Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Employing Technology to Good Effect: Technology, Disability and the ‘Palace’ of Paid Work

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Disability and Technology

Abstract

The question of the interrelationship of disability, technology and employment is an important one given the centrality of paid employment in underwriting social citizenship and reducing the risks of economic exclusion (Lindsay and Houston 2013; Roulstone and Barnes 2005). Technology might easily be proffered as a panacea for reducing barriers to and opportunities within paid work. Employment, however, remains a domain of hierarchies, exclusion and at times is the apotheosis of the competitive spirit (Driffield 2013; Edwards and Edwards 1979). Yet technology, most notably microchip technology, provides the potential for a redefinition of workspace, time space, typical modes of energy use and even redefinitions of productivity—just what is produced and how (Castells 2011). Key to this potential is the embodied energy and power of microchip technology—both software and hardware—to redefine spatial transactions and the size of transactions that may once have been large, paper-based and physically demanding. Stonier is important here in noting that such changes go beyond simple mechanised technologies which extended human musculature to the extension of human neurology, cognition, data processing and comprehension. Whether such technologies extend or replace neurological function is a moot point, while microchip technologies also extend musculature of course. However, the point is well made by Stonier that such technologies both embody human qualities, while also superseding and supporting those qualities (Stonier 1983). Not only does technology change, often reducing in size, alongside increases in processing capacity, but it has both underpinned and had an elective affinity with broader changes to the nature of work (Moore 1965).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aksamit, D., Morris, M., & Leuenberger, J. (1987). Preparation of student services professionals and faculty for serving learning-disabled college students. Journal of College Student Personnel, 1, 53–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). (1990). Public Law No. 101–336, 104 Stat. 328.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderberg, P. (2007). ANED country report on the implementation of policies supporting independent living for disabled people: Sweden. Brussels: ANED.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blanck, P. D. (Ed.). (2000). Employment, disability, and the Americans with disabilities Act: Issues in law, public policy and research. Evanston: North West University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruyère, S. M. (2000). Disability employment policies and practices in private and federal sector organizations. Ithaca: Cornell University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruyère, S. M., Erickson, W., & VanLooy, S. (2006). Information technology (IT) accessibility: Implications for employment of people with disabilities. Work, 27(4), 397–405.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brynjolfsson, E., & McAfee, A. (2012). Race against the machine: How the digital revolution is accelerating innovation, driving productivity, and irreversibly transforming employment and the economy. MIT Research Brief. January. Available at http://digital.mit.edu/research/briefs/brynjolfsson_McAfee_Race_Against_the_Machine.pdf. Accessed 5 June 2015.

  • Burgstahler, S. (1992a). Computing services for disabled students in institutions of higher Education. PhD, University of Washington.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgstahler, S. (1992b). Disabled students gain independence through adaptive technology services. EDUCOM Review, 27(2), 45–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgstahler, S. (1994). Increasing the representation of people with disabilities in science, engineering, and mathematics. Information Technology and Disability, 1(4), p. 4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgstahler, S. (2003). The role of technology in preparing youth with disabilities for postsecondary education and employment. Journal of Special Education Technology, 18(4), 7–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgstahler, S., & Cronheim, B. (2001). Supporting peer–peer and mentor–protégé relationships on the internet. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 34(1), 59–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Button, C., & Wobschall, R. (1993). The Americans with Disabilities Act and assistive technology. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 4(3), 196–201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castells, M. (2011). The rise of the network society: The information age: Economy, society, and culture (Vol. 1). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapple, K., & Zook, M. (2000). From promising practices to promising futures: Job training in information technology for disadvantaged adults. Atlanta: Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, D., & Zeitzer, I. (2008). How governments can use technology to promote employment of people with disabilities computers helping people with special needs. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 3118, 45–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collela, A. (2001). Coworker distributive fairness judgments of the workplace accommodation of employees with disabilities’. Academy of Management Review, 26(1), 100–116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coombs, N. (1991). Window of equal opportunity—Online services and the disabled computer user. Research and Education Networking, 2(9), 15–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cornes, P. (1987). Impact of new technology on the employment of persons with a disability in Great Britain. Brussels: Commission of the European Communities.

