ATU652 – Black Friday Holiday Special with Brian Norton

Listeners, the holiday season is up on us, so as you sit down from the remaining food coma of Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, we thank you for sitting down with us to listen to our show. In many years past, we’d have a whole group of folks stop by the studio and talk about all the great gift ideas available for individuals with disabilities as well as others. Well, this year we’re really not able to get a whole gang of folks together, everybody’s just a little bit too busy this holiday season, so it’s just Brian Norton and I sitting here talking about some of the cool tech that can make a great accommodation or gift this holiday season.

Brian, you were on just last week, so we really won’t take time to have you go off and introduce yourself again to the listeners. Instead, maybe start us off by telling us your favorite holiday treat. Is it candy, pie, cookies? What really shakes your bowl full of jelly, as they say, around this season?

Well, I do have a bowl full of jelly. Let me think here. One of my favorite holiday treats is I like Buckeyes. So if you don’t know what a Buckeye is, it’s this peanut butter center with chocolate outside, you dip that peanut butter into that chocolate. Ugh, just the most wonderful thing in the world.

They are good. And just for our listeners, Brian is also an Ohio State Buckeye fan, so I’m pretty sure that may hold a little bit kind of in there. Yeah, personally, mine are bourbon balls, my grandma used to make those. And then she passed quite a while ago, and I luckily got all of her recipes and realized I don’t know how to make Christmas candy at all so the ones I made would’ve probably got you drunk. I don’t really understand how to get the alcohol out of them correctly, apparently, and so I’m not allowed to make those any longer.

But anyway, let’s get into the real reason that we got you on the show.

Sure.

We’re just going to talk about some cool things, maybe some things that have been on the show, and just maybe some cool gift ideas or neat stuff that’s out there. And gaming, video games, video game consoles, all that stuff is always a big holiday ticket. If you look at most of the ads for places, it’s usually the first thing that pops up. And there’s been a huge move to make gaming more accessible for all individuals, it’s one of those great equalizers. I don’t game much, I never was much of an online gamer. Really, I think my ego’s too weak to know that a 7-year-old girl from another country is just whooping my butt on things, so always stayed away from it. But it is one of those things where a lot of companies are building in accessibility and they’re really thinking about this, or they’re at least listening and doing things, but sometimes just accessing the games was a hard stuff. So we’re going to take a little bit of time and talk about some of the cool stuff that’s out there to really help folks just be able to have access to gaming. So Brian, do you want to start us off with, I guess, the thing that started it all?

Yeah, Microsoft, about a year, maybe two years ago, came out with a Microsoft Adaptive Controller. If you’re not familiar with this, it’s a white rectangular looking controller with a couple of big pads on the top, so bigger buttons that you can press, and a bigger X, Y, so up, down, left, right controller for folks to be able to get access to. But the real special part is on the backside of that device where they’ve got switch controls or switch inputs for all of the different adaptive or button switches that are on a regular Xbox controller, and so it’s a really awesome, awesome device.

When you pair that, the Microsoft Adaptive Controller, with the Logitech Adaptive Gaming Kit, which that, the Logitech came out, they partnered with Microsoft and designed a bunch of switches that could be used with the Microsoft Xbox Adaptive Controller to be able to then help folks with limited mobility be able to use all of the different features for whatever particular game that they’re using, that they could be able to hit all of the button functions for those kinds of things. So super, super helpful. When you think about that Xbox controller, that Adaptive Controller, it’s about $99. And the Logitech Adaptive Gaming Kit, which comes with all the switches that are going to allow you to be able to use that device more effectively, that’s about $100 as well. So those are typically oftentimes paired together so that you can really create a customized environment for whatever needs that particular gamer has, and so really just a great way to make things more accessible for folks.

And it’s super cool because it gives you so many different choices. And really even with the Microsoft Adaptive Controller, just having those little 3.5 millimeter, if there’s switches you already use or already used to use to access the world around you, you can just use those same ones. And really cost wise, it’s not that bad. I think a regular Xbox controller is 50 or 60 bucks anyway, so it’s not horribly-

More expensive.

More expensive. So it’s nice that they kept it in there. Now, and then also when I’ve got to play around with these a little bit, Microsoft also came out with an Adaptive Hub and different accessories for it, and I think the Hub runs about 60 bucks, and then some of the buttons, they have a deep pad button, a joystick, and another little two button switch, they’re about 40 bucks a piece. And these little guys can be used to control your computer, but they can also be paired with that Adaptive Controller and just give you other access methods. But they can be paired with that, they could be used for computer gaming and other things that can really just open up the world of gaming, the world of computing, and everything else to individuals with disabilities. Now, Brian, I think PlayStation is starting to catch up. So can you tell us a little bit about what they’re working on as an accessible controller?

Yeah, so coming December 6th, that is the release date, they are coming out with something called the Sony PlayStation Access Controller, so much like what Microsoft did for the Xbox, they’re going to do for the Sony PlayStation, and they’ve got an adaptive controller coming out, and it’s just going to help make their gaming console much more accessible for folks with the same types of needs, mobility needs and those types of things. And so keep your eye out for that. Again, it’s called Sony PlayStation Access Controller. I think they’ve got it priced initially at about $90, so it’s a little less expensive than the Xbox controller, but that doesn’t release until December 6th. And so I’m figuring it’s probably going to be hard to get your hands on one right away in time for the holiday season, but just recognize that that’s coming, and I think it’s going to make the Sony PlayStation a much more accessible platform for a lot of users.

Yeah, that’ll be really cool. We’re definitely looking forward to that. I know both companies I think did a pretty good job of actually involving folks with disabilities in the entire process, and I think that’s why they’re so customizable and accessible to so many folks. And if you are interested in gaming, you can look up, just search accessible gaming, there’s tons of information out there, as well as there’s a lot of great companies out there that do reviews of games, just because a lot of times they might even build in some things to help folks who might have a visual impairment, hearing impairment, or anything else, really, just to make those games more accessible where anybody can play them, and really get to enjoy them.

Brian, there’s a lot of other cool tech out there, and we could spend all day talking about Apple stuff, but let’s focus on just the AirTags. Tell us a little bit about the Apple AirTags and how they might be able to help folks with or without disabilities.

So Apple AirTags are a wireless way to keep track of your everyday items. And so if you’re like me, every morning I get up and I try to figure out, where did I put my wallet? Where did I put my keys? Where did I put my backpack, my computer? And all of these different types of things. And so Apple AirTags help you keep track of some of those different items, to the point that, basically, as you’re out and about, and/or if you leave an item behind, it’s going to send a notification to your phone to let you know, “Hey, I think you’ve left something behind,” or, “Something isn’t near you anymore,” and then you can go look for it. As you get closer to it, you can also open up the Find My app on your phone or tablet and be able to play a sound as well. You can also do that on your MacBook, I’m pretty sure. But again, for folks who lose things easily, like myself, I’ve found them super, super helpful in keeping track of things that I often can’t find or misplace.

Nice. So I’ve often wondered, and you may not have the answer to this, but something I’ve always wondered if they could do is, can they remind me not to forget things? Can it have an alarm that I get in the car, I start the car, and it’s like, “Hey, beep, beep, beep. You forgot your computer, your backpack, your kids,” whatever, just kind of thing that you could have it on. And I don’t know if that’s a setting, but maybe, listeners, if you do know, you can let us know, because I think that’d be something super-duper cool.

Well, it wouldn’t be the holiday season if we don’t talk a little bit about some toys and some things that are maybe a little bit more for kids, or might be able to help folks with different needs. So Brian, you wanted to talk a little bit about Peaceful Pals. Tell us about these.

Yeah. Peaceful Pals is a really, really cool stuffed animal for folks. They’re weighted, so they’re super soft, they’re weighted to be about three to five pounds. And basically they’re cuddly little animals, and the weight helps soothe children with autism. And so they’ve got a whole collection of different animals to choose from, including unicorns, monkeys, sharks, puppies, and even an octopus friend, and they also have some basic shapes like stars and hearts attached to them. But again, it’s that weighted sense, “Hey, you know what? I’m secure. I’m safe,” and it really is a soothing device for folks, or toy for folks, to be able to feel a little more comfortable if they’re feeling a little uneasy.

Nice. Very nice. And also, and I’ve got to play with these, just because I think we have these in our lab. Tell us about Snap Circuits, because these things are actually pretty funny, even as an adult.

Yeah. Oh, I love these. I think I played with something similar when I was a kid. So Snap Circuits are about $40, it’s a great way for folks to be able to, people who are interested in STEM, that STEM type of activities, this is a great way for you to be able to build different types of apparatuses, different types of bells and whistles and other kinds of things that are built into this little Snap Circuits board. It gives you a collection of different things to build. They tell you how to build them, but then once you build them, you’ve created some sort of electronic device. And so super fun for folks and for kids just to explore different ways to create some of those different types of electronics.

