As you all know, I’m a Bengal’s football fan!
On any given Sunday, your girl is decked out in orange and black from head to toe ready to root for my favorite team.
My love of the game came from my brothers. I used to watch them play football in the street. Many aspire to play football whether that’s pee-wee ball, grade school, high school, or college ball.
During professional and college football games, plays are called while in the huddle through a hearing aid to the quarterback. These plays are then dictated through hand signs to other players, so they’ll know where they need to go. This is a good system for most, but how does this system play out if a quarterback is deaf?
Thanks to communication carrier, AT&T, and their cool creation, quarterbacks who are deaf can now see plays in the helmet.
AT&T teamed up with Gallaudet University, which is a school for the deaf and hard of hearing, to create a helmet where the quarterback can see the play on a digital screen. This creation is going to open a mountain of opportunities to students who are deaf and want to play football.
Although, with all the hype around the new helmet, we must continue to change people’s ableism attitudes; for as of now, this helmet is only being used in deaf and hard of hearing schools. Until its mandated that all schools use this helmet as a reasonable accommodation to those who need it to play football, it’ll never be inclusive.
So many times, there are things that can help people with disabilities; but many may be against it because they are not the “norm”, even if it will improve a person’s quality of life. When prejudice or ignorance rears its ugly head, many miss out. To learn about new things as well as new ways of doing things, we must be open to the process.
There are many different assistive technologies that allow people with disabilities to live life to the fullest and independently. I’m happy this cool helmet is one of them.
As a person with a disability, I’m always looking for new technologies that will improve my life. Luckily, Ohio is a technology first state and knows the value of how it can help people with disabilities. If you’re looking for more information on assistive technology, check out the Ohio Tech Ambassadors website. https://ohiotechambassadors.org/