Assistive technology training

Assistive technology, when explained, set up, and trained properly, can be genuinely life-changing.

A lot of times when I'm training my clients I find myself wondering how the tool they were given was supposed to fit their actual life. These tools that are provided to help, don't. My clients found themselves frustrated, overwhelmed, and often not using them, or only using them out of some sense of obligation or worrying about the cost.

The thing is, tools only help if they fit your life. There's no point giving someone a trowel if they're not into gardening. That's where I come in. I help you make sense of what you've been given, how to use it, but most importantly, when and where to use it, fitting it to your life and work, and not the other way around. Software alone is not support.

I've been in this game a while, over 20 years, and in that time I've done training, documentation, troubleshooting, and everything in between. Being AuDHD helped, I think, to be honest. The biggest thing I noticed in that time is that, people often had no idea how to use the software they were given. I taught one person how to use keyboard shortcuts and they looked at me like I'd just decoded the Rosetta Stone whilst brushing my teeth at the same time.

Point being, I've worked with all levels of technical knowledge, and I've found that being calm and patient gets much more done than being the Roy from The IT Crowd stereotype.

Eventually, thanks to redundancy, I decided to use all of that knowledge and do something productive. So, here I am, trying to help people use their technology more effectively.

Assistive technology helps people who have challenges in various aspects of life, such as speaking, typing, remembering, hearing, seeing, and many others besides.

I can support with a wide variety of tools that help with this, from screen-reading applications such as Read&Write, voice dictation software like Dragon Naturally Speaking, or more basic things, like Microsoft To Do.

The key is to make sure that the software fits the need, or getting the software to fit the need.

I take people as they come. If you need a gentler hand, you'll get it. If you have a sarcastic sense of humour, I can work with that. Don't worry about not knowing all the terminology; it doesn't matter, and if it's relevant, I'll teach you as we go.

Sessions can include walking through a tool step by step, setting it up around your actual tasks, practising how to use it, troubleshooting what is not working, and thinking through how different tools connect with each other.

My aim is to get you from “I've been given this tool” to “I understand how this can actually work for me”.

This training may be useful if you have access to assistive technology but are not sure how to use it, do not know how it fits into your work or studies, or feel overwhelmed by the number of tools available.

It may also help if you have been provided software or digital tools through Access to Work, your employer, your university, a workplace assessment, or another support route, but need practical help turning them into something usable.

I'm not an ADHD coach. My work focuses on assistive technology training, digital systems support and helping people use tools more confidently.

Divergently Being does not provide, sell or fund assistive technology software.

I support people to use software, tools and systems they already have access to, including tools funded by Access to Work, provided by an employer, supplied by a university, or already available through workplace systems.

If you are not sure whether I can support you with a particular tool or system, please contact us and ask.