Awesome. Yeah, that’s much easier than what we did when I was a kid, which was take apart the VCR.

That’s right.

But unfortunately there aren’t VCRs anymore, so I don’t know what you’re really going to take apart, and it’s probably way too expensive to ruin.

It’s a Blu-ray DVD player now.

So we talked about those toys and other stuff. Tell me about My Guide Dog. What is this?

Yeah, so this is something that I came across. It’s about $32 per pet. Again, cute stuffed animal. It’s sold by Two Blind Brothers, that’s the name of the company. And they come with their own names stitched in Braille into their ears. What I love about this is this is a company that gives back, and so when you purchase one, the company was created by some blind brothers, and they’ll use the profits to fund blindness research. So definitely, they’re really cute animals, if you go to their website, again, Two Blind Brothers, you’ll see the different animals out there. They’ve got, again, braille stitched in, their names are stitched into their ears, and just a really neat toy that has a purpose behind it too. It gives back for that, the blind community for blindness research.

And then something which is not always great around my house, but Kinetic Sand. Brian, how can this toy, and many people probably know what this is, has seen it, or has cleaned it up off their floor many, many times, as I have, but tell us how this can work for kids with different kind of needs.

I don’t know if you’ve played with Kinetic Sand, I think we all probably have in some way, shape or form. Sometimes I get them in my McDonald’s Happy Meal boxes. But again, this is just a really great way to be able to create things. Kinetic Sand isn’t just sand, it’s moldable, you can create things with it, it’s pliable a little bit for folks. We run a camp during the summer and we use this with our kids, our campers every year. It’s just something fun to get your hands into, to play with. There’s some texture to it. There’s some sensory things that you can use that kinetic sand for to be able to help folks really get in there and start playing with things. And so kids with autism, other sensory needs, might love this because you can explore, you can be creative, and create all sorts of things with Kinetic Sand. And I think from Amazon, you can get a pretty good sizable amount of Kinetic Sand for about $30 or $40, and so it’ll last you quite a long time.

Cool. Very cool. And then just along those same lines of fidgeting and keeping focus, you’ve found something called the Fidget and Focus Fun Bag.

Yeah, so fidget toys, that’s all the rage. Lots of kids like to fidget around, helps them focus a little bit better. I found these at Got-Special Kids, and so got-specialkids.com. They’ve got this Fidget and Focus Fun Bag, it comes with lots of different tools. You can go to their website and check it out, it’s about $45. But they’ve got all sorts of different fidgets that are collected into a bag that you can carry around with you, and so something to be able to check out. It’s got-special kids.com.

Awesome. And I can definitely say my kids have some different fidget toys and I find myself playing with them sometimes, and next thing you know you just look down and like, “How long have I been playing with this darn thing?”

That’s right.

Well, Brian, for not just kids, because we don’t really need to just focus on them because we all have folks on our gift list from different ages and everything else. Let’s talk about a little bit about medicine. As we get older, probably all of us are on something. That sounds wrong. I should probably say that a little bit differently. But anyway, you know what I mean. So there’s different things out there that can help folks keep track of their medicine, just make sure they’re taking the right things, and also give us peace of mind as our loved ones maybe get a little bit older and we’re working with them. So tell us a little bit about the Med-E-Lert pill dispenser, and that’s Med-E-L-E-R-T, Lert?

Yeah, it’s about $70. You can purchase it, I believe on Amazon. And it’s basically a pill dispenser where you can set alarms and get pills dispensed at different times of the day, and the different dosages. You have to preload those, and so typically, oftentimes a family member or someone will come in and preload those so that the person who needs those pills simply has to walk over and there’s an alarm attached to it, an auditory alarm, so that they know they got to get their pills and it’ll go ahead and automatically dispense whatever they need at those particular times during the day. Super helpful. I take a pill in the morning, I take a pill in the evening, it’s a high cholesterol and blood pressure, and I get to work and I’m like, “Darn, I didn’t take it today,” and so things like this, as we get older, as we have varied medications, it’s super important for us to keep in mind and to be able to think about some stuff. So there’s the Med-E-Lert, that’s about $70.

