THE FINAL PORTFOLIO
Nkala James
Literacy Narrative
9/22/19 A.T Writing
My story as a young writer started way back when I was a child. My thoughts on writing when I was young was simple to say the least; I hated to write. Nowadays I find it fascinating; to me it’s the best way to express one’s feelings. Imagining how characters would react to certain situations and going over the moral code/ethics brought up by these characters. I guess in a way you could say that writing shaped me to be who I am today. But how did I change my view on writing in such a positive radical way you ask?
It definitely took a lot of time for my views to change on writing. I first had to synthesize the writing abilities that I have today and gain qualities that would help me expand upon my writing. The characteristics that would help one to have an ever growing lust for knowledge; to never give up even when failure is so constant; and have the joy of expressing feelings. As a young kid who came from Jamaica I directly had a conflicting problems with building these strengths.
In Jamaica we speak a broken form of English; a dialect called patwa. It’s hard to remember everything as a kid, however there were a few moments where I could recall that this had a direct impact on my writing. In this dialect there are words that don’t seem to exist in english and when I presented them outloud it didn’t go that well. My friends would not understand what I was saying and they would begin to laugh. Their laughter made me even more upset than I originally was and when I got upset my dialect got stronger; and so did their laughter. As a kid that isn’t the biggest motivator to continue writing.
My mother figured I was going to have this problem thought a great way for me to overcome a challenge like this was to study. Her studying is very rigorous, day and night taking practice regents packets trying to improve my skills in not just writing but in all subjects; it was overwhelming. As a child I was depressed, for me an 8 year old kid to watch other children go outside and play around while I was stuck inside reading books and solving math problems. However, I don’t regret any of it. The life I’ve lived is one to be expected from the life of a child raised by a teacher. It was the solitude that made me become someone who wanted knowledge and someone who upheld education as one of the highest values in life. As a kid isolation from my culture seemed like the only way to overcome the cultural differences I faced at the time.
Then fast forward, it was time before my big transition into high school. I decided to go to summer school and volunteer, so that I can improve myself and reach far beyond a high school student level. Here is where I remember working with a teacher referred to as Miss Thompson. She was very strict and she too came from my home country. When I joined the class, it was as if I didn’t know anything. My papers were always marked up in red ink from top to bottom. So many corrections I thought to myself. If I did not do well on these assignments then I wouldn’t receive credit for my class. It took me a good two weeks before I got serious about studying for the summer class.
It was during these times of summer when I realized my biggest flaw, im lazy. Essentially being lazy was a huge drawback because my energy would feel depleted all the time so that even if I did want to study I could not. In order to counteract my sloth like tendency I had to think. Have you ever heard of the phrase “Work smarter not harder”, I am the living embodiment of this. I ended up trying to copy the teacher’s thought process on writing instead of creating my own with the new knowledge I was given. What better way to get a 100 than showing the teacher exactly what they want to see. But when you copy someone you happen to pick up some habits. The more and more I imitated my teacher I found that writing was not a task but a joy.A joy that everyone should cherish.
Creative Composition
Nkala James
Prof. Casey Ellis
City College of New York
(Abstract)
Technology is considered the craft of science and is where all types of new techniques and skills are being applied. The technologies that are being developed today are trying to help people improve the quality of life as we know it. Even now these advancements in technology continue to progress so much so, that it has grown to even help those with disabilities. For example, there are specific forms of technology that help improve the functional capabilities of people called assistive technology. The Assistive technology I will be focusing on is called the monitor (no not just a computer screen), it is for those who have undergone the condition of deafblindness. Deafblindness is a condition in which people experience a detrimental loss in hearing and loss in sight. In my essay, I will go over the many reasons on why this assistive technology, the monitor, is a must-have if you end up in this unpredictable circumstance.
(What is the Monitor?)
