TECH EQUITY

An expert on providing services for aging and disabled people calls for a new era of technological equality in this debut book.

The regulations that cover disability and senior services, according to Myers-Brown, an executive at Vista Supports, were created for “a different mindset, and a different understanding of what care even means.” Indeed, some of the field’s most important regulations in the U.S., the Intermediate Care Facility for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICF/IID) codes, are still built on a “core framework” that was written almost 40 years ago. The author aims to empower patients, families, care providers, and policymakers with a convincing case that emergent technologies can serve a pivotal role in the lives of disabled and elderly populations. The book is based on the guiding principle that tech “becomes liberation” when it’s “designed with humanity at the center,” and that it works best as a “partner” to human care by helping to restore people’s personal independence and to preserve their relationships with others. Too often, the author maintains, tech companies and caretakers forget that people don’t want to be managed, monitored, and supervised; they want to do things themselves. When technology doesn’t adequately consider the needs of disabled or aging users, Myers-Brown writes, it can violate what she calls the “Dean Martin Principle.” She describes a patient who soothed her anxiety by quietly repeating the words “Dean Martin,” and she imagines a generic AI-powered home assistant misinterpreting the phrase and blasting songs by the singer. The author offers her own AI-enabled virtual assistant as an alternative, trained for the needs of the aged and disabled; this platform can be further trained, she says, to support individual and cultural specificities.

Myers-Brown also includes memoiristic vignettes that make for an often poignant read. She writes, for example, of how she drew inspiration from her Black grandmother’s journey from segregated South Carolina to New York City (“South Carolina made her strong, and Harlem made her unstoppable”), and how her own religious faith guides her approach to technology. She also centers her experience as someone who’s worked in disability services her entire life and who used remote-service support processes long before they became mainstream. As president of the D.C. Coalition of Disability Service Providers, she not only grasps how the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) can apply to liberatory technology, but also writes expertly on the specifics of both federal and state law. Myers-Brown doesn’t shy away from the jargon and bureaucratic nuances of her field, but she consistently writes in an empathetic, accessible style. As a result, her book is a generally engaging read, although it’s punctuated by occasional references to the author’s own services, a plethora of trademarked phrases, and references to ancillary materials that aren’t included in the text, such as an accompanying workbook. This material makes the book feel, at times, like an extended sales pitch. Nevertheless, its underlying premise—that human-centered technology promises a “future where innovation doesn’t leave communities behind”—is a timely message for businesses, nonprofits, policy-shapers, and community activists as they enter a world that’s increasingly driven by AI.

A humane and practical reflection on the intersection of equity and technology.