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Trade and Industry. (2006). Technology Strategy—Developing UK capability: Information and communication technologies. London: DTI. http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20070603164510/ http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file27990.pdf. Accessed 5 June 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  • Department for Work and Pensions. (2014). Access to work: Official statistics. London: TSO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Disco, C., & Van der Meulen, B. (1998). Getting new technologies together (pp. 206–207). New York: Walter de Gruyter.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dodd, J. M., Fischer, J., Hermanson, M., & Nelson, J. R. (1990). Tribal college faculty willingness to provide accommodations to students with learning disabilities. Journal of American Indian Education, 30(1), 8–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Driffield, N. (2013). Global competition and the labour market. Amsterdam: OPA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, R. C., & Edwards, R. (1979). Contested terrain: The transformation of the workplace in the twentieth century. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fifield, J., Reisine, S., & Pfeiffer, C. A. (1989). Workplace disability: Gender, technology and the experience of rheumatoid arthritis. In K. F. Ratcliffe et al. (Eds.), Healing technology—Feminist perspectives (pp. 305–325). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fonosch, G. G., & Schwab, L. O. (1981). Attitudes of selected university faculty members toward disabled students. Journal of College Student Personnel, 22(3), 229–235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galvin, D. E. (1986). Employer-based disability management and rehabilitation programmes. In E. Pan, S. Newman, T. Backer, & C. Vash (Eds.), Annual review of rehabilitation. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garton, L., & Wellman, B. (1993). Social impacts of electronic mail in organizations: A review of the research literature. Research paper. Toronto: University of Toronto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giannini, M. (1981). Computing and the handicapped: A promising alliance. Computing, 14(1), 1–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gooding, C. (1994). Disabling laws, enabling acts. London: Pluto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffith, D. (1990). Computer access for persons who are blind or visually impaired: Human factors issues. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 32, 4467–4475.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkridge, D., & Vincent, T. (1985). New information technology in the education of disabled children and adults. London: Croom Helm.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedrick, B., Pape, T. L., Heinemann, A. W., Ruddell, J. L., & Reis, J. (2006). Employment issues and assistive technology use for persons with spinal cord injury. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 43(2), 185–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horn, C. A., & Shell, D. F. (1990). Availability of computer services in postsecondary institutions: Results of a survey of AHSSPPE members. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 8(1), 115–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inge, K. J., Wehman, P., Strobel, W., Powell, D., & Todd, J. (1998). Supported employment and assistive technology for persons with spinal cord injury: Three illustrations of successful work supports. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 10(2), 141–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, E. A. (1965). Touch display- a novel input/output device for computers. Electronics Letters, 1(8), 219–220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jordan, T. (1999). Cyberpower. In The culture and politics of cyberspace and the internet. London: Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kaye, H. S. (2000). Computer and internet use among people with disabilities. Disability statistics report 13. Washington: Bureau of Labour Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kruse, D., Krueger, A., & Drastal, S. (1996). Computer use, computer training, and employment. Outcomes among people with spinal cord injuries. Spine, 1; 21(7), 891–896.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langton, A. J., & Ramseur, H. (2001). Enhancing employment outcomes through job accommodation and assistive technology and resources. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 16(1), 27–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leyser, Y. (1990). A survey of faculty attitudes and accommodations for students with disabilities. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 7, 97–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lidal, I. B., Huynh, T. K., & Biering-Sorensen, F. (2007). Return to work following spinal cord injury: A review. Disability and Rehabilitation, 29, 1341–1375.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindsay, C., & Houston, D. (2013). Disability benefits, welfare reform and employment policy. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Loader, B. D. (1998). Cyberspace divide. Equality, agency and policy in the information society. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lupton, D., & Seymour, W. (2000). Technology, selfhood and physical disability. Social Science & Medicine, 50(12), 1851–1862.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyon, D. (1988). The information society: Issues and illusions. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malmsborg, T. (1995). Adapting work sites for disabled persons using advanced technology. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, 11(2), 235–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKinley, W., Tewksbury, M., Sitter, P., Reed, J., & Floyd, S. (2004). Assistive technology and computer adaptations for individuals with spinal cord injury. Neurorehabilitation, 19(4), 141–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNaughton, D., & Nelson-Bryen, D. (2002). Enhancing participation in employment through AAC technologies. Assistive Technology, 14(1), 58–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meager, N., Hill, D., & Wilson, S. (2007). ICT strategy, disabled people and employment in the UK. Brighton: Institute for Employment Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meşhur, H., Alkan, F., & Ulusoy, I. (2013). Attitudes of people with disabilities towards teleworking as an employment opportunity: Its modelling in terms of the Turkish case. African Journal of Business Management, 7(4), 227–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michailakis, D. (2001). Information and communication technologies and the opportunities of disabled persons in the Swedish labour market. Disability and Society, 16(4), 477–500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, G. E. (1965). Cramming more components into integrated circuits. Electronics, 38(8), 4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moser, I. (2006). Disability and the promises of technology: Technology, subjectivity and embodiment within an order of the normal. Information, Communication & Society, 9(3), 373–395.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mueller, J. M. (1998). Assistive technology and universal design in the workplace. Assistive Technology, 10(1), 37–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray, B., & Kenny, S. (1990). Telework as an employment option for people with disabilities. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 13(3), 205–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Science Foundation, Task Force on Women, Minorities, and the Handicapped in Science and Technology. (1989). Changing America: The new face of science and engineering. Washington: National Science Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nochajski, S. M., Oddo, C., & Beaver, K. (1999). Technology and transition: Tools for success. Technology and Disability, 11(1/2), 93–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. (2005). Inclusion through innovation tackling social exclusion through new technologies: A social exclusion unit final report. London: ODPM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pell, S. D., Gillies, R. M., & Carss, M. (1997). Relationship between use of technology and employment rates for people with physical disabilities in Australia: Implications for education and training programmes. Disability and Rehabilitation, 19(8), 332–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roulstone, A. (1993). Access to new technology in the employment of disabled people. In J. Swain, V. Finkelstein, S. French, & M. Oliver (Eds.), Disabling barriers–enabling environments (pp. 241–248).

