In a world where care systems are rapidly evolving, few voices carry the depth and authority of Precious “Preciosa” Myers-Brown. Her latest book introduces a bold perspective that challenges long-standing norms while offering a practical path forward.
Tech Equity: Freedom Through Enabling Technology: A Dream Officer’s Playbook for Tech Equity in Disability and Aging Services stands as a landmark contribution, opening new conversations about dignity, independence, and innovation.
A First-of-Its-Kind Playbook for Real Change
Precious Preciosa Myers-Brown delivers something the disability and aging services sector has never seen before. This book is widely recognized as the first comprehensive operational playbook dedicated to enabling technology within home and community-based services, intellectual and developmental disabilities care, and aging support systems.
Rather than focusing on isolated tools or devices, “Preciosa” presents enabling technology as a fully integrated ecosystem. It is a system designed to restore autonomy, privacy, and cultural connection for individuals who have long been underserved by outdated care models. These models, many rooted in regulations from 1988, often prioritize compliance over personal choice.
The book addresses a critical gap. Today’s challenges, including workforce shortages and increasing demand for independence, require solutions that align with modern realities. Through her writing, “Preciosa” makes it clear that technology, when used thoughtfully, can transform care from restrictive to empowering.
Frameworks That Redefine Possibility
One of the book’s strongest contributions lies in its structured approach. Drawing from nearly four decades of experience, “Preciosa” introduces four proprietary frameworks that provide clarity and direction for professionals across the field.
The Enabled Life Model™ focuses on creating lives built on safety, freedom, and meaningful connection. It shifts the conversation away from basic care toward holistic well-being. The Tech Equity Triangle™ offers a systems-level guide for ensuring access, safety, and liberation, particularly for policymakers and funding bodies.
The Seven Freedoms of ET™ challenges traditional assumptions about safety. It draws a clear distinction between protection and surveillance, advocating for dignity without unnecessary control. Meanwhile, The Ritmo Framework™ adds depth by addressing cultural responsiveness and human-centered implementation.
These frameworks are practical tools designed for real-world application. Whether someone is a service provider, administrator, or family member, the book equips them with language and strategies that can immediately influence how care is delivered.
Leadership Rooted in Experience and Innovation
The authority behind the book comes from an extraordinary career. Precious Preciosa Myers-Brown is known as The Voice of Enabling Technology™ and has spent decades shaping the field through leadership, research, and innovation.
As the Chief Innovation and Dream Officer of Vista Supports, LLC, “Preciosa” leads one of the first full-service enabling technology and remote support companies in the United States dedicated to disability and aging services. Her work has helped redefine how organizations build capacity, support caregivers, and modernize systems responsibly.
Her achievements extend beyond organizational leadership. She pioneered remote supports in the Washington, DC area and led the development of the city’s first smart home for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Her work with touchless radar technology has even been featured in international media, highlighting her commitment to advancing independence through innovation.
“Preciosa” also brings a strong academic and strategic foundation to her work. From board leadership roles to contributions in research and policy, her influence spans multiple levels of the industry. This depth of experience is reflected throughout the book, making it both credible and highly actionable.
A Timely Solution for a Changing World
The disability and aging services sector is facing a workforce crisis while also responding to a growing demand for autonomy and personalized care. Traditional staffing models are struggling to keep pace.
“Preciosa” addresses this challenge head-on by introducing the concept of hybrid workforce models. These models integrate human care with enabling technology, creating systems that are both sustainable and supportive. They protect the role of Direct Support Professionals while enhancing their effectiveness.
The book also expands its scope to include diverse populations, including Deaf communities and aging individuals with complex needs. It acknowledges cultural nuances and systemic barriers, ensuring that solutions are inclusive and adaptable.
Ultimately, Tech Equity positions technology as a partner rather than a replacement. It highlights how thoughtful implementation can lead to freedom. This perspective resonates strongly with today’s audiences, from policymakers to families seeking better care solutions.
Conclusion
Tech Equity: Freedom Through Enabling Technology provides a roadmap for meaningful transformation in a field that deeply impacts lives.
Through her visionary approach, “Preciosa” invites readers to rethink care, embrace innovation, and move toward a future where freedom and dignity are at the center of every system.
