and their community members to create and customize their own technological solutions. DIY-ATs may better fit user needs than mass-produced alternatives. Recently, researchers have started to explore the possibilities and challenges of using DIY-ATs in contexts other than the Global North, where access to digital ATs is limited. Previous research has not yet studied the perspectives of caregivers of children with disabilities towards these technologies. We present findings from an interview study with caregivers of children and youth with cognitive disabilities in Western Kenya who used a DIY-AT system as a research probe. Participants described how negative beliefs about people with disabilities result in social exclusion and discrimination and explained how increased opportunities for social interaction and learning mediated through DIY and other customizable ATs for their children could support their inclusion, safety, and access to future opportunities.

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Cited By

Asave RKuber RHamidi F(2024)An Investigation of the Experiences of Orientation and Mobility Trainers in IndiaProceedings of the 21st International Web for All Conference10.1145/3677846.3677847(1-9)Online publication date: 13-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3677846.3677847
Higgins ESakowicz MHamidi F(2024)An Ecosystem of Support: A U.S. State Government-Supported DIY-AT Program for Residents with DisabilitiesProceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility10.1145/3663548.3675667(1-16)Online publication date: 27-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3663548.3675667

Index Terms

Supporting Social Inclusion with DIY-ATs: Perspectives of Kenyan Caregivers of Children with Cognitive Disabilities
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Accessibility
    1. Empirical studies in accessibility

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Published In

cover image ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing Volume 16, Issue 3

September 2023

139 pages

ISSN:1936-7228

EISSN:1936-7236

DOI:10.1145/3624974

Editors:
Tiago Guerreiro
Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
,
Stephanie Ludi
University of North Texas, USA

Issue’s Table of Contents

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

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Publication History

Published: 21 September 2023

Online AM: 18 August 2023

Accepted: 02 August 2023

Revised: 07 June 2023

Received: 04 February 2023

Published in TACCESS Volume 16, Issue 3

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Cited By

Asave RKuber RHamidi F(2024)An Investigation of the Experiences of Orientation and Mobility Trainers in IndiaProceedings of the 21st International Web for All Conference10.1145/3677846.3677847(1-9)Online publication date: 13-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3677846.3677847
Higgins ESakowicz MHamidi F(2024)An Ecosystem of Support: A U.S. State Government-Supported DIY-AT Program for Residents with DisabilitiesProceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility10.1145/3663548.3675667(1-16)Online publication date: 27-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3663548.3675667

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