SCHS ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY CENTER CELEBRATES GLOBAL ACCESSIBILITY AWARENESS DAY
Mrs. Mona Abdel Karim, Director of Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services (SCHS), has confirmed that marking Global Accessibility Awareness Day corresponds to SCHS leadership and efforts to stay tuned with the latest trends and updates in this field in order to improve the quality of life for persons with disabilities according to the best practices worldwide.
She said, “SCHS strives to empower persons with disabilities in every area of life. Therefore, SCHS has great care for Assistive Technology, which promotes greater independence to persons with disabilities”.
Mrs. Mona gave this statement upon the opening of (Smart Home) gallery, which SCHS Assistive Technology Center is organizing at Sharjah Archaeology Museum on Wednesday and Thursday, May 1, and 2, 2019. A number of specialists and relevant companies such as Smart Home, Mayfair, and Home Center are taking part in the gallery.
Ms. Mona has pointed out that SCHS is a leading organization in sponsoring innovation in every area of life including Assistive Technology. Whereas in March 2014, SCHS established its Assistive Technology Center. In addition, SCHS launched Designing Assistive Technology Apps Competition in 2015. SCHS organizes this competition in collaboration with the Quality of Life Center at Seoul National University and LG Electronics. In addition, SCHS has launched and participated in many other initiatives.
Ms. Rabab Abdel Wahab, Director of Assistive Technology Center, talked about some of the gallery’s objectives such as raising people’s awareness of the importance of assistive technologies in promoting greater independency to persons with disabilities.
She explained that a smart home is a concept used to define accommodation equipped with lighting, air conditioning, heating systems, audio and video entertainment systems, televisions and computers, as well as security and surveillance cameras. Residents can control all these features through the Internet.
She said, “Persons with disabilities and the elderly can easily use these features to control the environment in the house. It is a perfect example for universal design and recruiting assistive technologies in bedrooms, dining rooms, etc. As a result, persons with disabilities would have complete independency inside and around the house.
SCHS Assistive Technology Center offers services to all those students enrolled in Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services as well as those who desire to benefit from these services without being part of SCHS beneficiaries.
As part of SCHS contribution to the gallery, a number of physical and occupational therapy specialists provided explanation about some assistive technology tools.
The Architect at the Housing Department Fatima Hassan and the Electrical Engineer Amna Salem praised the level of the smart home and the assistive technologies used in it. It is very useful in designing houses, especially those used by the elderly and persons with disabilities.
They hoped to push the cooperation with Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services further more for the benefit of persons with disabilities and the entire community.