So what exactly is the monitor; well the Monitor is a portable device ,and it is a vibrotactile aid meaning it requires you ability to touch. This portable device is used to help people with severe hearing impairments and people with the condition known as (DB) deafblindness. The use of the monitor is to help those who have deafblidness obtain more information about their surroundings allowing them to live much more safely rather than if the did not have it. The users of the device see an improvement in the ability to detect, identify, and recognize directions of sound-producing events. The device is best programed to handle environmental sounds in contrast to other vibratory aids designed for speech signals. The monitor relies on its ability to detect sounds from events picked up by a microphone, then modifies the sound given off to a specific frequency/sensitivity range. This sensitivity range of the skin uses algorithms created upon the principles of modulating, transposition, or filtering and then communicates these signals as vibrations.
History
The history of the vibrotactile aids and conditions fo deaf blindness dates back as far as the early 1800s. Samuel Gridley Howe established the nation’s first chartered school for the blind in 1832, but it was not well known the capability for a deaf-blind person to be able to use any of these facilities; being that a blind person still has hearing. This is where Laura Bridgman entered the fray, she went to New England Asylum for the Blind (Perkins School for the Blind) in 1837, and became the first person deaf-blind to learn language. However despite all this Deafblind children was researched a lot by philosophers mucherlier than that because they were thought to be the purest form of humans. They thought that this because since they were so isolated from the world due to their condition they were not influenced by anything.
While now if we look back at the previous nonportable version of the “Monitor” we see the results that show no matter what version consistently improved people’s ability to track, recognise and remember ongoing sound-producing activities at home and or in traffic. This was tested through four different algorithms, based on the principles mentioned earlier, which was modulation and transposition. In brief terms transposition simply changes the frequency of a key to another key, for example like a for a piece of music or music segment. While Modulation switches the keys in a music item, sometimes returning to the initial key.
Pros and Cons
While the research that I have come across listed no flaws there is still a possibility even with this assistive technology it may not be enough to improve the condition of the user. Often those who obtain deafblidness in older ages shows signs of depression. Depression comes with all sort of problems and risks. Such as suicidal thoughts, decrease in physical and mental health and one that I thought was weird the cooperation of patients. The Monitor is a vibrotactile aid meaning it requires you to use your sense of touch,but if patients do not cooperate with the device communication will be just a dream of the past. Its a harsh reality that those who are unfortunately diagnosed with deafblindness must try and overcome. If not people with this condition will just become prey to their everyday surroundings.
However there are major beneficial factors coming from this device. People with Deafblindness often to almost always do not know what is going on around them. From the moment we are born we are taught simple things such as looking both ways before crossing the street and things such as staying away from certain areas, however those diagnosed with deafblindness struggle with determining small details such as this. Deafblind people want to learn about ongoing events in the area, such finite things such as a fire alarm going off, and event below/beyond their field of sight things, such as children, cats, or baby carriages, so they don’t fall or if they’re on a vehicle’s path.
People who’ve use it
The monitor was tested and evaluated in real life with many subjects. The people I focus on are four females within the age forty four to forty five with Usher Syndrome I. Type 1 usher syndrome is a genetic disease where one is usually born deaf and suffer great vision loss.
These three females with visual impairment and one with solely lightweight perception are tested in different scenarios to see how they react. Their reaction to scenarios help boost positivity in the study of this assistive technology. First their reaction is tested while not have Monitor then with it. The tests were video-documented, and also the 2 field studies with Monitor were initiated when 5 weeks of coaching. The detection scores with omnidirectional and directional microphones were 100 percent for 3 participants and on top of fifty seven for one, each in their home and traffic environments. within the home surroundings the identification scores with the omnidirectional electro-acoustic transducer were 70%–97% and 58%–95% with the directional microphone. The corresponding values in traffic were 29%–100% and 65%–100%, severally. Their direction perception was improved to some extent by each microphone. Monitor improved the power of individuals with deafblindness to observe, identify, and acknowledge the direction of events manufacturing sounds.
