TECH EDGE: What Will Drive AT Costs Down?

By John M. Williams

For decades, people have been complaining about the high costs of assistive technology (AT) products. It is a repeated complaint that I hear every time I go to a conference on assistive technology. The voices are loud and angry as they demand, rather than ask, an answer from manufacturers, “Why can’t you lower your prices?”

For decades manufacturers have heard the same irate questions. Contrary to consumers’ believing the manufacturers are gouging them, manufacturers staunchly defend their prices.

“Our profit margins are small because the markets are small,” said David Pillischer, Sighted Electronics.

Pillischer points out that he pays salaries and benefits to his staff and that most of the research and development money comes from pouring company funds back into R&D.

A manufacturer, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “I struggle with pricing all the time. I can’t sell my products unless I make a profit. I can’t charge too high because I won’t sell my products.”

“His answer does not satisfy me,” says Michael Damon, father of two sons with disabilities, Damon says he has spent thousands of dollars over the years on hardware and text-to-speech software.

Manufacturers want to see more public funds for R&D come from state and federal levels. Many manufacturers believe that in this era of cutting budgets, the public funds simply aren’t there for the little guy. “As a result the consumer loses because he lacks a voice in the political arena,” a manufacturer said to me. On the condition of anonymity, other manufacturers supported the statement.

Politicians on Capitol Hill agree that more public money has to go into the R&D for AT products, and they are working to include funds in next year’s budget. Some parents of children with disabilities believe people with disabilities have a natural right to AT and believe the federal and state governments should set up programs to buy and give AT products away without strings attached.

“We subsidize billion dollar corporate industries who your don’t need it, Peter McIntyre told me. “Why don’t we subsidize people who need technology?” McIntyre’s son has cerebral palsy and uses text-to-speech products. The private sector also believes that more funds could help AT manufacturers sell more products.

“The more people know about a product the more they will support it,” communications specialist Dorothy McNeil said. She has a six-year-old child with a disability.

Investors believe that additional funds are the panacea for manufacturers to sell more products, but not necessarily to reduce their prices.

“Manufacturers would have to sell thousands more products annually over two or three years before they could realistically reduce their prices,” market analyst Nancy Stars said.

“Manufacturers need to increase their sales by improving their marketing programs,” says Michael Orloski, an independent, conservative, and investment counselor. He believes that an infusion of cash to AT manufacturers from investors willing to wait two or more years for profits would help them sell more products, therefore reducing their need for taxpayer dollars.

Orloski also believes the hundreds of manufacturers make it impossible for one, two or three companies to dominate the AT field, therefore investors find the field a poor investment.

Investment counselor Henry Carver, whose father uses a low vision product, says, “The disability consumer market is too fragmented now for any big investor to be enticed into it. The future may be different.”

And yet the number of people requiring AT products is staggering. According to the American Foundation for the Blind there are between 8 to 14 million people with low vision in the US. According to the American Speech Language Hearing Association the number of totally deaf and hard-ofhearing people in the US exceed 24 million, and the number of speech-challenged people is around 5 million. The National Federation of the Blind says the number of totally blind people exceeds half a million. The number of people with multiple disabilities is more than a million. Out of 56 million people with disabilities, the best guess is maybe 300,000 people are using AT products.

How do you reach the tens of millions more who need AT products? For they hold the key to manufacturers selling more products.

The answer is more money for mass marketing.

John M. Williams has been reporting on assistive technology for more than 25 years. He can be contacted at jmmaw@aol.com.