tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/wheelchairs-3670/articlesWheelchairs – The Conversation2023-08-21T01:34:02Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1992092023-08-21T01:34:02Z2023-08-21T01:34:02Z‘An extraordinary dynamo’: Doris Taylor founded Meals on Wheels and helped elect Don Dunstan<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543583/original/file-20230821-246711-6ttzir.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C0%2C3976%2C1994&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">From left: Doris Taylor, and Meals on Wheels volunteers at work.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Archives of Australia: A1200 – L22263, L22265, 22266</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Doris Taylor took possession of a new motorised wheelchair in 1951, she quipped: “Heaven help any bureaucrat who gets in my way now.”</p>
<p>Few would have dared. For while she may not have been able to walk, Taylor was no walkover. A fearless and passionate advocate for the socially disadvantaged, she refused to sit on the sidelines of society, and had a well-earned reputation for getting things done. </p>
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<span class="caption">Doris Taylor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Meals on Wheels SA</span></span>
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<p>After witnessing poor children forced to scrounge for scraps during the <a href="https://theconversation.com/plenty-of-resilience-but-little-resistance-in-a-new-account-of-australias-great-depression-178417">Great Depression</a>, for example, she set up a soup kitchen in the local school. </p>
<p>When she realised elderly people were being institutionalised in psychiatric homes simply because they were undernourished, she founded <a href="https://mealsonwheels.org.au/">Meals on Wheels</a>. </p>
<p>And when she wanted a more radical voice in politics, she convinced a young solicitor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/dunstan-christies-and-me-growing-up-in-the-athens-of-the-south-70266">Don Dunstan</a>, to join the Australian Labor Party and stand for election in the House of Assembly seat of Norwood. She even managed his election campaign, guiding him to victory.</p>
<p>Dunstan, who would go on to become premier of South Australia, later described Taylor as “an extraordinary dynamo” and “the woman who influenced my career more profoundly than any other, except my first wife Gretel”. </p>
<p>“Doris Taylor is one of the great unsung heroines of Australia,” he wrote in his memoir, <a href="https://www.dunstan.org.au/resources/felicia-the-political-memoirs-of-don-dunstan/">Felicia</a>. “I can never record sufficiently the gratitude I owe her, as do thousands of others.”</p>
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<span class="caption">Volunteers prepare lunch in a Meals on Wheels kitchen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Archives of Australia: A1200, L22264</span></span>
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<h2>A social conscience wakes</h2>
<p>Born on 25 July 1901 in Norwood, South Australia, Taylor was the eldest of four children of bricklayer Thomas Taylor and his wife Angelina. The family moved to Mt Gambier soon after her birth. There, aged seven, she fell from a ladder, leaving her with a bad limp. </p>
<p>Four years later, after the family had returned to Norwood, Taylor damaged her spine in another fall, leaving her paralysed. She endured several operations, spending years in hospitals encased in plaster, unable to move. But when doctors recommended placing Taylor in the Home for Incurables, her mother refused, insisting on taking her home. </p>
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<span class="caption">Doris Taylor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Meals on Wheels SA</span></span>
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<p>In a wheelchair for the rest of her life, Taylor had only limited movement of her head, shoulders, arms and fingers. Her condition was exacerbated by painful rheumatoid arthritis that rendered her fingers stiff and twisted. She could move nothing else, Dunstan wryly noted, “except other people off their behinds”. </p>
<p>Determined to become a useful member of society, she had no time for self-pity, according to Meals on Wheels historian Michael Cudmore. “We are in the world to help each other,” she would say. </p>
<p>It was during the Great Depression that her “social conscience really awoke”. Passing by a local school, she noticed a small boy taking sandwiches from a box in the playground. The box had been placed there by well-meaning teachers so that children with excess lunch could put some aside for those who had little or none. But Taylor witnessed the shame of the child who had to publicly accept the charity of others. </p>
<p>“This child, who could not get enough lunch, was, like so many others, foraging for food,” she recalled. “And there was I gadding about the countryside thinking all was fine in the universe and that sort of tragedy had been going on almost at my front door.”</p>
<p>On Taylor’s initiative, a small soup kitchen was opened at the school, charging a penny a serve. Those who could not afford it did not pay, but every child was issued with a ticket to avoid the humiliation Taylor had observed at the sandwich box. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hidden-women-of-history-kate-cocks-the-pioneering-policewoman-who-fought-crime-and-ran-a-home-for-babies-but-was-no-saint-191008">Hidden women of history: Kate Cocks, the pioneering policewoman who fought crime and ran a home for babies – but was no saint</a>
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<h2>‘Organising genius’</h2>
<p>She also became secretary of the Mothers’ Club at a local kindergarten, a role that always amused her (“fancy me, an old maid running the Mothers’ Club”), organising events to raise money to buy new clothes for the children and food vouchers for their families. </p>
<p>An enthusiastic member of her local branch of the ALP, Taylor served as secretary on various committees and helped to organise a house-to-house survey of local housing conditions. She also worked with trade unions, representing them on the Good Neighbour Council, set up to assist newly arrived European migrants in the post-war years. </p>
<p>An adept one-fingered typist, Taylor spent most of her days writing on a small portable typewriter and answering a telephone mounted on an arm near her bed. She was an “organising genius”, cultivating a long list of contacts in the media and politics, some of whom learnt the hard way never to underestimate her. </p>
<p>Observers marvelled at the long distances she travelled, in all weather, steering her petrol-powered wheelchair with her shoulders. </p>
<p>“Her telephone is one of the busiest in Adelaide,” a News journalist noted in 1958. “She works from 7am to 11pm, guiding and directing by phone, letter and talks at meetings and clubs.” </p>
<p>Widely and “extremely well-read” in politics, philosophy, literature and the arts, Taylor taught herself several languages, including Russian. She also found time to read twice a week to a blind ex-schoolmaster.</p>
<p>In 1952, as secretary of the West Norwood ALP sub-branch, Taylor decided Don Dunstan was the right candidate to win the seat of Norwood and achieve the radical reforms she wanted to see in South Australia. Dunstan recalled how she managed his first election campaign “in her own inimitable way”. The sitting Liberal and Country League member he defeated was Taylor’s cousin.</p>
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<span class="caption">Doris Taylor managed SA Premier Don Dunstan’s first election campaign. He called her ‘one of the great unsung heroines of Australia’.</span>
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<h2>‘A Home for the Aged feels quite wrong’</h2>
<p>But Taylor’s major concerns were always for the aged, the housebound and the disabled. She felt a tremendous empathy for elderly people who were being forced out of their homes and into institutions. After World War II, she joined the South Australian Pensioners’ League, becoming its public relations officer.</p>
<p>“The idea of a Home for the Aged seems quite wrong to me,” she wrote in 1955. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Any community that segregates any part or group of its people is unhealthy, unbalanced. The community needs its aged people as much as they need and want to remain a part of the community.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Medical research confirmed Taylor’s suspicions that the elderly deteriorated more rapidly – mentally and physically – when undernourished. And she was “appalled” to discover that hundreds of old people committed to a local psychiatric hospital had been judged to be “quite sane” after just a few weeks of nourishing meals yet were “doomed to end their days in an overcrowded mental hospital” because they had nowhere else to go. </p>
<p>After hearing of home-based meal services operating in England and <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/206443383">South Melbourne</a>, home of <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/meals-on-wheels-hit-the-road-20030624-gdvxgg.html">Australia’s first</a> (initially bike-powered) meal delivery service, Taylor struck on the concept for Meals on Wheels. On a wet afternoon in October 1953, she pitched her idea to <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/131244880">a meeting</a> of 96 pensioners, paying the rent for the hall from her own pocket.</p>
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<span class="caption">Meals on Wheels volunteers organising a delivery.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Archives of Australia: A1200, L22266</span></span>
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<p>Those attending were enthusiastic, contributing £5 for initial expenses. Taylor also convinced the local paper owned by a <a href="https://theconversation.com/rupert-murdoch-how-a-22-year-old-zealous-laborite-turned-into-a-tabloid-tsar-204914">young Rupert Murdoch</a> to get behind the scheme and run a subscription fund. Dunstan, by that time the newly elected member for Norwood, was enlisted to help draft the organisation’s constitution and became its first chairman.</p>
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<p>
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</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A bold social experiment</h2>
<p>From the outset, Taylor was adamant that Meals on Wheels would not be a charity “but a social experiment” users would pay for. The <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/132054762">first Meals on Wheels kitchen</a> opened in Port Adelaide on 9 August 1954, operating from a Nissen Hut donated by a local businessman on land provided by the Port Adelaide City Council. Despite the lack of a working sink, 11 “heroic volunteers” prepared and delivered eight meals.</p>
<p>Other kitchens quickly followed at Norwood, Hindmarsh and Woodville. The organisation grew into a statewide body, providing a model for other states and countries to follow. Ten years after it began, Meals on Wheels served its millionth meal.</p>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Meals on Wheels SA</span></span>
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<p>Taylor devoted the rest of her life to promoting the organisation, giving regular radio broadcasts and addressing hundreds of meetings across Australia. She accomplished this all in a volunteer capacity until the state body of Meals on Wheels appointed her as a paid organiser in 1958. The following year, she was awarded an MBE. </p>
<p>Paying tribute to Taylor’s efforts on the tenth anniversary of the organisation, Advertiser journalist Stewart Cockburn observed: “She worked, she talked, she argued, she battered with a ferocity of purpose at the doors of half the leaders of the South Australian community.”</p>
<p>Doris Taylor died on 23 May 1968, aged 66 years, but her legacy lives on. Today, Meals on Wheels delivers in excess of ten million meals to more than 120,000 clients Australia-wide each year. The South Australian electorate of Taylor is also named after her. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>The author’s grandmother, Lil Wendt, was a life member of the West Torrens branch of Meals on Wheels, and she has fond memories as a child visiting the kitchen and observing the adults at work.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199209/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carolyn Collins receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>When Doris Taylor became paralysed, her mother was advised to put her in a Home for Incurables. Instead, Doris helped elect a reforming South Australian premier and founded a national institution.Carolyn Collins, ARC Research Fellow, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1296182020-06-22T12:17:12Z2020-06-22T12:17:12ZSelf-driving taxis could be a setback for those with different needs – unless companies embrace accessible design now<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341897/original/file-20200615-65942-v457k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C7%2C5282%2C3529&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wheelchair advocates and taxi drivers protest lack of accessibility and surge pricing in New York City on Tuesday, January 19, 2016.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/wheelchair-advocates-joined-by-taxi-and-livery-drivers-news-photo/526663542">Richard Levine/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Autonomous vehicles (AVs), like self-driving taxis, continue to garner media attention as industry and political stakeholders claim that they will <a href="https://www.boston.gov/departments/new-urban-mechanics/autonomous-vehicles-bostons-approach">improve safety and access to transportation for everyone</a>. But for people who have different mobility needs and rely on human drivers for work beyond the task of driving, the prospect of driverless taxis may not sound like progress. Unless accommodations are built in to autonomous vehicle designs, companies risk undermining transportation access for the very communities this technology is promising to include.</p>
<h2>The promise</h2>
<p>A January 2020 <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2020-02/EnsuringAmericanLeadershipAVTech4.pdf">joint report</a> issued by the National Science and Technology Council and U.S. Department of Transportation paints a bright picture of an autonomous-enabled future. They predict autonomous vehicles will provide “improved quality of life, access and mobility for all citizens.” Replacing the driver with an autonomous system will create safer transportation by removing the “possibility of human error.” </p>
<p>In addition, synchronizing vehicle movement with distance and traffic patterns would not only result in more efficient service, but safer roadway navigation. These advances should mean fewer cars, less traffic, more economical fuel use and increased vehicle availability. </p>
<h2>More than driving</h2>
<p>If done right, autonomous vehicles could improve access to transportation for everyone. But by not accounting for the many other kinds of labor a driver performs, current AVs <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/josephcoughlin/2017/11/30/why-driverless-cars-alone-will-not-solve-transportation-in-older-age/#4fb1310b97ae">may present problems for people with different needs</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341901/original/file-20200615-65942-1rcysmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341901/original/file-20200615-65942-1rcysmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341901/original/file-20200615-65942-1rcysmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341901/original/file-20200615-65942-1rcysmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341901/original/file-20200615-65942-1rcysmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341901/original/file-20200615-65942-1rcysmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341901/original/file-20200615-65942-1rcysmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341901/original/file-20200615-65942-1rcysmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Drivers perform work beyond driving.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/142358175@N06/30487138402/">Justice Ender/Flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For older people, those with disabilities and even individuals in emergency situations, the driver bridges the gap between personal capability and vehicle accessibility.</p>
<p>Drivers help people to and from vehicles, as well as into and out of them. Drivers move and store luggage and mobility equipment like wheelchairs and walkers, and navigate emergency situations like cardiac arrest, allergic reaction or drug overdose.</p>
<p>Yet right now asking an AV interface for assistance would be like asking Siri to help you up if you’ve fallen down. </p>
<h2>Two unequal systems</h2>