References
1.The Scientific World Journal
Volume 2013, Article ID 206734, 11 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/206734
Audiological Research Centre, Örebro University Hospital, 701 85 Örebro, Sweden
School of Health and Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Fakultetsgatan 1, 70281 Örebro, Sweden
Campus Alfred Nobel, Örebro University, Karlavägen 16, 69141 Karlskoga, Sweden
Department of Ophthalmology, Örebro University Hospital, 701 85 Örebro, SwedenReceived 29 March 2013; Accepted 7 May 2013
Academic Editors: A. Deveze and M. Stankovic
Paul A. Levine, MD, Richard T. Miyamoto, MD, Wendy A. Myres, MAT, …
First Published July 1, 1987 Case Report
https://doi.org/10.1177/019459988709700110
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deafblindness
- Gargiulo, R.M. (2006). Special education in contemporary society: An introduction to exceptionality. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Turnbull, A., Turnbull, R. & Wehmeyer, M. L. (2007). Exceptional lives: Special education in today’s schools.Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
http://www.projectidealonline.org/v/deaf-blindness/
Research Critical Analysis
Nkala. T James
City College
December 2019
Abstract
In my essay I will discuss why using assistive technology to help those who have hearing or visual impairments is a must in today’s society. I will be explaining all the burdens that come within the range of this topic. Boundaries are often created and exploited emotionally or financially; when it comes to families with these impairments. Writing about these burdens we are able to understand the different worlds and cultures that these people experience. This differentiation causes arguments on whether or not being born with an impairment is a deficiency in of itself. Surely, if I was barely able to see I would not appreciate those who choose to look down upon me with pity or disgust. However, I believe that we should strip away any emotional barrier and identify that these people as having a weaknesses. From there we are able to improve them through the aid of assistive technology. I will go over multiple assistive devices starting with the cochlear implant to the monitor and explain why they are needed for those who fit certain conditions. Technology today is considered the craft of science and is where all types of new techniques and skills are continuously being polished. The technologies that are being developed today are just trying to help people improve the quality of life as we know it. This leads me to my recurring argument in this essay that we will see a lot as we continue, which is who are we to deny someone a better life.
Indeed when we break down living to is most basic fundamental core it can be seen as the strive for a better life. Take for instance a mouse, it principal desire is to eat and survive from those that wants to eat him. If we put the mouse in an environment where it has an abundance of food and no predators it will experience no stress; it will thrive to reproduce to it exponential limit. While humans are not mice the same principle applies. If we take away problems we are able to create a wanted scenario. But can we truly classify those with auditory, or visual impairments as those with a problem. The answer is yes, those who are color blind, legally blind, those born without hearing, and those who lose their hearing are not equal to those who have these senses intact. The disadvantages of these impairments are set in stone, societies expectations for you are very low. Not everyone is born with the attitude where they will want to prove themselves to the world, and when we come down to this scenario is when we truly understand the tragedy of those who have had the sense dulled to non existence. Between not being able to fend for yourself due to the lack of accessible body control you have and the risk factor you bring to a workplace, it is not the kind of feeling you want to go through. But why can’t we change the positions of these people in society when there is a clear way to help them. All of this could be solved through the use of assistive technology.
While it may sound like I am being biased, after long consideration of both arguments we can come to the conclusion that the best option for those with impairments are gaining implants. Let’s take a look at the cochlear implant. A cochlear implant is a little electronic gadget that enables individuals to hear. It can be used for people who are deaf or very hard of hearing. A cochlear implant is not to be mixed up as a hearing aid. It is implanted using surgical techniques, and often works in a different way. It often banks on the principles of feedback, and frequencies.
The cochlear implant artificially stimulates the inner ear area with electrical signals, which sends those signals to the auditory nerve, letting a person hears. Although sound quality from a cochlear implant is different from that of normal hearing, the cochlear implant lets someone sense sound that without it could not grasp otherwise. Continuous improvements are being made to the way the implants work, they are helping us to make sound for those who can not hear sound even more natural. Most infants, even if they never heard before, will be able to make sense of these sounds and develop speech and language. The argument that people tend to make when coming across the point is the loss of the deaf culture. When someone is deaf they are placed in a whole different world packed with its own language and identities. Take per say greeting your friend; a small comment of “hi, how are you would suffice” however a deaf person might communicate in gestures. Being someone outside of this culture these gestures to you might make them look crazy. However it is their language; a language they like to call sign language. Deaf people like to view or most of them like to view people who can hear as outsiders. They will continue to judge them as long as they live. When gaining these implants you reject the users culture and become an outsider. However, this way of thinking is selfish in the matter it does not recognize people who want to help. The same principles apply to those who also experience blindness and want to use the monitor. he Monitor is a portable device ,and it is a vibrotactile aid meaning it requires you ability to touch. This portable device is used to help people with severe hearing impairments and people with the condition known as (DB) deafblindness. The use of the monitor is to help those who have deafblidness obtain more information about their surroundings allowing them to live much more safely rather than if the did not have it. The users of the device see an improvement in the ability to detect, identify, and recognize directions of sound-producing events. The device is best programed to handle environmental sounds in contrast to other vibratory aids designed for speech signals. This device is the future of those who have dear-blidness.
References
(No name) NIH Publication (February 2016)
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/cochlear-implants
This article gave me the information cochlear implants as well as being able to go much more in depth in it compared to other sites.
Paul A. Levine, MD, First Published (July 1, 1987 )
This article is from my exploratory essay where I received the information on the monitor and def blindness.
Thierry Morlet, PhD (September 2016)
This document gave me the information on how cochlear implants work. It discusses the anatomy of the ear and where the implant would be placed. It also dives into the information of how the sounds are responded too.
William F. House First Published (May 1, 1976 )
This article is a scholarly article. It was also set up in the format of Apa so from there I was able to gain ideas on how to set up my argument. It also gave me a little boos in the department of inspiration to talk about cochlear implants.
Reflection:
Reflecting back on writing this essay I enjoyed certain parts it while other parts of it I did not. At the end of writing this I can say I enjoyed the many components of talking about disabilities. I had to break down point of views of others as if I was one of these people. Not only that after breaking down this point of view I had to create a way to explain these views. Usually I did my best to explain it through a comical example. However I did not enjoy everything because of how much I had to research about the topic. In order to understand someone’s point of view you must understand exactly what they’re going through. Finding information on this was a nuisance because of how limited useful information came about on deaf blindness. Being that these people with impairments aren’t always sharing their personal life experience it’s hard to know what to write about. Another thing I dislike is how strong my words came out, because if someone with an impairment read this they might punch me.
Abstract
In my essay I will discuss why using assistive technology to help those who have hearing or visual impairments is a must in today’s society. I will be explaining all the burdens that come within the range of this topic. Boundaries are often created and exploited emotionally or financially; when it comes to families with these impairments. Writing about these burdens we are able to understand the different worlds and cultures that these people experience. This differentiation causes arguments on whether or not being born with an impairment is a deficiency in of itself. Surely, if I was barely able to see I would not appreciate those who choose to look down upon me with pity or disgust. However, I believe that we should strip away any emotional barrier and identify that these people as having a weaknesses. From there we are able to improve them through the aid of assistive technology. I will go over multiple assistive devices starting with the cochlear implant to the monitor and explain why they are needed for those who fit certain conditions. Technology today is considered the craft of science and is where all types of new techniques and skills are continuously being polished. The technologies that are being developed today are just trying to help people improve the quality of life as we know it. This leads me to my recurring argument in this essay that we will see a lot as we continue, which is who are we to deny someone a better life.
