The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, Short Hills, NJ, has released Guide to the Best Apps for People Living With Paralysis, the first online consumer’s guide of its kind, featuring descriptions of 67 SmartPhone applications for iPhones, iPads, Blackberrys, and Androids.

Some were designed for wheelchair users; others were developed for general use, yet are well-suited to people living with paralysis.

“SmartPhones offer a whole new level of independence and connectivity for people living with spinal cord injury, impaired mobility, and paralysis,” said Rob Gerth, the Reeve Foundation’s director of Digital Media. “We’re offering a user’s guide to the coolest and most beneficial apps available.”

Gerth compiled the guide with extensive input from the paralysis community. Some examples:

  • CitiRoller (developed in partnership with the Reeve Foundation) enables users to instantly locate accessible transportation, restaurants, cafes, and restrooms in New York, Washington, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco. Its social media function permits users to nominate, rank, and comment on specific locations.
  • Proloquo2Go turns a SmartPhone into a sophisticated portable text-to-speech voice synthesizer for those who cannot speak.
  • A mouth-stick stylus mimics the electrical discharge of fingers on a touchscreen, enabling those without use of their hands to easily scroll, select, and delete on SmartPhones and iPads.
  • Quick ADA provides easy access to the Americans with Disabilities Act’s standards and regulations for doors, stairs, hallways, plumbing, and parking accessibility.
  • Other featured apps and accessories allow users to dictate e-mail and text messages, track their medications, shake to dial, or mount their SmartPhone on a wheelchair.

The guide also includes a series of informative short videos by the artist and disability activist Christina Symanski.

The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation aims to cure spinal cord injury by funding research and improving the quality of life for people living with paralysis through grants, information, and advocacy.

[Source: Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation]