Technology, design and innovation have a significant role to play in our a in our daily lives. Design acts as the core function of technology and innovation, and innovation as the main driving force in building better services and products. Technology have  pervaded every facet of our lives.  Although we don’t think twice about our daily interactions with these technologies, but for certain people, even the most straightforward action proves to be difficult.  People with disabilities(PWD) face a number of barriers that make it extremely difficult, sometimes impossible, to function in society, to communicate with those around them or to live the kind an inclusive life. This blog explores how the new and adaptive technologies that keep PWD challenges in mind  in my country the United Arab Emirates (UAE).  It will touch on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and how the UAE provides a voice to those who don’t have one and open doorways to enable PWD to participate in life as inclusion is Inclusion is one of the most valuable societal practices.

Sustainable development has been the cornerstone of the UAE’s policy making, pioneered by the nation’s founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Given this legacy, the UAE is committed to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a whole, and to achieving the 17 goals whilst pursuing economic development. Regionally, the UAE leads in a number of goals such as in Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17) Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9) and SDG 16 on achieving Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. In SDG 9 for instance, the UAE scored a 6.2/7 on ‘Quality of overall infrastructure’ and 4.1/5 on the ‘Quality of trade and transport-related infrastructure’. Moreover, in SDG 16, over 90% of the population noted feeling safe walking alone at night in the city or in the area where they live, thus placing the UAE on top of the list of the safest countries to live in. According to the 2018 report, the UAE ranks 60th among 156 countries with an overall SDG performance rate of 69%. In practice, this means that the UAE is on average 69% on the way to the best outcome across the SDGs. Compared with 2017 when the UAE ranked 77th; the UAE has improved in 17 ranks.

Furthermore, According to Her Excellency Hessa bint Essa Buhumaid, Minister of Community Development “The UAE has supported the rights of people with disabilities and continues to participate in the global movement to empower them on the educational, economic and social front” Therefore, there are many initiatives launched to support with reducing social inequality and ensuring social integration to achieve stability and harmony in society and is part of UAE’s pledge on ‘leaving no one behind’. Inclusion of vulnerable categories like People of Determination, Senior Citizens, Widows, Divorcees and Families in Distress are at the heart of UAE’s Social Policies and Strategies. The UAE gives an importance to people with special needs, known as ‘the people of determination’. The Ministry of Community Development (MOCD) provides them with special services to ensure they receive equal education opportunities, and vocational training. Thus, the National Policy to Empower People of determination was launched in 2017 aiming to create a different understanding of empowering people with disabilities and enables them to play a proactive role in the UAE’s development.

Moreover, the UAE hosts annually an exhibition called ‘AccessAbilities Expo’ which is the region’s premier event designed to enhance the lives of people with disabilities. This event unveils the latest innovative gadgets, treatments and programmes available on the market aimed at improving quality of life.  Manufacturers showcase their latest products and solutions to an international audience; investors find new projects and assets to invest in; and government bodies discover new initiatives and technologies that can aid the integration of disabled people in the region. In addition, experts in the field are given centre stage at the conferences to elucidate scientific advances and discuss future possibilities. The previous edition in 2019 witnessed the participation of 245 exhibiting companies, 8000 attendees with around 50 visiting countries.

During this exhibition, many mobility technology for people with disabilities.  A private national company in the Arab world’s second biggest economy has innovated a number of solutions to help them to move around and become self-reliant with better mobility to enable them become one of the community’s productive segments and contribute to nation-building.

Moreover, Wafa Bin Sulailman, Director of People of Determination Department at the Ministry of Community Development, revealed that during the participation at AccessAbilities Expo, the Ministry of Community Development will display the supporting devices and technologies for the people of determination provided at each centre in order to empower the people of determination in their daily lives. These devices are related to communication, environmental modification, therapeutic devices and other devices used for research and studies in the field of disabilities.  She also noted that the ministry’s smart applications are tailored in the UAE by specialists to help detect early developmental delays in children, and thus speed transfer at an early stage of life to appropriate early intervention services in order to reduce any gaps between the actual capabilities of the child and equivalent to other children at same age.

Also, the application “Tawasul” (i.e. connect) helps to build a way to communication with children of autism and children who have problems communicating with the surrounding environment, and increase their interaction with the people around them by using images as children with autism are visual learners’ while images are used as an attraction method in the process of communication, as well as displaying the application of my brother’s stories, Al Sanna application and other social stories.

Among the applications of the Ministry of Community Development in the exhibition, are the community protection stories addressed to autism children and people of determination with intellectual disabilities, to develop their communication with social surroundings and family environment through images. The application enables children with communication disabilities from reading images to express their feelings and needs in front of others. Also, “Me and My Sibling” awareness program to target the people of determination siblings, give them information about all the types of disabilities, build positive attitudes towards the people of determination since childhood, build an interactive relation between the people of determination and their siblings, raise the awareness of siblings responsibilities towards the people of determination family members, mitigate psychological and social impacts on the people of determination siblings in a simple child narrative loving style.  Furthermore, the purpose of the application (people of determination cards) is to help them in the registration process of the card electronically without coming to the ministry’s premises, in addition to facilitate the photocopying and uploading of all required documents through the application to be delivered to the customer by courier anywhere in the UAE.

In conclusion, the UAE have goals to better the lives of People of Determination as the country is working to contribute to their inclusion and participation in the community with the support of the best companies supplying these technologies.

Disability results from the interaction between people with disabilities (PWD) and their environmental obstacles that creates barriers to their participation in society on equal basis with others due to lack of inclusion. Inaccessible environment plays a huge role on their experience that may have negative effects on their wellbeing. For example, lack of accessible physical space or software solutions that could support people with visible or invisible disabilities. Therefore, it is important to always design with accessibility in mind to support their health and wellbeing.

Disabilities can be categorized in three interrelated areas. Firstly, impairments which are the problems in body functions. For example, loss of vision or memory. Secondly, activity limitations which are difficulties in executing day to day activities such as eating or walking. lastly but most importantly, participation restrictions which are obstacles that are created by society that hinders people with disabilities to be involved in certain aspects within the social life.  for instance, lack of employment offerings for PWD due to discrimination.

Over the years, there has been a shift in models of disability from a “charity model” to a “medical model” to a social model due to the reason that disability should never be viewed solely as medical nor as solely social condition. Therefore, Biopsychosocial model represents a better model of disability because it considers the different aspects in terms of the individual’s health conditions along with the individual’s contextual factors of environmental and self- esteem.

Historically, perceptions towards disability have varied significantly from one community to another. in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), under the National Policy for Empowering People with Special Needs, people with special needs or disabilities are referred as ‘people of determination’ to recognize their achievements in different fields. The law in the UAE defines a person with special needs as someone suffering from a temporary or permanent, full or partial deficiency or infirmity in his physical, sensory, mental, communication, educational or psychological abilities to an extent that limits his possibility of performing the ordinary requirements as people without special needs. The UAE Cabinet approved a People of Determination Protection from Abuse Policy aiming at protecting the people with special needs from abuse while empowering them, their families and their co-workers to deal with cases of abuse. The Government condemns all forms of abuse and neglect of people of determination. Abuse and neglects involves depriving people of determination of their basic right to care, rehabilitation, medical care, recreation or community integration. It also condemns using such people to get material profits and not spend on them.

In just two weeks, I learned a lot about visible and invisible disabilities along with the different models of disabilities and how disability is perceived.

I would like to end on this note: never ask someone how they got the disability because it doesn’t matter, what matters is that we need to work together to improve their situations by providing life-enhancing services or products support them. That’s why we are here, learning from the best!