Indeed when we break down living to is most basic fundamental core it can be seen as the strive for a better life. Take for instance a mouse, it principal desire is to eat and survive from those that wants to eat him. If we put the mouse in an environment where it has an abundance of food and no predators it will experience no stress; it will thrive to reproduce to it exponential limit. While humans are not mice the same principle applies. If we take away problems we are able to create a wanted scenario. But can we truly classify those with auditory, or visual impairments as those with a problem. The answer is yes, those who are color blind, legally blind, those born without hearing, and those who lose their hearing are not equal to those who have these senses intact. The disadvantages of these impairments are set in stone, societies expectations for you are very low. Not everyone is born with the attitude where they will want to prove themselves to the world, and when we come down to this scenario is when we truly understand the tragedy of those who have had the sense dulled to non existence. Between not being able to fend for yourself due to the lack of accessible body control you have and the risk factor you bring to a workplace, it is not the kind of feeling you want to go through. But why can’t we change the positions of these people in society when there is a clear way to help them. All of this could be solved through the use of assistive technology.
While it may sound like I am being biased, after long consideration of both arguments we can come to the conclusion that the best option for those with impairments are gaining implants. Let’s take a look at the cochlear implant. A cochlear implant is a little electronic gadget that enables individuals to hear. It can be used for people who are deaf or very hard of hearing. A cochlear implant is not to be mixed up as a hearing aid. It is implanted using surgical techniques, and often works in a different way. It often banks on the principles of feedback, and frequencies.
The cochlear implant artificially stimulates the inner ear area with electrical signals, which sends those signals to the auditory nerve, letting a person hears. Although sound quality from a cochlear implant is different from that of normal hearing, the cochlear implant lets someone sense sound that without it could not grasp otherwise. Continuous improvements are being made to the way the implants work, they are helping us to make sound for those who can not hear sound even more natural. Most infants, even if they never heard before, will be able to make sense of these sounds and develop speech and language. The argument that people tend to make when coming across the point is the loss of the deaf culture. When someone is deaf they are placed in a whole different world packed with its own language and identities. Take per say greeting your friend; a small comment of “hi, how are you would suffice” however a deaf person might communicate in gestures. Being someone outside of this culture these gestures to you might make them look crazy. However it is their language; a language they like to call sign language. Deaf people like to view or most of them like to view people who can hear as outsiders. They will continue to judge them as long as they live. When gaining these implants you reject the users culture and become an outsider. However, this way of thinking is selfish in the matter it does not recognize people who want to help. The same principles apply to those who also experience blindness and want to use the monitor. he Monitor is a portable device ,and it is a vibrotactile aid meaning it requires you ability to touch. This portable device is used to help people with severe hearing impairments and people with the condition known as (DB) deafblindness. The use of the monitor is to help those who have deafblidness obtain more information about their surroundings allowing them to live much more safely rather than if the did not have it. The users of the device see an improvement in the ability to detect, identify, and recognize directions of sound-producing events. The device is best programed to handle environmental sounds in contrast to other vibratory aids designed for speech signals. This device is the future of those who have dear-blidness.
References
(No name) NIH Publication (February 2016)
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/cochlear-implants
This article gave me the information cochlear implants as well as being able to go much more in depth in it compared to other sites.
Paul A. Levine, MD, First Published (July 1, 1987 )
This article is from my exploratory essay where I received the information on the monitor and def blindness.
Thierry Morlet, PhD (September 2016)
This document gave me the information on how cochlear implants work. It discusses the anatomy of the ear and where the implant would be placed. It also dives into the information of how the sounds are responded too.
William F. House First Published (May 1, 1976 )
This article is a scholarly article. It was also set up in the format of Apa so from there I was able to gain ideas on how to set up my argument. It also gave me a little boos in the department of inspiration to talk about cochlear implants.
Reflection:
Reflecting back on writing this essay I enjoyed certain parts it while other parts of it I did not. At the end of writing this I can say I enjoyed the many components of talking about disabilities. I had to break down point of views of others as if I was one of these people. Not only that after breaking down this point of view I had to create a way to explain these views. Usually I did my best to explain it through a comical example. However I did not enjoy everything because of how much I had to research about the topic. In order to understand someone’s point of view you must understand exactly what they’re going through. Finding information on this was a nuisance because of how limited useful information came about on deaf blindness. Being that these people with impairments aren’t always sharing their personal life experience it’s hard to know what to write about. Another thing I dislike is how strong my words came out, because if someone with an impairment read this they might punch me.
SELF REFLECTION
This class has been a ride that I’ve enjoyed. Mainly I believe its because its my first college class. Taken in as a novice writer I learned many things that helped me progress into a more adequate one. Starting off with my reflection as a writer I look back at where it all started.
Many of us assume we are strangers to these fields but, in fact, we’ve all engaged in them more frequently than we realize.. I was able to further progress my writing realizing the potential of the format of APA. Including things like citations and reference pages. Your reference page is the last page of an essay or a research paper that has been written in the format of APA style it list all the sources that you have used in your essay or research paper. it is the page often used by readers to find where you have gotten your citations from . Citations on the other hand are a whole different complication. Often when a novice writer like me use the citation it is not in the proper way so it ends up being plagiarism. Plagiarism for those who don’t know is the stealing of publication using another author’s language thoughts ideas or expressions and presenting them as if they were your own. However writing this creative composition for the first time give me a feel on how to properly do APA format. In sense giving me a way to do proper citations. Finally came to the research critical analysis. The research critical analysis was a whole challenge on its own. Formatting 887an argument and being graded on how you do your APA style. Knowing that I’m being graded I try to go all out for this one. I believe I did a good job and that it was very fun writing it. The most fun part of this was explaining why your argument is right because who the heck wouldn’t want to be right.
Drafts
Nkala James Literacy Narrative
9/22/19 A.T Writing
My story as a young writer started way back when I was a child. My thoughts on writing when I was young was simple to say the least; I hated to write. Nowadays I find it fascinating; to me it’s the best way to express one’s feelings. I guess in a way you could say that writing shaped me to be who I am today. But how did I change my view on writing in such a positive radical way you ask?
It definitely took a lot of time for my views to change on writing. I first had to synthesize the writing abilities that I have today and gain qualities that would help me expand upon my writing. The characteristics that would help one to have an ever growing lust for knowledge; to never give up even when failure is so constant; and have the joy of expressing feelings. As a young kid who came from Jamaica I directly had a conflicting problems with building these strengths.
In Jamaica we speak a broken form of English; a dialect called patwa. In this dialect there are words that don’t seem to exist in english and when I presented them outloud it didn’t go that well-being. My friends would not understand what I was saying and they would begin to laugh. Their laughter made me even more upset than I originally was and when I got upset my dialect got stronger; and so did their laughter. This brought the idea to keep on writing.
My mother figured I was going to have this problem thought a great way for me to overcome a challenge like this was to study. Her studying is very rigorous, taking practice regents packets trying to improve my skills in not just writing but in all subjects; it was overwhelming. As a child I was depressed, for to watch other children go outside and play around while I was stuck inside reading books was bad. However, I don’t regret any of it. It was the solitude that made me become someone who wanted knowledge. As a kid isolation from my culture seemed like the only way to overcome the cultural differences I faced at the time.
Then fast forward, it was time before my big transition into high school. I decided to go to summer school and volunteer, so that I can improve myself and reach far beyond a high school student level. Here is where I remember working with a teacher referred to as Miss Thompson. She was very strict and she too came from my home country. When I joined the class, it was as if I didn’t know anything. My papers were always marked up.I did not do well on these assignments then I wouldn’t receive credit for my class.
