Before working in the field of work force development (particularly with developmentally disabled adults), I was a computer instructor for mental health patients, many of whom were developmentally disabled. Having taught computers in a small way for many years to the general population, I was amazed at the life-changing results that came from teaching basic applications to my new students. It got me to thinking about what a computer really is.

When an individual has a sight disability, we design vision tools or other accomodations to assist them. My mother has a hearing aid because of a need there. At times I have been injured and needed crutches or a cane to aid my mobility. I could list a myriad of other examples.

The odd thing is that we do not look at mental disability in the same way. A computer is, basically, a thinking aid. It can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves in the realms of memory, calculation and duplication. However, perhaps because information technology devices were previously viewed as toys or tools for the elite, we do not see the obvious truth that computers are most needed by individuals with developmental disabilities or pschological illnesses that interfere with their ability to think, reason, and process information.

With my students, I discovered that personal computers and related devices are ideally suited to expanding their world and experience. For the first time, they were able to interact with a computer to teach them tutorials. The computer would never make an odd face at how they do things, would never laugh, would never be critical or impatient. This enabled them to try new things in a non-threatening environment.

My students learned how to do math on the computer, how to scan and publish their own works of art, how to do digital photography and photo editing, and how to establish support networks and family connnections through email.

I learned that computers are most needed by the people that we tend to keep away from computers, those with developmental or psychological disabilities. But computers are not tools only for the highly intelligent, they are, in effect, crutches for the brain.

Our society should be doing all that we can to put computers into the hands of those who need them most. When we awaken to the potential and do this, the results will be wonderful.