Panel: “An App a Day Keeps the Doctor Away”

At MAB Community Services’ Annual Meeting on October 8th, we held our panel discussion, entitled “An App a Day Keeps the Doctor Away,” on how technology can be used by the visually impaired to assist with daily living and increase independence.

• Moderator Paul Saner, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, remarked that the “silver tsunami” of aging baby boomers makes the use of technology to help age-related vision loss increasing paramount.
• Jennifer Kaldenberg, Clinical Director at MAB and Clinical Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy at BU’s Sargent College, echoed that sentiment, using her own experience working with elderly patients to illustrate how iPads in particular are a fantastic and intuitive tool to help the visually impaired maximize their independence.
• Paul Rumul, Executive Vice President and COO of The Davenport Companies, talked about his work as the operator of The Cove at Thirwood Place, an assisted living facility in South Yarmouth tailored to the needs of visually impaired residents, which uses technology such as talking appliances and voice-operated thermostats to make their residents’ lives easier.
• David Morrison, co-leader of a MABVI low vision support group, described his own experiences in using low vision adaptive technology, specifically highlighting the accessibility features and variety of apps for the visually impaired offered by iPads and iPhones.