It was during these times of summer when I realized my biggest flaw, im lazy. Being lazy was a huge drawback. In order to counteract my lazy-ness tendency I had to think of what to do. “Work smarter not harder” represented me.. I ended up trying to copy the teacher’s thought process on writing instead of creating my own with the new knowledge I was given. What better way to get a 100 than showing the teacher exactly what they want to see. But I changed, and started doing what the teacher wanted. The more and more I imitated my teacher I found that writing was not a task but a joy.
BIONIC LIMBS
Bionic limbs (scrapped idea)
Nkala James
City College of New York
Assistive Technology
Reference:
Associate Professor Munjed Al Muderis,Macquarie University, Osseointegration Group of Australia; Emily Ridgewell, Australian Orthotic Prosthetic Association
https://www.science.org.au/curious/people-medicine/bionic-limbs
Summary:
Unfortunately, I decided not to use a cuny text, however I found an article about my topic of bionic limbs. In the field of medicine, a prosthesis or a mechanical implant is a device to help those who have lost limbs in basic maneuvering. This is a highly advanced form of assistive technology. A mixture of technology and science that has advanced human society in many ways, although we have a long way to go before achieving the full range of motion and sensitivity of actual limbs. The purpose of the article was to show the benefits of bionics not only in science, but to those who have lost limbs due to trauma, disease, or genetic mutation. Practice of these limbs have been put into use since 600 B.C. While back then it was a far cry from what we have now primitive idea such as wooden leg made the groundwork for what we have now. Creating the idea of have an assistive technology help balance out a person’s weight to help them continue to thrive in their current society. The article goes over many ideas that is widely discussed when thinking about bionic implants. The ideas were things such as Osseointegration, Myoelectric limbs, External prosthetic limbs, Mind‐controlled bionic limbs, Targeted muscle reinnervation, Implanted myoelectric sensor technology, and Cosmetic improvement. Most of these topics just being different types of implants and the range of motion that they are able to make up for. Like the highly advanced mind- controlled bionic can go up to 70,000$ and only produces small changes such as being able to wiggle to lench the bionic hand for example. A great number of these prosthetics are expensive but they are helpful.Those who do not have limb or who had them have great desires of trying to get them back, this can cause severe depression and overall make a person wish to end their lives. While mechanical implants are not at the point where we can call the vastly superior it helps those who seem to get this depression cope.
Reaction
After going through this article I was surprised on how far technology has come. People whose lives you would think would have came to an end after going through harsh processes such as amputation still continue to thrive. Basic artificial limbs have been created since 600BC, compared to today’s prostheses they are much more functionable. Now being lighter,smaller,better controlled, more lifelike and somewhat more affordable. To understand how far science and technology has really come, you first must notice the changes in technology over time. Back then prosthesis limbs were wooden legs metal arms or a hook for a hand. Today we almost have every prosthesis to replace an internal or external body part. It was interesting to learn about all the minute details that goes into programming a robotic limb. All day our body is our body is acting on its own to protect it self, things that we don’t notice that without them life would be hard. The realization that the interaction between thought, action and response is what researchers were trying to replicate in bionic technology seemed impossible at first. For example Myoelectric limbs, harness and cables that connect the prosthesis to the missing arm allowing you to only feel a sensation of what’s supposed to be real. Today Myoelectric limbs are powered using a battery and an electronic system to control movement .
Discussion
To me Bionic implants are the future of tomorrow. They are what separates us from becoming a real life Tony Stark (aka Iron Man). But the big question is how are mechanical/bionic implant even created? Bionic implants are very expensive and their price can fluctuate depending on the size of the removed limb. But if we can improve the way we create them, maybe finding a better way to be assembled we can lower their cost. Not everyone in this world can afford a 70,000$ piece of equipment. With further improvement however we can change this so that not just a few people can afford it but everyone. I’m not saying that people who don’t have limbs are at a disadvantage I know from the videos in class that there are people who can fly planes with just their feet, all im truly saying is that if we had a chance to boost somebody disadvantage or advantage shouldn’t we.