    Google Scholar 

  • Roulstone, A. (1998). Enabling technology: Disabled people, work and new technology. Buckingham: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roulstone, A., Gradwell, L., Price, J., & Child, L. (2003). Thriving and surviving at work: Disabled peoples’ employment strategies. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roulstone, A., & Barnes, C. (2005). Working futures, disabled people, policy and inclusion. Bristol: Policy Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Roulstone, A., & Williams, J. (2014). Being disabled, being a manager:‘glass partitions’ and conditional identities in the contemporary workplace. Disability & Society, 29(1), 16–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sauer, A. L., Parks, A., & Heyn, P. C. (2010). Assistive technology effects on the employment outcomes for people with cognitive disabilities: A systematic review. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 5(6), 377–391.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sayce, L. (2011). Getting into jobs and getting on: Sayce review of disability employment programmes. London: Department for Work and Pensions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scadden, L. A. (1984). Blindness in the information age: Equality or irony. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 78(9), 394–400.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schartz, K., Schartz, H. A., & Blanck, P. (2002). Employment of persons with disabilities in information technology jobs: Literature review for “IT works”. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 20(6), 637–657.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scherer, M. (2006). Selecting the most appropriate technology: The need to assess the match of person and device. Cognitive Processing, 7(1), 171–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scherer, M., & Craddock, G. (2002). Matching person & technology (MPT) assessment process. Technology and Disability, 14(3), 125–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scherer, M. J., Sax, C., Vanbiervliet, A., Cushman, L. A., & Scherer, J. V. (2005). Predictors of assistive technology use: The importance of personal and psychosocial factors. Disability and Rehabilitation, 27(21), 1321–1331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, M. (1999). Achieving greater independence through assistive technology, job accommodation and supported employment. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 12(3), 159–164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schur, L., Kruse, L., & Blanck, P. (2005). Corporate culture and the employment of persons with disabilities. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 23(1), 3–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sears et al. (1990). A web-based journal, unpaged, so best to say available at: http://hcil.cs.umd.edu/trs/90-01/90-01.pdf. Accessed 10 March 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shell, D. F., Horn, C. A., & Severs, M. K. (1988). Effects of a computer-based educational center on disabled students’ academic performance. Journal of College Student Development, 29, 432–440.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steinfeld, E., & Jordana, M. (2012). Universal design: Creating inclusive environments. London: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stone, D. A. (1984). The disabled state. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Stonier, T. (1983). The wealth of information: A profile of the post-industrial economy (pp. 7–8). London: Thames Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stovall, C., & Sedlacek, W.E., (1983). Attitudes of male and female university students toward students with different physical disabilities. Journal of College Student Personnel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strobel, W., & McDonough, J. (2003). Workplace personal assistance service and assistive technology. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 18(2), 107–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, P., & Corden, A. (2002). Evaluating the impact of access to work: A case study approach. York: Social Policy Research Unit.

    Google Scholar 

  • Titchkosky, T. (2011). A question of access. Disability, space, meaning. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • US Department of Commerce (1999). Technology is transforming the U.S. economy. http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/herman/reports/futurework/report/chapter6/main.htm. Accessed 10 March 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  • US Access Board. (2014). History of telecommunications access for individuals with disabilities. Washington: United States Access Board.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber, M. (1905). The protestant ethic and the “Spirit” of capitalism and other writings. London: Allen Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wehmeyer, M., Palmer, S. B., Smith, S. J., Parent, W., Davies, D. K., & Stock, S. (2006). Technology use by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to support employment activities: A single-subject design metaanalysis. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 24(2), 81–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weinberg, N. (1990). Computers in the information society. London: Westview.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilbanks, S., & Ivankova, N. V. (2014). Exploring factors facilitating adults with spinal cord injury rejoining the workforce: A pilot study. Disability and Rehabilitation, 37, 739–749.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Worthington, J. (Ed.). (2006). Restructuring the workplace. Oxford: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeager, P., Kaye, S., Reed, M., & Doe, T. M. (2006). Assistive technology and employment: Experiences of Californians with disabilities. Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation Issue, 27(4), 333–344.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zola, I. (1982). Missing pieces: A chronicle of living with a disability. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    Alan Roulstone

Authors
  1. Alan Roulstone
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Copyright information

© 2016 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Roulstone, A. (2016). Employing Technology to Good Effect: Technology, Disability and the ‘Palace’ of Paid Work. In: Disability and Technology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-45042-5_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-45042-5_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-45041-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-45042-5

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation