The life-changing power of assistive technologies | Jane Velkovski

TED Health

TED

Health & Fitness, Fitness, Shoshana Ungerleider, Medicine, How To Be Healthier, Ted Shoshana, Ted Talks Health

4.2 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 8 February 2022

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"This chair is my legs -- this chair is my life," says accessibility champion Jane Velkovski, who uses a wheelchair after being diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). With clarity and poise, he shares how his first motorized wheelchair empowered him with independence and ability -- and why assistive technology should be available to anyone who needs it. "Freedom of movement, no matter on legs or on wheels, is a human right," he says.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ted Audio Collective
0:07.0	This is Ted Health, I'm your host, Dr. Shoshana Ungaliner.
0:11.8	For some people with disabilities, using an assistive device like a wheelchair can be completely
0:17.1	life-changing.
0:18.1	In a talk from Ted at UNICEF in 2021, 13-year-old accessibility champion, Yanev Okovsky, explains
0:25.9	how access to a power chair, after being diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, was critical
0:31.7	for him.
0:32.7	Not just for mobility, but also for going to school, hanging out with friends, and the ability
0:37.9	to maintain independence from his parents.
0:40.5	Yanev believes that freedom of movement, whether it be on legs or on wheels, is a human
0:45.9	right.
0:46.9	But many don't have a way to get assistive devices, because the policies that would make
0:51.0	them accessible simply don't exist.
0:54.3	Listen as he shares how each of us can advocate for a better designed world that makes physical
0:59.6	spaces accessible for everyone.
1:01.3	Hey, it's Adam Grant.
1:08.1	The new season of my Ted Podcast's Work Life is out now.
1:11.8	The past few years have been full of changes to how we work, but there's so much more we
1:15.8	can rethink about our jobs.
1:18.1	Join me as I dive into the science of making work not suck.
1:22.0	This season we'll explore how to fix your meetings, bust pure accuracy, and make the
1:26.1	most out of your breaks and vacations.
	...

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