I’ll also just recommend folks also take a look at the Medisafe app. Medisafe is something that I use very often. Basically what it does is it allows you to, on your phone, if you’re comfortable using your phone, smartphone, it’s an app that you can download. You can actually put different alarms on your phone. It’s a free app, there’s a free version. You can pay a little bit for some in-app purchases or for some additional features if you want. But basically what I love about this is it sets up Meta friends, and so if I forget to take a pill, it’s going to go ahead and send me an alarm. It’s going to remind me to take my pills. If I can snooze, I can snooze. But if eventually I forget about it and don’t take it and don’t notify the app that I did take it, it’s going to go ahead and send an email to my wife and my wife’s going to give me a call, because she’s the Meta friend I have set up, and she’s going to say, “Hey, why didn’t you take your pill today?” And so check out Medisafe, M-E-D-I-S-A-F-E, it’s app, it’s available for iOS or Android. Again, the free version’s going to take you quite a long ways, but there is an in-app purchases for some of the more advanced features.

Very cool. There’s lots of other services out there and kind of devices that can do this. In fact, if you want, you can go back and listen to episode 637 where Jessica from MedMinder came on and told us about their solution for this kind of need as well. If you want to do a little bit more research and find out some other kinds of things.

Well, Brian, we started off today by talking about food. And I’m not going to lie, it’s one of my favorite things of the entire holiday season. Now that I have little kids and older kids and adult kids, I do love seeing them get gifts and open them and everything like that. But at the end of the day, let’s not lie, it’s great to just have family sitting around and eating and being able to eat the good food and be able to do those kinds of things. So we’ve got some things in the kitchen that can help folks, so tell us a little bit about some of the stuff from Blind Kitchen.

Yeah, Blind Kitchen, The Blind Kitchen, theblindkitchen.com is the website. They have a lot of different tools, whether you have a disability, whether you’re blind, or whether you just like to cook, these are all really helpful tools to make working in the kitchen more productive, more efficient, and just easier for folks. And so the one thing I wanted to draw folks attention to, you can buy things individually from them, but they have actually put together different collections for different types of cooking. And so there’s a stove top collection, that includes things like heat gloves, liquid alerts, a Longwood spoon, and Longwood tongs, all sorts of things for cooking on the stove top. You’ve also got other options for working with the oven and different things in and around your kitchen. And so we’ve had this person in person come to our team and talk to us about the different things that they offer, just a remarkable story and lots of great tools that they have looked at and brought together for folks to be able to learn a little bit more about working in the kitchen and doing it safely when you have a disability.

And I love that a lot of their stuff is just consumer goods, but it’s just curated and figured out, maybe used in a slightly different way, but to really be able to help folks with different disabilities be able to cook independently, which, let’s not lie, is a really great thing. But you know what? There’s also some other things out there that can help you a little bit. Tell us about Let’s Cook.

Yeah. I found this, this is really an interesting book. It’s designed by adults with intellectual disabilities. It’s just a cookbook, but it’s designed by adults with intellectual disabilities for persons with intellectual disabilities, and it just really helps make cooking fun for that population, and you get a lot of different recipes. And it just really makes working in the kitchen fun, the ability to create something, cook something, make something, can be a really fun activity. I know for my family around Christmas, we don’t really get each other a lot of different things, most of the time we’re trying to create experiences with each other. And so this would be a great way to be able to create an experience with each other by purchasing a book that can help the family cook together.

Awesome. Onto a little bit more technology and maybe technology based things. So a lot of folks have an, almost said the ‘A’ word, an Echo style device in their home maybe. And the price of these things has come down immensely. They’re definitely much more user-friendly and stuff. But tell us how maybe some things you can do with an Amazon Echo and smart plugs, Brian.

Yeah, I think they’re still pretty inexpensive. You can get an Amazon Alexa… You can get an Amazon Echo for about-

Ah, you said it. Everyone’s devices just turned off the podcast.

That’s right. I paused there and hesitated a minute when I said that too. You can get an Amazon Echo device for about $50, depending on the type of device that you want, that’s probably the low end. You can get a smart plug for about $25. And I just think for folks with disabilities, if they want to be more independent in their home, there are great simple, easy ways to do it yourself, make things more accessible for you in the home to be more independent. So whether that’s turning on a light, turning on a fan, and doing all sorts of things with turning things on and off in and around your home, it’s a pretty inexpensive way to start playing around with what smart homes are all about. And there’s, again, lots to that, there’s a lot of different things that you can do with an Amazon Echo device to be able to help make things more independent just with smart plugs and other types of smart devices in the home. But start with an Amazon Alexa.

Ah, did it again.

Start with an Amazon Echo and also a smart plug, and it’s just a good way to get started with that. They’re really a great way to be able to be more independent.

Brian, tell us about AngelSense.

