Volunteering
I remember the late Adrian Mencarelli wheeling in to the Central Hall in the College of Technology to do the aptitude tests as part of the selection process for the Threshold Training Scheme. Some of the tests required speed and accuracy and as a paraplegic Adrian was always going to be at a disadvantage but he was accepted on the scheme and subsequently set up his own IT practice. Memory, of course, can play tricks, but it seems now to have been a trigger point leading to subsequent years working with IT and disabled people . Geoff Busby was chair of the BCS Disabled Specialist Group , and with his guidance a local (Northern Ireland) group was formed (Adrian was a committee member) . A conference on the topic of employment of disabled was well attended and a road show demonstrating assistive technology proved very popular. Several BCS members made themselves available to visit disabled people to help with technology - one of the notable activities was relocating redundant computer equipment with disabled people, but this was not always successful.
When Ken Stoner set up the BCS project IT Can Help, providing home visits to disabled people, our work very naturally aligned with that. Subsequently , the IT Can Help project was assimilated into the activities of AbilityNet. Further information may be found at www.abilitynet.org.uk/at-home |
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