Hope and hi-tech

By Wannapa Phetdee
Daily Xpress
Published on May 20, 2008

Persistence is vital, say those affected or who have to help others who are

How can the disabled overcome their physical limitations and help themselves in their daily lives? Self-worth teamed with technology can do amazing things.

"When I first knew my daughter, Chitlada, had poor vision, I was upset and cried for more than a month, but eventually I asked myself how my daughter was going to be able to fight her problem if I was depressed," says Wimol Rangsiwatanasak.

She's been seeking information about her daughter's problem, in an effort to get her help and maybe find some treatment or technology that will help Chitlada, 8, regain her sight.

The girl developed vision problems when she was eight months old. She is in now Prathom 2 at Phraharuthai Don Muang School.

"My daughter can do everything others do, though she could hardly see before. She wears red-tinted glasses to reduce brightness and needs a magnifying glass to read," says Wimol. "I'm trying to find devices to help her read more easily, and I will order two video magnifiers for her, one to carry and one to keep at school."

Terdkiat Chayjarung, 36, is paralysed from the waist down. Following an accident 15 years ago, he was a quadriplegic. Because of his fierce desire to work, he can now move his upper body.

"Fortunately, I'm an optimistic person. It made me fight my disabilities with hope," he says. Today he works as a rehabilitation counsellor, giving advice to other disabled people.

"I don't have any hi-tech equipment to help me. I must rely on what technology there is and on myself. There is still not enough for the disabled in Thailand.

"It would be great to have access to hi-tech equipment and more areas with disabled access," says Terdkiat.

Prof Pairash Thajchayapong, a senior adviser at the National Science and Technology Development Agency, is working with the Sirindhorn National Medical Rehabilit-ation Centre to make hi-tech prostheses for the disabled.

The centre provides advanced equipment for the disabled, like cochlear implants for the hearing impaired. Much is given free to civil servants.