<p>In the <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/VB9xpUXPr-QC?hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjD7_ae04TqAhUmhXIEHXJEBd8Q8fIDMA16BAgKEAQ">1970s and years thereafter</a>, Congress determined that redesigning transportation for accessibility was too costly. Instead they fitted assistive devices to old transportation networks and expected private sector taxi drivers to help. Some did, many didn’t.</p>
<p>Problems of discrimination led to the landmark <a href="https://www.ada.gov/2010_regs.htm">American with Disabilities Act of 1990</a>. The ADA made discrimination based on ability illegal – but access to transportation was still dependent on the driver. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341908/original/file-20200615-65934-xt227m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341908/original/file-20200615-65934-xt227m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341908/original/file-20200615-65934-xt227m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341908/original/file-20200615-65934-xt227m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341908/original/file-20200615-65934-xt227m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341908/original/file-20200615-65934-xt227m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341908/original/file-20200615-65934-xt227m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341908/original/file-20200615-65934-xt227m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Taxi access is already problematic due to a two-tiered system.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/handicapped-man-in-a-wheelchair-hailing-a-taxi-in-royalty-free-image/675780582">mokee81/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Today, cities and companies are still struggling with accessibility. People with different needs remain vulnerable <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-41502984">to the whims and prejudices of the driver</a>. Too often people with different needs are denied <a href="https://ggwash.org/view/68138/without-accommodations-uber-and-lyft-are-leaving-customers-with-disabilities-at-the-curb">assistance or transportation altogether</a>. </p>
<p>It was only in 2016, for instance, that <a href="https://www.boston.gov/departments/disabilities-commission/wav-taxi-cabs-wheelchair-accessible-vehicles">Boston’s taxis</a>, <a href="https://medium.com/@tssurampudi/the-future-of-wheelchair-accessible-transportation-how-uber-and-lyft-and-maybe-waymo-are-8f9f7e9a82d4">Uber and later Lyft</a> began integrating a small number of Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles into their fleets, and other companies have emerged like SilverRide <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2017/05/15/a-ride-service-geared-to-older-adults/#2f7401624114">offer specialty service</a> for people who are older. </p>
<p>But even with these additions, taxi, Uber and Lyft riders still experience cancellations and longer wait times in cities like <a href="https://ggwash.org/view/68138/without-accommodations-uber-and-lyft-are-leaving-customers-with-disabilities-at-the-curb">Washington, D.C.</a>, <a href="https://www.boston.gov/departments/disabilities-commission/wav-taxi-cabs-wheelchair-accessible-vehicles">Boston</a>, <a href="https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/reports-and-documents/2019/05/tncs_and_disabled_access_report.pdf">Chicago, San Francisco</a> and <a href="https://www.nylpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Left-Behind-Report.pdf">New York</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342043/original/file-20200616-23231-1r9hmxt.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342043/original/file-20200616-23231-1r9hmxt.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342043/original/file-20200616-23231-1r9hmxt.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342043/original/file-20200616-23231-1r9hmxt.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342043/original/file-20200616-23231-1r9hmxt.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342043/original/file-20200616-23231-1r9hmxt.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342043/original/file-20200616-23231-1r9hmxt.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342043/original/file-20200616-23231-1r9hmxt.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 2019 study comparing the wait times for Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAVs) to inaccessible vehicles in New York City. The wait time for Uber WAV was more than two times as long and Lyft WAV was more than five times as long.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Still Left Behind whitepaper</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While specialized vehicles are a valuable step toward accessible transportation, they also mean more cars on the road. A 2017 study found <a href="https://itspubs.ucdavis.edu/wp-content/themes/ucdavis/pubs/download_pdf.php?id=2752">Uber and Lyft are increasing traffic congestion</a> in cities leading to increases in safety risks, transit times and pollution. To add to the traffic problem, the International Transportation Forum predicts that <a href="https://www.itf-oecd.org/sites/default/files/docs/15cpb_self-drivingcars.pdf">traffic will likely increase even more</a> as autonomous cars occupy the road alongside traditional ones.</p>
<h2>The future</h2>
<p>AV developers struggle with what accessibility should look like. Some leading AV companies focus on accessibility inside the car. <a href="https://letstalkselfdriving.com/about/mobility-accessibility.html">Waymo</a> and <a href="https://observer.com/2019/07/lyft-self-driving-cars-blind-passengers/">Lyft</a> are working to communicate information to passengers with disabilities. Nissan’s <a href="https://www.caradvice.com.au/803023/nissan-vr-avatar/">Virtual Reality avatars</a> may provide company, comfort and assistance to passengers in need.</p>
<p>Other AV companies approach accessibility by redesigning access. Startup <a href="https://maymobility.com/">May Mobility</a>’s low speed shuttle can <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/10/may-mobility-reveals-prototype-of-a-wheelchair-accessible-autonomous-vehicle/">deploy a wheelchair ramp</a>. Tesla’s <a href="https://www.tesla.com/modelx">gull wing doors</a> open vertically for easier access and their Smart Summons feature allows drivers to call their car to fetch them.</p>
<p>In my opinion, vehicle specialization should not be the path forward. A wheelchair ramp in one car and Braille in another will increase cars on the road, decrease availability and increase consumer cost. For AVs to fulfill the promise of accessibility and be environmentally efficient, all cars need to be similarly accessible – even if the mechanisms of accessibility are not always in use. This way AVs can more closely mirror the variety of tasks human drivers currently perform and do it reliably, without discrimination. Standard features could include push button or voice activated motorized doors with sliding ramps, an entry space instead of front seats and interior handrails.</p>
<p>A good place to start is for stakeholders to agree on what accessibility needs must be met and treat AV developments as pieces of an accessibility solution rather than separate niche markets racing toward minimum accommodations. The nonprofit research and community equity organization, <a href="https://cal.streetsblog.org/2020/05/04/california-readying-rules-for-automated-vehicle-ride-hailing/">The Greenlining Institute, suggests</a>, in addition to capability, accessibility should also include financial, cultural, technological, logistical, race, gender, age, class and geographic considerations. If autonomous vehicles are developed to handle the messiness and complexity taxi drivers currently deal with, society will be one step closer to real accessibility.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129618/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Lunsford does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In order to create an efficient future transportation system, autonomous vehicles need to accommodate people with different mobility needs.John Lunsford, PhD Candidate in Media, Technology and Society, Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1202772019-08-22T12:36:33Z2019-08-22T12:36:33ZDon’t ban new technologies – experiment with them carefully<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284800/original/file-20190718-116586-1m4325e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C106%2C3968%2C2863&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's a mess, but is it all bad?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scooters_on_the_sidewalk.jpg">EHFXC/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For many years, Facebook’s internal slogan was “<a href="https://www.wired.com/2014/04/zuckerberg-f8-interview/">move fast and break things</a>.” And that’s what the company did – along with most other Silicon Valley startups and the venture capitalists who fund them. Their general attitude is one of asking for forgiveness after the fact, rather than for permission in advance. Though this can allow for some bad behavior, it’s probably the right attitude, philosophically speaking.</p>
