Technology Gives Mike a Path to Independence

We’ve all dreamed of the day when we get to move out onto our own. We dream of the freedom and independence it brings - making your own decisions, running your own home, and doing things your way. But for many people with developmental disabilities, this dream can seem out of reach. Easterseals’ new Technology Enabled Support could change that.

“Technology Enabled Support is a new service line that the Department of Mental Health is putting out in which we utilize technology in a way to give our individuals more independence and take staff out [of their homes],” Jhrvonte’ Minnifield, Director of Community Living with Easterseals Midwest, said. “So we’re really empowering our individuals to be in control of their life.”

Mike is a 43-year-old living in a home with a roommate who also has developmental disabilities. The home has Direct Support Professionals present to help him with things like cooking, cleaning, and medicine administration. But Mike wants more.

The technology is important to me because one day I hope to move out on my own.

This made Mike and his roommate the perfect candidates for Easterseals’ Technology Enabled Support, a series of technologies that are equipped to someone’s home to help assist them virtually. Mike was quickly identified as the perfect candidate to start the program on a trial basis.

Before the program, Mike had staff in his home to assist him 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Staff even stayed in the home with him overnight, to ensure he had everything he needed. 
With Technology Enabled Support, Mike now only has staff in his home during the day when he isn’t at work.

“[This technology] allows individuals to still be monitored and have the security and peace of mind that their needs are being taken care of even from afar,” Cody Martin, Community Living Supervisor with Easterseals, said.

Currently, Mike’s home is equipped with a tablet that he can call Easterseals’ staff on anytime, day or night, and be directly connected to someone to speak to. There are door sensors to be able to keep track of who comes in and out of the home; bed sensors in case Mike were to fall out of bed or need assistance; an e-reader that scans and reads text aloud; and an “Angel Sensor.” The Angel Sensor is a device Mike wears around his neck that he can push and speak to a staff member anytime, anywhere.

“Normal is an abstract term, but we all have our ideas of what it is to be independent and [people with disabilities] look to people out in the community – they want that level of independence too,” Martin said. “That is what we’re hoping to achieve, just getting them that much closer to what they deserve.”

There are currently four people utilizing this technology with Easterseals, and more planned for the future. With this technology in place, people with disabilities are that much closer to 100 percent equity, inclusion, and access.