“I am visually impaired,” says Kam. “I was trying to learn how to use my smartphone. If you’re not able to use it, you’re missing out on a lot.”

Kam wanted to learn about his smartphone’s functions for personal, everyday use. “For people with a visual disability, using these new apps can help with your daily living and [provide] all kinds of advantages that we didn’t have in the past,” he explains. “It makes a big difference in how one lives, how to keep in touch with the outside world, gaining new knowledge, and so on and so forth.”

Kam heard about TELUS’ Tech for Good™(new window) program in collaboration with Neil Squire. Through the program, customers with disabilities that require assistive technology can receive specialized assistance.

Kam, who has been a TELUS customer for over 40 years, decided to apply to the program. Soon, he began a series of weekly remote sessions with Digital Technology Specialist, Khatidja.

“It was a very good experience, indeed,” says Kam. “Khatidja is a fantastic instructor – very knowledgeable, patient and kind! You cannot ask for a better teacher than her.”

Distance learning was another positive for Kam. He says, “We finished the sessions when we started the quarantine period, sometime in late March. But we were already using remote teaching instruction, which was very convenient. You don’t have to go places and spend a lot of time.”

Now Kam has become a confident user of his smartphone.

“I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Neil Squire Society for the valuable instruction, which has transformed me from a state of knowing next to nothing about the smartphone to now an efficient user of this device,” he beams.

“I’m very thankful to the Neil Squire Society and their founder, Bill Cameron. It’s mentioned in the mission statement of the society that you use ‘technology, knowledge, and passion to empower people with disabilities’. And that’s exactly what happened to me. I’m empowered!”