Yeah, so AngelSense, they’ve been around for a long time, and they create a couple of different devices to help with that specific issue of elopement. When someone runs away and gets away from where they’re supposed to be, how do you find them? And AngelSense has a couple of different options. One is a watch option and one’s a wearable option, for you to be able to real time track people if they’ve gotten away, if they’ve run away, and you’re concerned and you’re worried about them, these devices can be used to be able to help you find them again. I will say, they’re devices, they do have a monthly subscription, they range anywhere from $45 to $65 a month, and so there is a cost to it. But they’re really, really helpful, and they’re really useful to be able to help make sure that your loved ones are safe and secure in their home and where they’re supposed to be.

Awesome. Well, we all have to get dressed, and I’m sorry, it’s just part of life, it would look weird if we didn’t. So Brian, tell us a little bit about the move to adaptive clothing, and how some of these devices, or not devices, I guess, but how some of this clothing is becoming a little bit more mainstream and easier to access?

Yeah, there’s lots of companies that are getting into that game a little bit. Target, Tommy Hilfiger, other places are designing adaptive clothing. And so when you think about zippers or buttons, there’s a move to Velcro or magnets, to be able to replace some of those things, making clothing easier to get on and off for folks who have a limited range of motion, the fine motor control in their fingers, to be able to do things finely like buttons and other kinds of things. And so there’s lots of companies who are getting the game. The costs range depending on what you’re purchasing. But Tommy Hilfiger, Target, they’ve got an adaptive clothing line. You can look those up online. Just put in those, like ‘Target adaptive clothing’, and you’re going to find all sorts of helpful adaptive types of clothing for folks, whether you’re a man or a woman. It’s great.

Awesome. And if you want to learn a little bit more about some different kinds of adaptive clothing, you can go back to our show from September where Erica Cole came on and talked about No Limbits clothing, so some different clothing for individuals in wheelchairs, individuals with prosthetics, and they got all kinds of really cool stuff come out. It was a really great interview. So make sure to go back and listen to that and find out a little bit more about those kind of things.

Now, when it comes to clothes, we’re not just dressing ourselves up, sometimes it’s nice to dress up our wheelchair as well. So Brian, tell us about a wheelchair side back with cup holder and how this can help individuals.

Yeah. So I’ve got a lot of friends who are in wheelchairs, and this is something that a couple of them use and they say it’s really, really helpful. When you’re in a wheelchair, it’s hard to be able to carry a cup, it’s hard to be able to carry all the things that you need with you, and so there is a device, I don’t know, it’s about $20, you can go to Amazon and find it. It’s a wheelchair side bag with a cup holder built in so that you can carry around your cup of coffee, your Starbucks coffee, Starbucks drink, whatever you prefer, in there, and be able to not only hold that, but hold your wallet, hold your keys, and hold other kinds of things with you. And so just from a practical standpoint, I’ve got a lot of my friends who find that super helpful, and it would be a really useful feature to be able to have on someone’s wheelchair to be able to carry some of those things with them in an orderly fashion, making sure that they don’t spill or they’re just easily reachable for them.

Awesome. We also had somebody on, oh gosh, back in January of 2023. Eugene Emmer came on from RehaDesigns. Definitely go back and listen to that episode, 606, or check their stuff out. Well, Brian, this just reminds me of being young, but tell us about the beanbag chair.

Well, I have to throw a beanbag chair in here, right?

Right. Everything that’s old is coming back.

That’s right. So for persons with sensory processing disorders, having a place to go to either play a video game, read a book, beanbag chairs are really comfortable, and it’s cozy, it surrounds you a little bit. And a lot of folks talk about how helpful they can be in helping soothe somebody, making them feel comfortable, and to be able to be helpful for folks who have specifically sensory processing disorders. So this one in particular is available on Amazon, it’s $179, and it’s just ‘beanbag chair’ is the name of it. It’s super easy to move. It’s something that you can take with you. It’s not big and bulky. It’s easy to travel with, easy to move from room to room. And again, provide someone a nice comfortable space to either, again, read a book or play a game.

We thank you so much for listening to the show over the years and for taking time out of your holiday season to give us a listen and listen to some of these really cool things. We will put links down in the show notes to a lot of the things we talked about. And while these aren’t really endorsements for the things, we’re not saying, “Go out and buy these,” by any means, just give you some ideas for some things that might make some really great gifts.

Well, listeners, thank you again. Brian, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to spend some time and just tell us some of the cool things that are out there.

Yep. Thank you.