How Technology Enables Me to Live Beyond Limits

Sometimes I sit around and think about how much technology has improved just in my lifetime. It’s pretty remarkable that in the past 26 years that I have been on this Earth we have gone from having no cell phones and treacherously slow dial-up Internet to now having Wi-Fi and the world at our fingertips at all times. By simply placing my thumb on my phone screen, I can communicate with people across the world. It blows my mind to think about how much technology has changed and improved.

As someone with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a disease that weakens my muscles over time, technology is even more helpful to me than most other people. I depend on different forms of technology for almost every aspect of my life.

Just think about it… If I would have been born a couple hundred years ago, I would not even be able to move. I would be stuck in a manual wheelchair all day (that probably wasn’t very comfortable). Due to my weakened muscles, I can’t roll a manual chair myself, so having a powered wheelchair is crucial in order for me to have some sort of independence. Sure, it takes some assistance from a caregiver to actually get out of bed and into my wheelchair, but once I’m in it I am free to roll around as I please and there’s no better feeling.

 

Perhaps I would have had a wheelchair like this way back when... Looks comfy, eh?

Perhaps I would have had a wheelchair like this way back when… Looks comfy, eh?

 

As I grow older, my muscles become weaker so as technology evolves, my needs evolve as well. For example, it has become increasingly difficult for me to type on a computer since I have limited arm and hand strength and dexterity. However, it is still completely possible for me to blog and write this post that you’re currently reading thanks to voice recognition software and I can also easily type on my iPhone. Being able to type has given me a career that I would never have been able to have 20 years ago.

I started Curb Free with Cory Lee in 2013, just a few months before I graduated college, and it has taken off and completely changed my life since then. I’m a bit mad that I didn’t start blogging sooner, but I am happy that I finally started on December 9th, 2013. Thanks to technological advancements, I can write blog posts about accessibility within destinations and share that information with thousands of people on social media. As my blog has grown, I’ve received invitations to visit incredible destinations such as Finland, Iceland, and I’ll be going to Israel this August to promote accessibility within the country. None of these trips and experiences would have been possible without technology.

 

I've been able to travel the world thanks to technology.

I’ve been able to travel the world thanks to technology.

 

Technology has given me a chance to fulfill my dreams and see the world, thanks to things like my powered wheelchair and blogging. There are, of course, many more ways that I use technology on a daily basis, but if I listed every way then this post would turn into the longest blog post of all time. Technology has truly enabled me to live beyond limits and I know that the possibilities are endless for me because of it.

att beyond limits contest

AT&T knows that accessibility is more than a word; it’s a commitment to help connect people to the world around them by providing services they need. So from now until June 27th, AT&T is hosting a Beyond Limits contest that gives people with disabilities and those who support them a chance to win an all-inclusive trip to the U.S. Paralympics Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO this Summer!

All that you have to do for this contest is create a short video showing how technology enables you to live beyond limits. To see my video entry and get an idea, watch it below. Good luck and be sure to let me know all about your trip if you win!!

 

 

Disclaimer: I was compensated by AT&T for this sponsored blog post but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

c

3 Comments

  • Jeevan says:

    I am totally with you on the technology front… my life depend on it almost same as yours. I am blogging for more than a decade and using the powered wheelchair for last 9 years, it transformed my life indeed. And I couldn’t image a life leaving behind these. Being a limb girdle muscular dystrophy and experiencing scoliosis lately the early wheelchair could not provide me the comfort. Though writing on computer isn’t difficult to me right now, I really want to develop my pronunciation to use voice recognition in future when things aren’t right. I am going through some abdomen discomfort lately and hope it was solved soon.

  • lisa depue says:

    Good for you life is good if you can get out of the house. I went to Alaska last summer by myself. I met wonderful people from all over the world. I felt empowered doing it alone. It was amazing. T 12 SCI 10 years. Single parent of Down syndrome son 28 going on 12.

  • Zascha says:

    I’m so glad that technology have evolved so much so that it enables you to do exactly what you want. You’re such an inspiration to others, Cory. Keep going and don’t let anything stop you, ever! 🙂

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