Even Grounds Blog

Let us find out what epilepsy is and what are the technologies that can help people avoid or minimize the problems brought by its effects.

What is Epilepsy?

Epilepsy refers to a group of disorders that causes disturbances in the brain’s electrical signaling.

Pulses of energy travel in the brain at a certain rate. During an epileptic seizure, these pulses of energy travel much faster for a specific period of time. Epilepsy may be caused by abnormalities in the brain, illness, and brain damage.

“More important than the right to speech is the right to speak.” The world renowned British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking knows this exactly to be true. Having been robbed of his ability to speak to a motor neuron disease, Stephen Hawking had to struggle with crude communication systems just to be able to tell his wants and needs…until he discovered VOCAs.

If it had not been for VOCAs, Stephen Hawking’s insights into the nature of space and time would not have been known. This assistive technology has allowed him to communicate, write and publish his works, and give lectures to live audiences around the world in spite of losing his ability to speak.

In this post we will explore what VOCAs are and how these instruments give people an ability that most of us take for granted.

It is considered good economic practice to include as many people inn the workforce as possible. The more people that are participating and contributing to the economy, the more productivity gains and economic returns we can expect for the community.

While people with disabilities have the capacity to positively contribute to the development of a country’s economy and social capital, many of them are not given this opportunity due to many barriers. One of these is the employers’ perception of costs and benefits of accommodating and employing people with disabilities.

Although there may be situations where accommodations have to be made to address the needs of people with disabilities, there are numerous ways companies can support people with disabilities with no extra cost. And the costs to accommodate them, if there are any, outweigh the contributions that people with disabilities can give to the economy.

Japan is one of the most technologically advanced and accessible countries in the world. Most major cities have the infrastructure to support accessibility for people with disabilities. In Japan there are elevators in almost every train station, busses with passenger lifts, and electronic signboards. There is also Braille everywhere--on the sidewalk, signboards, money, and even on beer cans.

Japan is also starting to build infrastructure for making information--particularly digital information--accessible to people with disabilities. This is best shown through the standards and policies that Japan has instituted to make its sites accessible.