Connecting the Dots from Technology to Independence
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How Voice Command Technology is Empowering People at Boundless
Amazon’s Echo Dots, equipped with the Alexa Voice Assistant, are what some would say is proof that the future is here. Echo Dots can complete over 100,000 activities for the user with just a verbal command or question. Truly, the opportunities this technology offers are endless. Now, thanks to our donors’ generosity, an entire fleet of Echo Dots has been installed in all our intermediate care facilities (ICFs), and they are creating huge impacts on the people we serve.
The idea to incorporate these voice assistants was brought to us by Martin, who lives in an ICF apartment. Martin has mobility issues and use to have trouble turning on lights and playing his favorite music. When his family bought him an Echo Dot a couple of years ago, his life changed. He can now jam out to his music and has even started to DJ for others.
With Amazon’s technology and its leading compatibility with other devices, residents like Martin can now use countless other devices with simple voice commands, like “Alexa, turn on the lights.” By connecting other technologies to the Echo Dots, the residents’ environment has become more accessible in ways that many people take for granted.
The Echo Dots can strengthen residents’ friendships by allowing them to play trivia games together, just by asking Alexa. Or if a resident is missing someone special, they can send a virtual hug to them with the Echo Dots. If they’re in the mood to read a book, Alexa can play a huge selection of audiobooks on demand and will remember where they left off last time. Residents can learn more about any topic or learn a new skill, simply by saying, “Alexa, teach me how to…”
Residents build valuable life skills with the Echo Dots, too. They can set timers to remind them of tasks they might otherwise forget, which allows them to delve deeper into the things they want to do. One resident knows he is likely to forget his laundry and doesn’t want to miss it, so he habitually checks his laundry. Checking every twenty minutes not only prevents him from doing anything else during that time, but it also frustrates him because it usually isn’t done when he checks. He uses his Echo Dot to set a timer to help stop that preoccupation, so now he can do other things and be excited when the timer goes off, because the laundry is ready.
“It’s making impacts that are helping [residents] to be more independent,” said Sasha Hughes, Program Coordinator at the Kimberly Woods ICF. “I think it is great to have so many donated to us here at Boundless. [We] can see an impact.”
Our goal was to install twenty Echo Dots in the ICFs, which would cover all common areas and support all eighty ICF residents. In early Fall 2021, we asked the Boundless community for their help, and they came through for us in a big way. Our donors not only met the goal, they exceeded it. Eighteen families and individuals provided the funds for twenty-two Echo Dots. In addition to the eighty people that the original goal supported, we were also able to install an extra Echo Dot in an individual apartment of a resident in the Morse Road ICF, who we felt would be especially served by this technology.
Technological improvements can have huge impacts on the lives of people with I/DD, especially when they’re built into daily living. The fleet of Echo Dots in our ICFs is no exception. With the technology of the Echo Dots and the generosity of our donors, the opportunities are truly boundless.
