EXCLUSIVE: How assistive technology has granted me greater independence

Joshua Wintersgill, an entrepreneur, technologist, speaker, lobbyist, and campaigner, discusses four key areas of his life – the home, work, travelling, and gaming – where assistive technology is granting greater independence.

Growing up with a deteriorating physical disability has meant certain areas of independence in my life have been challenging or, in some cases, impossible to do independently. As a result, my transition to integrate more assistive technology (AT) in my life is certainly well underway.

My dependency on AT may be much less or much more than some, so these examples I provide may not be a reflection of other’s experiences. For the purpose of this article, I wanted to explore four key areas of my life where AT is a real enabler of granting greater independence: the home environment, accessing work, travelling and gaming.

Home

The one place everyone should feel safe, independent, and relaxed is in their own home. However, with social care costs rising, support for people within their own homes is becoming less.

Environmental controls/adaptions with Alexa or Siri are almost now commonplace within people’s homes. With some simple adjustments and fairly inexpensive ways, it is now possible to control your whole home almost from just your phone or voice commands. This includes turning on lights, closing blinds, adjusting the heating, turning on and off plug sockets, opening doors, camera systems, the TV, and even the washing machine.

My favourite is to ask Alexa to turn on my bed warmer and my whole TV unit with back lights after a long day at work and get warm and cosy without asking anyone to pass me remotes or turn on the plug. I can control almost my entire home environment through AT now. I fully acknowledge that technology can’t always replace the vital role carers or personal assistants play, but it can be extremely useful for assisting in everyday tasks.

Work

As someone who is unable to type quickly, due to poor dexterity as well as poor circulation, my hands are susceptible to getting cold extremely quickly. Using voice dictation is a wonderful way for me to be able to remain productive.

Apple, for example, has a standard voice dictation system built into their software on iMac, MacBooks, iPads, and iPhones. I am a fan but not a big one; it doesn’t often pick up my voice very well, gets a lot of grammatical errors, and I find myself manually re-editing a lot.

However, for those who have Windows, Dragon Naturally speaking is a wonderful piece of software that is more personalised to your voice and, over time, produces remarkable results if you can become fluent in commands.

Technology really has been the crucial leader in empowering greater accessibility in the workplace whether it be in the office or working from home. AT such as screen readers for visually impaired people; advancements of sip-and-puff devices or eye-tracking technology to offer alternative means of control for those paralysed, for example, from the neck down; enabling interaction with computers and other devices; or artificial intelligence that can now record meetings, produce minutes, and assign actions without having to do anything is opening up a working world of integrated independent possibilities for everyone.

Travel

I thrive on travel. I love exploring domestically and internationally. I use my powered wheelchair to get around daily or use my adaptive car, which I can drive from my wheelchair using hand controls to drive to shooting competitions in the UK or into Europe, to exploring hills and muddy fields in an adapted outdoor all-terrain wheelchair.

All of these three devices have built-in AT, such as recline functions for toileting and active reach for help with reaching shelves in shops, to having built-in software connected via my phone using Bluetooth to track distance travelled, battery levels, and mapping routes. My day wheelchair also enables Bluetooth to connect to devices in my home.

One of the coolest things I have seen recently for travel is an AI-based application called Genius. It combines Google, Google Maps, and algorithms to provide environmental awareness and object recognition, making it easier to plan routes, and it recommends hotels or modes of transport based on your disability and the experiences of others with similar requirements within an area where you wish to travel.  

Games

Growing up, I was a huge fan of the Sega Mega Drive, Nintendo 64, Nintendo Game Cube, Nintendo Advance, the PlayStation 1 and 2, and then the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. As a child, the controllers were really easy for me to hold and use, when you have good hand strength and dexterity.

It wasn’t until about eight years ago that I really started to struggle using the Xbox 360 controller and pushing in the sticks and buttons quickly enough. And luckily along came the Elite control, allowing you to remap buttons to any button and add paddles to the control if it wasn’t easy to push or move fingers quickly.

However, now the Elite Controller is too heavy to hold. So I am now yet to explore the next step, but that’s the Xbox Adaptive Controller. There are also other adaptive controllers such as Hori Flex Controller, Pretorian Game On 1, or Pretorian Quester. And even more incredibly, sip-and-puff devices along with buttons near the head on wheelchairs, are being used together to create an all-round controller for people only with head and voice movement and control.

Technology has and will continue to make long-lasting impact and change the landscape as to how it helps people with disabilities to maintain independence as much as possible in all facets of life.

About the author

Joshua Wintersgill is an award-winning entrepreneur, technologist, speaker, lobbyist, and campaigner. He founded easyTravelseat following the difficulties he faced when travelling as a wheelchair user and wanted to make travelling safer and more enjoyable for disabled passengers.  

His innovative products are designed for people with physically reduced mobility and have improved the lives of many people. Forming Able Move in 2018, Joshua designs and manufactures products including the ableSling, which provides wheelchair users with a dignified and comfortable means of being transferred into another seat, without being lifted under the arms and legs.  

Through his work, he is shaping the aviation industry by forcing change in the UK and internationally. He also plays an active role in the Rights on Flights Campaign, fighting for better rights for air travellers with disabilities.

Diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at the age of 18 months, Josh works with UK charities including Leonard Cheshire, Disabled Living, and Spinal Muscular Atrophy UK.

In 2022, he spoke at the UN CRPD in New York on disability employment and entrepreneurship, and he regularly advises corporations, to improve their understanding of the challenges faced by people with disabilities.

Outside his entrepreneurial pursuits, Joshua is an aspiring Paralympian and is training to become part of the Great British Paralympic shooting team to compete at the 2028 Paralympic Games in LA. His mission is to inspire people to take up sport and to experience the great outdoors. 

His accolades include:

• In 2018 Joshua won the UK Disabled Entrepreneur Awards
• In 2019 he won Great Britain’s Youngest and Most Exciting Entrepreneur Award
• In 2019 he won Best Entrepreneur for the Southwest of United Kingdom
• In 2019, he was awarded an Honorary master’s in technology by UWE
• In 2022, Josh spoke at the UN CRPD in New York about disability employment and entrepreneurship
• In 2022, he was in the top 100 most influential disabled people in the UK    

 Joshua is 30 and lives in Somerset, England.