Technology is sometimes the only window to life, that I can handle.

I think many of us can relate that we are no longer working from home, but more like living at work. Very often now, I get to present about the wonders of technology and how it is getting us through the pandemic, removing the current barriers we are facing. After the first lockdown we could applaud on how technology was the great enabler – at least for some of us – to productivity.

As the pandemic continued, that productivity was taking its toll. So where do we see that same technology going now?

There is more to life than work. There is more to technology than work and productivity. This too is part of our mission at Microsoft - To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more - but first I want to take you to a different part of my life, so we really get away from work where technology does the miracles, we often contribute to it, let’s get you to the stuff that matters… where technology does miracles for life and I challenge you… What stronger force is there in life than love? 

Technology is sometimes the only window to life, that I can handle.

Throughout the pandemic, this was not a choice. It was pretty much the only window we each had to engage with the outer world. Please do note the word choice here. The need for choice remains one of the key principles for humans; this is even more so for people with disabilities. This because, the lack of choice on how we can interact, immediately starts limiting us on who we are. 

No, we are not an average. We never were.

About a year before the pandemic, I had a customer suddenly appreciating that I was autistic and when she saw my hands, she said “You are married”? This was one of those situations, where I jumpstarted “Surprise algorithm – probably not a threat – just smile and ask for clarification”. Having initiated the algorithm, she promptly followed with “My son is autistic; sometimes I despair, but I can see there is hope for him now”. I followed up with “Deflect algorithm – you do not need to solve this one, just appear empathetic” and agreed, “Yes, I am very fortunate”; smiled “Can I offer you a cup of coffee”?

Whilst I could agree that getting married can be considered a major feat or achievement or at the very least … a milestone, for some autistic people connecting with other people can be puzzling…

So how did I manage this?  In the nineties one of my hobbies was live role-play. This grew from table-top role-play e.g. Dungeon & Dragons. Fantasy role-play appealed to the creative part of my autistic brain. What fascinated me was the escape from the boundaries we typically face. Whilst live role-play brought back some of the barriers, it did bring the excitement of making it more engaging. One of the barriers was that it took more organising and therefore, less opportunity.

With the advent of the internet, I found like-minded fans and engaged in on-line fantasy role-play forums. I generally played a Paladin, which goes very well with my passion to create an equitable world and my liking to have clear rules. Another player with whom I often ended up conquering all kinds of evil was a Thief. An unlikely combination, but we complemented each other and thinking back, the Thief got away with “What you did not know, was not going to hurt you”. A LOT – but the outcomes were generally mutually beneficial.

I grew to love this Thief for real. The way the Thief engaged was empathetic and I could just be myself and discuss what I wanted to achieve in the (fantasy) world. In the beginning, I was not even aware of the gender of the person and who was behind the persona. My brain concluded that someone who wrote so lovely, so creatively, so considerate and just using their skills and strived to overcome evil, reflecting values I could connect with, just had to be a person worth knowing and more so.

In the late nineties I was genuinely living “You’ve got mail”. 

Just the little electronic tell-tale sign that I had a return from my post was enough for me to drop everything and bring immense joy.

After a period of electronically getting to know each other better; exchanging views and putting the world to right… even making my marriage proposal in chat (without a ring! – I was so wrong!), I dropped my job and belongings I had in my home country and moved to where she was.

A new life, in a new country, with nothing to start with, but love that had crossed neurodiverse boundaries thanks to the power of technology.

Technology is sometimes the only window to life, that I can handle, but why do I need more and why does that mean I am inept?

• It allows me to shield.
• It allows me to focus.
• It gives me the tools I need, and I do not have.
• It allows me to schedule and fit in as per outside (neuro-majority) expectations.
• It gives me time to process and consume information in the way that works for me.
• It gives me the space I need to be ‘me’.

I remain who I am, with disabilities

, and not all my successes are linked to technology, some just to sheer perseverance and maximizing my neuro-divergent thinking but technology not only removes the barriers I face, it can augment the many capabilities neuro-minorities have. And it can help me create connections that otherwise might never have been made.

And back to the now… where does that leave us? Where does my story lead us, apart that technology removed barriers and brought two people together?

When you know about accessibility, you know technology can remove barriers, people with disabilities face. Whilst on a journey, which is not yet finished, Microsoft continuous to take away barriers to inclusion in its products and services, empowering everyone to be their true best self.

With the recent announcement of Microsoft Viva, we combine new levels of productivity with data-driven and privacy-protected insights where employees get personalized insights, only they can see, that help them protect their time for breaks, focused work, and learn to promote improved wellbeing. Fostering a culture where managers and their teams are empowered to be their best from anywhere and have technology for work and for life.