Depending on Independence An Autoethnographic Account of Daily Use of Assistive Technologies

Abstract

Assistive technologies (AT) are a necessity for a person with a severe disability to be able to lead a self-determined life within modern societies. Thus, these technologies fulfil an important societal role and have a significant impact on the lives of those affected. This experience report provides insights on the lived experiences surrounding the necessary use of AT from the point of view of a disabled person. Using an autoethnographic approach, we determine the function and relevance of AT in everyday life and illustrate the intended and unintended effects of AT as well as the subsequently arising socio-technical dependencies through representative examples. The results show how the resulting dependencies on AT pose a risk for users, especially in the event of a technological failure. Furthermore, a deployment of AT without the necessary reflection and preparation of backup strategies in case of failure may lead to unexpected and inadvertent, potentially harmful, side-effects. Based on these observations, we elaborate on the implications for different stakeholder groups involved with the design, development, deployment and daily use of AT. We deem the key factors for success to lie in a deeper understanding of the application context, the integration of affected people in the development process as well as a fundamentally reflective approach by everyone involved with AT.