Tennessee Embraces Technology at TNCO Conference

 
 

Conference attendees at the recent “Together Towards Tomorrow” Conference, organized by TNCO (Tennessee Community Organizations), were enthusiastically on board with Tennessee’s movement to include supportive living technologies in services for people with disabilities.

SimplyHome’s CEO Allen Ray was on hand to present at the conference and gathered these responses to his favorite question: “What is your ‘Why’?” Allen stressed the idea that it is not enough to focus on technology; we must know our ‘why’ for using technology as part of our services. In other words, we should expect technology to create new outcomes for people with disabilities. Here are some “why’s” mentioned by conference participants:

  • “So every individual can be as independent as possible, safe as possible, and have a great life.”

  • “Everyone deserves privacy, including people with disabilities. Technology allows for privacy vs. someone you barely you know being with you 24/7 ‘just in case.’”

  • “Help people maintain their abilities and gain new ones that nobody thought they could.”

 

Part of SimplyHome’s presence at the 2018 annual TNCO conference was telling the story of Carl, who uses SimplyHome technology and is finally able to live on his own.

Allen’s presentation and role on the technology panel at the conference focused not only on enabling technology, but also on Carl’s story. Carl is the first person in the Tennessee program to receive support through technology to live independently in the community. Carl receives support through Core Services of Northeast Tennessee and has really blossomed in his independence, now living in his own home (See our blog posts with videos of Carl’s story: Part I and Part II).

Carl’s story is just the beginning. The state of Tennessee’s collaboration with technology vendors, including SimplyHome, has big goals: Changing the system of reimbursement and service delivery to focus on employment, supportive living technology, and person-centered planning. You can read more about these goals here: Tennessee DIDD Expands Technology Pilot.

It’s an exciting time to be a Tennessean! SimplyHome looks forward to making more independence possible.

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