<p>It’s true that the try-first mindset has frustrated the public. Take the Lime scooter company, for instance. The company launched its scooter sharing service in multiple cities <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/8/30/17690056/scooters-bird-lime-san-francisco-santa-monica-permits-uber-lyft">without asking permission</a> from local governments. Its electric scooters <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bird-scooter-vandalism-20180809-story.html">don’t need base stations or parking docks</a>, so the company and its <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/07/28/631812255/scooters-sidewalk-nuisances-or-the-future-of-public-transportation">customers can leave them anywhere</a> for the next person to pick up – even if that’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/pedestrians-and-e-scooters-are-clashing-in-the-struggle-for-sidewalk-space/2019/01/11/4ccc60b0-0ebe-11e9-831f-3aa2c2be4cbd_story.html">in the middle of a sidewalk</a>. This <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/11/bird-sues-beverly-hills-argues-it-cant-ban-e-scooters-even-for-6-months/">general disruption</a> has led to <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2019/06/dc-council-proposes-legislation-to-set-boundaries-on-e-scooter-companies/">calls to ban the scooters</a> in <a href="https://newschannel9.com/news/local/mayor-briley-decides-to-ban-electric-scooters-in-nashville">cities around the country</a>.</p>
<p>Scooters are not alone. <a href="https://qz.com/1084981/map-all-the-places-where-uber-is-partially-or-fully-banned/">Ridesharing services</a>, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-27/uber-s-autonomous-cars-suspended-by-arizona-after-fatal-crash">autonomous cars</a>, <a href="https://issues.org/perspective-should-artificial-intelligence-be-regulated/">artificial intelligence systems</a> and <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/03/sorry-amazon-philadelphia-bans-cashless-stores/">Amazon’s cashless stores</a> have also all been targets of bans (or proposed bans) in different states and municipalities before they’ve even gotten off the ground.</p>
<p>What these efforts have in common is what <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=6pDPD_gAAAAJ&hl=en">philosophers like me</a> call the “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139939652">precautionary principle</a>,” the idea that new technologies, behaviors or policies should be banned until their supporters can demonstrate that they will not result in any significant harms. It’s the same basic idea Hippocrates had in ancient Greece: Doctors should “<a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/first-do-no-harm-201510138421">do no harm</a>” to patients. </p>
<p>The precautionary principle entered the political conversation <a href="http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/iclr/vol14/iss1/2">in the 1980s</a> in the context of environmental protection. Damage to the environment is hard – if not impossible – to reverse, so it’s prudent to seek to prevent harm from happening in the first place. But as I see it, that’s not the right way to look at most new technologies. New technologies and services aren’t creating irreversible damage, even though they do generate some harms.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284805/original/file-20190718-116543-t7i244.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284805/original/file-20190718-116543-t7i244.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284805/original/file-20190718-116543-t7i244.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284805/original/file-20190718-116543-t7i244.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284805/original/file-20190718-116543-t7i244.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284805/original/file-20190718-116543-t7i244.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284805/original/file-20190718-116543-t7i244.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284805/original/file-20190718-116543-t7i244.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Environmental pollution is so harmful and hard to clean up that precautions are useful.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/lahad-datusabahmalaysia-taken-on-8-jjune-1453585367">imrankadir/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Precaution has its place</h2>
<p>As a general concept, the precautionary principle is essentially conservative. It allows existing technologies, even if new ones – the ones that face preemptive bans – are safer overall. </p>
<p>This approach also runs counter to the most basic idea of liberalism, in which people are <a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration">broadly allowed to do what they want</a>, unless there’s a rule against it. This is limited only when our right to free action <a href="https://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/10/15/liberty-fist-nose/">interferes with someone else’s rights</a>. The precautionary principle reverses this, banning people from doing what they want, unless it is specifically allowed.</p>
<p>The precautionary principle makes sense when people are talking about some issues, like the environment or public health. It’s easier to avoid the problems of air pollution or dumping trash in the ocean than trying to clean up afterward. Similarly, giving children drinking water that’s contaminated with lead has effects that aren’t reversible. The children simply must <a href="https://www.who.int/ceh/publications/leadguidance.pdf">deal with the health effects of their exposure</a> for the rest of their lives.</p>
<p>But as much of a nuisance as dockless scooters might be, they aren’t the same as poisoned water. </p>
<h2>Managing the effects</h2>
<p>Of course, dockless scooters, autonomous cars and a whole host of new technologies do generate real harms. A Consumer Reports investigation in early 2019 found <a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/product-safety/e-scooter-ride-share-industry-leaves-injuries-and-angered-cities-in-its-path/">more than 1,500 injuries from electric scooters</a> since the dockless companies were founded. That’s in addition to the more common nuisance of having to step over <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-ol-le-lime-bird-ant-scooters-20180818-story.html">scooters carelessly left</a> in the middle of the sidewalk – and the difficulties <a href="https://pilotonline.com/life/social-issues/article_d6f87e76-9cbd-11e9-a085-53857d29dd05.html">people using wheelchairs</a>, crutches, strollers or walkers may have in getting around them.</p>
<p>Those harms are not nothing, and can help motivate arguments for banning scooters. After all, they can’t hurt anyone if they’re not allowed. What’s missing from those figures, however, is how many of those people riding scooters would have gotten into a car instead. Cars are <a href="https://www.nsc.org/road-safety/safety-topics/fatality-estimates">far more dangerous</a> and far worse for the environment.</p>
<p>Yet the precautionary principle isn’t right for cars, either. As the number of <a href="https://theconversation.com/helping-autonomous-vehicles-and-humans-share-the-road-68044">autonomous cars</a> on the road climbs, they’ll be involved in an <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-fatality-autonomous-car-development-may-speed-up-63488">increasing number of crashes</a>, which will no doubt get lots of media attention.</p>
<p>It is worth keeping in mind that autonomous cars will have been a <a href="https://theconversation.com/redefining-safety-for-self-driving-cars-87419">wild technology success</a> even if they are in millions of crashes every year, so long as they improve on the <a href="https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-highway-safety">6.5 million crashes and 1.9 million people</a> who were seriously injured in a car crash in 2017.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/alnDYYwAs74?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A look at the precautionary principle in environmental regulation.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Disruption brings benefits too</h2>
<p>It may also be helpful to remember that dockless scooters and ridesharing apps and any other technology that displaces existing methods can really only become a nuisance if a lot of people use them – that is, if many people find them valuable. Injuries from scooters, and the number of scooters left lying around, have increased because the <a href="https://nacto.org/shared-micromobility-2018/">number of people using them has skyrocketed</a>. Those 1,500 reported injuries are <a href="https://nacto.org/shared-micromobility-2018/">from 38.5 million rides</a>.</p>
<p>This is not, of course, to say that these technologies and the firms that produce them should go unregulated. Indeed, a number of these firms have behaved quite poorly, and have legitimately created some harms, which should be regulated. </p>
<p>But instead of preemptively banning things, I suggest continuing to rely on the standard approach in the liberal tradition: See what kinds of harms arise, handle the early cases via the court system, and then consider whether a pattern of harms emerges that would be better handled upfront by a new or revised regulation. The <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/">Consumer Product Safety Commission</a>, which looks out for dangerous consumer goods and holds manufacturers to account, is an example of this.</p>
<p>Indeed, laws and regulations already cover littering, abandoned vehicles, negligence and assault. New technologies may just introduce new ways of generating the same old harms, ones that are already reasonably well regulated. Genuinely new situations can of course arise: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/14/us/facial-recognition-ban-san-francisco.html">San Francisco’s ban on municipal use of facial recognition technologies</a> may well be sensible, as people quite reasonably can democratically decide that the state shouldn’t be able to track their every move. People might well decide that companies shouldn’t be able to either.</p>
<p>Silicon Valley’s CEOs aren’t always <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-google-gender-manifesto-really-says-about-silicon-valley-82236">sympathetic characters</a>. And “disruption” really can be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/19/tim-cook-if-youve-built-a-chaos-factory-you-cant-dodge-responsibility-for-the-chaos">disruptive</a>. But liberalism is about innovation and experimentation and finding new solutions to humanity’s problems. Banning new technologies – even ones as trivial as dockless scooters – embodies a conservatism that denies that premise. A lot of new ideas aren’t great. A handful are really useful. It’s hard to tell which is which until we try them out a bit.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120277/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ryan Muldoon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New technologies and services aren’t creating irreversible damage, even though they do generate some harms. Preemptive bans would stifle innovation and block potential solutions to real problems.Ryan Muldoon, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University at BuffaloLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/610592016-09-01T03:25:29Z2016-09-01T03:25:29ZCybathlon: A bionics competition for people with disabilities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126787/original/image-20160615-14054-16isgqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Testing new ways to navigate a complicated world.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.cybathlon.ethz.ch/en/for-the-media/photo-gallery.html">ETH Zurich/Alessandro Della Bella</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Millions of people worldwide rely on orthotics, prosthetics, wheelchairs and other assistive devices to improve their quality of life. In the United States alone, there are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2007.11.005">more than 1.6 million people with limb amputations</a>. The World Health Organization estimates the number of wheelchair users to be <a href="http://www.who.int/disabilities/publications/technology/wheelchairguidelines/en/">about 65 million people worldwide</a>.</p>
<p>It is important to improve the daily lives of people with disabilities or physical weaknesses, and allow them to be more independent. Unfortunately, current assistive technology does not fully address their needs. Wheelchairs cannot climb stairs; arm prostheses do not enable versatile hand functions. Powered support devices have limited battery life. The list goes on and on.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126783/original/image-20160615-14054-cjn6as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126783/original/image-20160615-14054-cjn6as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126783/original/image-20160615-14054-cjn6as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126783/original/image-20160615-14054-cjn6as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126783/original/image-20160615-14054-cjn6as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126783/original/image-20160615-14054-cjn6as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126783/original/image-20160615-14054-cjn6as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many people need help climbing stairs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.cybathlon.ethz.ch/en/for-the-media/photo-gallery.html">ETH Zurich/Alessandro Della Bella</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>People with disabilities are often disappointed with their devices’ performance, and choose not to use them. The main objection is that designs ignore user needs, such as individual preferences for device appearance, sizing and fitting for comfort and function, effort and time required to put on and take off, and device durability and weight.</p>
<p>Beyond the design issues, these tools are expensive. <a href="http://www.unicef.org/protection/World_report_on_disability_eng.pdf">Cost shuts many people out of using them</a>, regardless of how well they work.“ And stairs, steep ramps, narrow doorways and low tables can make the use of assistive technologies very cumbersome or even impossible.</p>
<p>It is an industry ripe for innovation. To encourage this work, I have founded <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12984-016-0157-2">a new kind of competition</a> promoting the development of useful technologies. In the Paralympics, parathletes aim to achieve maximum performance in sporting challenges. In our new contest, the <a href="http://www.cybathlon.ethz.ch/en/">Cybathlon</a>, people with physical disabilities will compete against each other at tasks of daily life, with the aid of advanced assistive devices – including robotic ones.</p>
<h2>Focusing on teamwork and technology</h2>
<p>In the Cybathlon, what’s being tested is not just the abilities of human athletes, nor only the equipment they use. Rather, it’s their symbiosis, balancing good technical performance of the device, and its control by the athlete.</p>
<p>Competitors will face off in six disciplines, for people with either limb amputations or limb paralysis of varying degrees, such as occurs after a spinal cord injury. We’ll organize a race focused on each of these technologies: powered leg prostheses, powered arm prostheses, functional electrical stimulation (FES) driven bikes, powered wheelchairs, and powered exoskeletons. The sixth competition is a racing game with virtual avatars controlled by brain-computer interfaces. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126784/original/image-20160615-14016-1lbdyum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126784/original/image-20160615-14016-1lbdyum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126784/original/image-20160615-14016-1lbdyum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126784/original/image-20160615-14016-1lbdyum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126784/original/image-20160615-14016-1lbdyum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126784/original/image-20160615-14016-1lbdyum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126784/original/image-20160615-14016-1lbdyum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teams work together: a pilot in control, with others supporting and operating the technology.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.cybathlon.ethz.ch/en/for-the-media/photo-gallery.html">ETH Zurich/Alessandro Della Bella</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We ran test sessions in July 2015, and have slated the full competition for October 8 in Zurich. The devices involved can be prototypes developed by research labs or companies, or commercially available products. Competitors will be called pilots, as they must control a device that enhances their mobility. </p>
<p>Competing teams each consist of a pilot, scientists and technology providers, making the Cybathlon also a competition among companies and research laboratories. As a result there are two awards for each competition’s winning team: a medal for the pilot and a cup for the company or lab that made the device.</p>
<h2>The six competitions</h2>
<p>The competitions will simulate challenges people with disabilities face in daily life – situations that non-disabled people don’t think twice about but that can be insurmountable for others.</p>
<p><strong>Powered prosthetic legs</strong> Most leg prostheses require their users to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2011.09.004">swing the artificial leg just so</a>, to properly align the knee, lower leg and foot. And they cannot transfer muscular power through the knee, using <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0966-6362(01)00162-X">thigh muscles to help climb stairs</a>, for example. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4klZXwE3-tI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">One of the best unpowered-knee prostheses, offering a quite symmetrical gait compared to most devices.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Powered leg prostheses can provide that missing power, but they are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2014.08.012">difficult to control</a> unless the motor understands how the user wants to move. And even the best batteries are either too heavy or too short-lived to be a real solution. Our race will challenge pilots with above-knee amputations to use powered prosthetic legs to walk up and down stairs, stand up from a seated position, and otherwise navigate a complicated environment.</p>
<p><strong>Powered hands and arms</strong> Two-handed jobs, requiring either strength (like carrying a heavy box) or specific fine motor skills (like opening a small jar of jam) are challenging with even the best upper-arm prostheses. As a result, up to 60 percent of people with upper-limb amputation <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0363-5023(05)80278-3">don’t use their prosthetic device very much</a> or <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09638280410001645094">even at all</a>. People are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03093640600994581">much less likely to reject</a> more advanced devices, like body-powered or electric ones. Pilots with amputations at or above the lower arm will use motorized prosthetic hands and arms to complete various household and food preparation tasks.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126782/original/image-20160615-14051-1xjec7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126782/original/image-20160615-14051-1xjec7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126782/original/image-20160615-14051-1xjec7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126782/original/image-20160615-14051-1xjec7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126782/original/image-20160615-14051-1xjec7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126782/original/image-20160615-14051-1xjec7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126782/original/image-20160615-14051-1xjec7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Two-handed jobs needing fine motor skills can be very hard to complete.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.cybathlon.ethz.ch/en/for-the-media/photo-gallery.html">ETH Zurich/Alessandro Della Bella</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Assisted cycling</strong> People with complete paraplegia don’t lose their muscles; they just lose the ability to control them. A technology called functional electrical stimulation (FES) can restore some of this function, sending electricity into otherwise dormant nerves to activate muscles. FES technology has been <a href="http://www.rehab.research.va.gov/jour/07/44/3/hardin.html">used for decades</a>. But the systems <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1682/JRRD.2011.03.0043">take a long time to set up</a>, don’t produce much muscle force, and tire out muscles quickly. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.rehab.research.va.gov/jour/07/44/3/hardin.html">Surgically implanted systems</a> give more <a href="http://www.rehab.research.va.gov/JOUR/03/40/3/pdf/Agarwal.pdf">specific control of particular muscles and higher force output</a>. But they are expensive and invasive, and carry more risks than external FES devices that are merely strapped to a person’s body. For these reasons, doctors and patients <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/sj.sc.3102101">don’t often use FES technology</a>.</p>
<p>In the Cybathlon, pilots with complete paraplegia will compete in a bike race, using FES devices to fire their leg muscles to drive the pedals.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6ifHDkdY-k0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Helping cyclists pedal with functional electrical stimulation.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Powered wheelchairs</strong> Despite the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws and regulations, public buildings are still <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/17483107.2010.522680">hard to enter and navigate in wheelchairs</a>. Most outdoor devices are too bulky and not agile enough for indoor use; commercial indoor wheelchairs can’t travel over uneven terrain or steps. So-called <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1682/JRRD.2004.08.0101">intelligent or smart wheelchairs, which can autonomously navigate in known environments</a> have been available for decades, but are very expensive and <a href="http://ebooks.iospress.nl/volume/assistive-technology-from-research-to-practice">used by relatively few people</a>.</p>
<p>Wheelchairs are becoming more powerful, but often their control systems are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MCS.2005.1411382">neither as effective nor as comfortable</a> as they could be. To push development of these functions, pilots with paralysis will take powered wheelchairs through an obstacle course with ramps, stairs, bends, doors and uneven terrain. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H5_Kvmkzc1M?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Powered wheelchair racing.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Powered exoskeletons</strong> An alternative to wheelchairs are exoskeletal devices that <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1615/CritRevBiomedEng.2014010453">help people walk</a>. However, batteries only last a few hours, and the equipment is very bulky and heavy. Most of the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/2300000028">commercially available multi-joint exoskeletons</a> weigh between 46 and 62 pounds (21–28 kg). One device, called ”<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/17483107.2015.1080766">REX</a>“ weighs nearly 88 pounds! </p>
<p>Current commercial systems are so limited that they can’t even climb slopes or stairs. An obstacle course will test pilots’ and teams’ abilities to develop systems that can move through difficult areas.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TkqfetY4jjQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Moving with powered exoskeletons.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Navigating by brain power</strong> In the brain-computer interface (BCI) race, pilots with paralysis of all four limbs will control a virtual avatar in a racing game displayed on a computer screen. The best pilots will be able to make their brain signals emit three different commands to overcome three different kinds of virtual obstacles. BCI technology is becoming more popular, but most systems take a long time to set up, can be uncomfortable, and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s120201211">don’t function well outside the lab</a>. That has prevented its <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2011.12.008">broad use in daily life</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5jGcNbQhbg8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Racing with brain power alone.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Pushing the boundaries of the possible</h2>
<p>The Cybathlon will bring together people with disabilities or physical weaknesses, researchers and developers, governments and other agencies that fund services and research. It will also showcase the importance of this work to the general public. Our hope is that over time, these devices will become more affordable and more functional.</p>
<p>Unlike the Paralympic Games, pilots can use any technical aids they need, as long as they are safe. That enables people with more severe disabilities to compete. The goal is not to be the fastest or the strongest participant; rather it’s to be the most skilled pilot who can use advanced technologies to best overcome the challenges of everyday life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61059/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Riener receives funding from Swiss National Science Foundation, Swiss Department of Inner Affairs, and private sponsors. </span></em></p>People with disabilities are often disappointed with their devices’ performance, and choose not to use them. To encourage innovation, a new competition tests assistive technologies.Robert Riener, Professor of Sensory-Motor Systems, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ZurichLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/90082012-08-28T20:06:13Z2012-08-28T20:06:13ZLeg-ism leaves some Paralympic stars out on a limb<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/14655/original/72v265py-1346040826.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Artificial leg wearers tend to fare better than "wheelchair-bound" athletes in the media.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jason Verwey </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We all know the media is influential. We also know the media’s portrayal of disability issues and disabled people is uneven. Such biases are also evident in the portrayal of the technology employed by Paralympic athletes – and not least in the different treatment given to artificial legs and wheelchairs.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.ossur.com/?PageID=13462">Cheetah legs</a> of Paralympic athletes such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/oscar-pistorius-and-the-olympics-good-news-or-bad-for-sport-8122">Oscar Pistorius</a> and <a href="https://www.google.ca/search?q=aimee+mullins&aq=f&sugexp=chrome,mod=11&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8">Aimee Mullins</a> have triggered a lot of attention. </p>
<p>Artificial legs are often hailed as “liberation tools”, giving their wearers the “essential” ability to walk. At the same time, other therapeutic assistive devices, such as wheelchairs, are demonised through the use of phrases such as “wheelchair-bound” or “confined to the wheelchair”. </p>
<p>This might be understandable given the cultural reality of leg-ism, an “ism” that perceives walking as essential. But it’s troubling.</p>
<h2>A recurring theme</h2>
<p>In 2003 I wrote a book chapter called “Confined to your legs” to question the leg-ism evident in the discourse around artificial limbs and in society in general. And the <a href="http://www.wheelchairpride.com/2010/07/journalists-stop-writing-wheelchair.html">bias against wheelchairs has been questioned</a> by people with disabilities for a long time. </p>
<p>Last year, <a href="http://laurenceparent.wordpress.com/">Laurence Parent</a> did a thesis with me, called Je Me Souviens: The Hegemony of Stairs in the Montreal Metro, in which she wrote about the legism and walking-ableism exhibited in the Montreal Metro system (<a href="https://www.google.ca/search?q=thre+hegumony+of+stairs+in+the+montreal+metro&sugexp=chrome,mod=11&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&sa=X&ei=35U7UKKUBse5igKTmYHQDA&ved=0CB0QvwUoAA&q=the+hegemony+of+stairs+in+the+montreal+metro&spell=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=a5d8010c0acb34b2&biw=1366&bih=643">click here for the accompanying PowerPoint presentation</a>).</p>
<p>Legism is evident in many places. But
it is particularly troubling that articles covering Cheetah legs use the term “wheelchair-bound” nearly exclusively if a wheelchair is mentioned in the same article.</p>
<p>To give five examples:</p>
<p>1) A 2007 <a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.03/blade.html">Wired magazine</a> article states:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>No-one expects able-bodied runners to compete head-to-head with wheelchair-bound marathoners.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>2) In 2009, the National Institute of Health Office of Science Education published <a href="http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih9/bioethics/guide/teacher/Mod1_Oscar-key.pdf">Exploring Bioethics NIH Curriculum Supplement Series Grades 9-12 Master 1.7 Answer Key for Oscar Pistorius’s Case</a>, in which one reads:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Pistorius would have been wheelchair-bound without the amputation and prosthetics.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>3) In 2008, an <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/computing/80926-prosthetic-limbs-give-runner-unfair-advantage">Extreme Tech magazine</a> article stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>For anyone who has watched the Paralympic version of the Boston Marathon, where wheelchair-bound athletes finish in a fraction of the time of their more able-bodied rivals, pay attention.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>4) A 2010 <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/summer/track/2010-04-25-amputee-runner_N.htm">USA Today article</a> about Cheetah leg-wearing track athlete <a href="http://www.seeamyrun.com/">Amy Palmiero-Winters</a> states:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>She gives motivational speeches at schools. She runs marathons pushing wheelchair-bound children, trying to inspire them to push beyond their obstacles.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>5) In 2009, <a href="http://www.mindpowernews.com/5Superpowers.htm">Mind Power News</a> shared a similar sentiment, stating:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Leg amputees, if not wheelchair-bound, are often left struggling with awkward prosthetics, canes and crutches. But now, with the aid of newly developed super-legs, even double amputees can run every bit as well as some of the world’s fastest sprinters.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In addition to the above instances, and countless others like them, there are many examples of negative imagery of wheelchair Paralympians, independent of leg-related articles. Again, to give a few examples:</p>
<p>On <a href="http://swifterhigher.com/post/26225584890">Swifter Higher</a>, a website about the Olympics, we learn that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Wheelchair-bound Veronika Vadovicova of Slovakia scored 494.8 points in the R2-SH1 standing air rifle competition, therefore becoming the first gold medalist of the 2008 Paralympics.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In 2008, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/disability_sport/7620429.stm">the BBC</a> informed us that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Celebrations are taking place in Britain to mark the handover, with Stoke Mandeville hospital - which hosted the first Games for <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/disability_sport/7620429.stm">wheelchair-bound</a> athletes 60 years ago - open for students to attend a special ceremony.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In 2010, the <a href="http://www.howitworksdaily.com/science/top-five-facts-paralympics/">How it Works</a> website pointed out:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The first Winter Paralympic Games were held in Sweden in 1976. They were the first Games to feature athletes other than those wheelchair-bound.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Question is: who of the reporters and editors involved in this coverage buy into the legism linked to using the term “wheelchair-bound” and how many use the term without thinking about its negative connotations?</p>
<h2>International vs national athletes</h2>
<p>A <a href="http://athletesfirst.ca/2012/08/22/us-and-them-the-media-treat-paralympians-differently-depending-on-where-they-are-from/">recent blog post</a> by Associate Professor Toni Bruce from the University of Auckland stated that media in New Zealand cover international and New Zealand Paralympic athletes differently. </p>
<p>She discovered that media stories highlight the “deviant” body far more when covering international Paralympians versus New Zealand Paralympians. On her blog, Professor Bruce is currently looking for good and bad examples of media coverage, should you come across any.</p>
<p>Of course, the media also covers disabled people outside sport in an uneven fashion which might be a subject to return to after the London Games. </p>
<p>To stay with the Paralympic theme for now, the media is fast to use terms such as “inspiring” with Paralympians. But how can they inspire if the reporting of disabled people often continues to be disabling in so many instances. </p>
<p>Instead of using labels such as “wheelchair-bound” the media should aspire to inspire people to accept and support ability differences. </p>
<p>The International Olympic Committee’s <a href="http://www.olympic.org/Documents/olympic_charter_en.pdf">Olympic Charter</a> states that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Maybe we need such a spirit of <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/olympismproject.org/olympism-project/">Olympism</a> for the media? </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/9008/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gregor Wolbring receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. I am with the University of Calgary.</span></em></p>We all know the media is influential. We also know the media’s portrayal of disability issues and disabled people is uneven. Such biases are also evident in the portrayal of the technology employed by…Gregor Wolbring, Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/89242012-08-26T20:44:54Z2012-08-26T20:44:54ZWheelchair technology in the Paralympics … and its spin-offs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/14535/original/xyh888sv-1345609326.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When it comes to design and performance, all wheelchairs are not created equally.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">April Fonti/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Equipment such as wheelchairs or prosthesis is fundamental in allowing some people with disabilities to carry out the tasks of daily living. But in the endeavour to go higher, faster and longer, athletes with a disability have found these standard devices can inhibit their sporting performance. So where do these two worlds meet?</p>
<p>Paralympic sports evolved from <a href="http://www.paralympiceducation.ca/Content/History/11%20History%20of%20the%20Paralympics.asp?langid=1">medical rehabilitation programs</a> in the 1950s. The objective of a rehabilitation program is to regain a level of function for the client. </p>
<p>For an athlete with a disability, the highest expression of this return to function is to compete at an elite level in the <a href="http://www.london2012.com/paralympics/">Paralympic Games</a>.</p>
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<p>To satisfy the demands of elite athletes, significant new technological developments in wheelchair design and prostheses have occurred, demonstrated by radical equipment designs such as <a href="http://aac-rerc.psu.edu/wordpressmu/RESNA-SDC/2010/05/13/uniform-throwing-chair-for-seated-throwing-sporting-events/">seated throwing chairs</a>, <a href="http://www.sureng.com.au/racing.htm">racing wheelchairs</a>, and <a href="http://www.ossur.com/?PageID=13462">running prosthesis</a>. </p>
<p>As technological advances continue to provide opportunities for improved athletic performance, an ongoing challenge for international sporting bodies is to determine if the use of a given technology represents “performance enhancement” or, rather, is “essential for performance”.</p>
<h2>A base to work from</h2>
<p>The traditional wheelchair (or day-chair) design consists of two larger wheels at the rear of the chair to allow forward propulsion via the push-rims, and two small smaller wheels at the front of the chair to provide stability. </p>
<p>The steering of the day-chair is controlled by manipulating the rear wheels, either braking or propelling more on one side to change direction. </p>
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<p>But the unique requirements of sporting use have modified this conventional design dramatically. Due to the need for rapid acceleration and to change direction suddenly in wheelchair basketball (see top video) and wheelchair tennis (see video above), many chairs now incorporate a fifth wheel at the back, preventing the chair from flipping backwards during play.</p>
<h2>Different strokes</h2>
<p>In the high-impact sport of wheelchair rugby (see video below), the chairs are also fitted with reinforced front and side bumper guards that have special “hooks” to trap opposition players. Players in such sports must often move quickly and change direction rapidly while carrying or holding balls or rackets. </p>
<p>To accommodate this, the camber (angle) of the rear wheels is increased to facilitate a quicker “grab” of the rear wheel. This increased camber also improves hand protection when two chairs collide on the court and improves turn velocity.</p>
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<p>For athletes who compete on the track or road, racing wheelchairs resemble a cross between a wheelchair and a bicycle. As with sport-specific prosthetic limbs, there are sport-specific racing wheelchairs that are lighter, will track in a straight line and are aerodynamically designed to enhance track performance. </p>
<p>For straight line racing on the track or road (see video below), the racing chair has evolved with an extra long-wheel base and a single large front wheel. </p>
<p>The push-rims are considerably smaller on the racing chair as the biomechanics of this configuration requires less arm movement but greater push. As a wheelchair racer will generally only compete against fellow wheelchair racers, the issue of performance enhancement is a moot point as the technology is essential for performance. </p>
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<p>But the equity of access to this wheelchair technology must be addressed.</p>
<h2>Advances and application</h2>
<p>Advances in technology underpin such assistive devices. The development of the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2649039">energy-storing prosthetic foot</a> can make a lower-limb amputee’s gait more efficient and ambulation faster. </p>
<p>When this revolutionary prosthetic technology was specifically applied to sprinters, studies showed that running velocity was significantly increased. </p>
<p>But the application of this technology has been controversial, as clearly demonstrated by the much-publicised <a href="https://theconversation.com/oscar-pistorius-and-the-olympics-good-news-or-bad-for-sport-8122">Oscar Pistorius</a> or “Blade Runner” debates before the 2008 Beijing and the 2012 London Olympic and now Paralympic Games. </p>
<p>The skill of the athlete, coupled with this new prosthetic technology, enabled Oscar to enter qualification in the men’s 400m sprint in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.</p>
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<p>Although not discussed in peer-reviewed literature, it is well documented in the press and sports communities that both the Olympic and Paralympic movements struggle with the role of technology in the sporting arena. </p>
<p>In the best interest of the athlete, and to avoid potential legal problems and unwarranted issues, the role of technology needs to be clarified. </p>
<p>In particular the speculation that advances in technology create a greater advantage than the best performance-enhancing drugs – giving rise to the often-heard comment: “Who’s going to win the gold medal, the athlete or the technician?”</p>
<h2>Match fit</h2>
<p>A fundamental aspect of the above problem is for the sport scientist to effectively “match” the technology with the athletes’ requirements. </p>
<p>Simply picking up an elite athlete’s equipment will not result in a world championship performance. If an athlete uses Roger Federer’s tennis racket, that alone will not produce a Grand Slam-level performance. </p>
<p>The right matching requires skill, commitment, opportunity and technology. As such, advances in wheelchair technology are essential for an athlete to perform.</p>
<p>And ultimately this new knowledge will translate into more functional wheelchair devices for daily activities in the broader population.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/8924/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>There are no potential conflicts.</span></em></p>Equipment such as wheelchairs or prosthesis is fundamental in allowing some people with disabilities to carry out the tasks of daily living. But in the endeavour to go higher, faster and longer, athletes…Brendan Burkett, Professor of Sport Science , University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.