Beyond the Device: A Conversation with Precious “Preciosa” Myers-Brown, The Voice of Enabling Technology™
We had the privilege of interviewing the author. Here are excerpts from the interview:
Hi, thank you so much for joining us today! Please introduce yourself and tell us what you do.
I am Precious “Preciosa” Myers-Brown, known professionally as The Voice of Enabling Technology™ and the Chief Innovation and Dream Officer of Vista Supports, LLC, House of CINO, and WATI Institute™. I am an author, keynote speaker, Transformation Strategist, and Dream Technologist, and the first woman of color to found a full-service enabling technology and remote support company in the United States dedicated to IDD and aging services. Vista Supports operates as a provider of providers, building provider capacity, addressing caregiver needs, and supporting governments in modernizing care responsibly. I am also the author of Tech Equity: Freedom Through Enabling Technology, the first comprehensive operational playbook of its kind in this space.
Please tell us about your journey.
My journey started at the YMCA, helping people with disabilities learn to get into a pool. For many of them, it was the first time they had experienced that kind of freedom from their wheelchairs. That stayed with me. I later became a Direct Support Professional while I was in college, and that is where I came to understand just how much a DSP is expected to know and do. Some of it is possible. Some of it is actually impossible. And some of it is subjective. When I look at DSPs today, I look at them from that place. I know what it feels like to be hyper-focused on requirements to the point where the interpersonal relationship — the part that matters most to the person being supported — starts to disappear. What I have always believed is that technology done right allows us to right-size support. A DSP should not be inserted into 100% of someone’s life, whether they are needed in that space or not. People with disabilities and seniors deserve support that fits their actual lives. That belief is what has driven everything I have built.
What inspired you to write this playbook?
My grandmother, Francena Brown Hicks, was a spitfire who left the segregated South to give me options. As she aged, she made me promise not to let the system take her freedom. I realized then that people are not afraid of aging — they are afraid of losing power, dignity, and choice. I wrote this book because we are still trying to squeeze modern expectations into care frameworks and regulations written in 1988, before the internet even existed.
You emphasize that technology should not replace human staff. How do they work together?
Technology does not replace human care — it expands it. We have a massive workforce crisis where Direct Support Professionals are exhausted, sometimes working 48-hour shifts. Smart supports like touchless radar monitoring and remote alerts handle continuous monitoring so staff can handle the human connection. It moves us from constant, intrusive supervision to connected independence, which actually protects our workforce from impossible expectations and burnout.
What is the Dean Martin Principle you describe in the book?
It highlights why generic technology fails in human care. I once supported a woman whose trigger word for needing comfort was Dean Martin, because her grandmother used to play his records to calm her down. A generic AI would hear that and pull up his Wikipedia page, missing her meaning entirely. Technology must be programmed to honor personal meaning, cultural identity, and context. That is what true tech equity requires.
What are the strategies that helped you become successful in your journey?
I never lost sight of the dream. That word is intentional — there is a whole story behind why Dream Officer is in my title. I work hard so that when someone finally wakes up, that dream is their reality. That has been my north star through everything.
In practice, that means I never stopped listening. Listening to what the person actually wants, not what the system decided they need. Always looking for ways to remove hand-over-hand support, to give people ways to communicate their needs even when they cannot articulate them, to make sure the solution we build today evolves as they evolve. We were never meant to have a one-and-done approach to supporting someone. The whole premise of home and community-based services is that people can grow, learn new skills, and maintain what they have. Technology is how we honor that premise instead of abandoning it.
I also built this to invest in the future of care — one that we will all benefit from. And I want young people to know that this field needs them. Human services, IDD, aging — this is not an outdated system that does not align with your reality. We say think innovatively now because we have been working inside an outdated model. But sooner than later we will simply operate within innovation. It is not a department. It is a lifestyle.
Any message for our readers?
The care system we are working inside was built in the 80s, way before we had any of the tools available to us today. While it might be cool to find a pager from that era and hold it in your hand, you would spend years looking for the payphone you need to go along with it. We honor and celebrate what we were able to do with what we had. And now we have to push forward.
If you serve people with disabilities or older adults, you have both a responsibility and an opportunity to use enabling technology to honor human dignity the way it was always meant to be honored. And if you are a family member, a caregiver, or someone navigating this system yourself — know that freedom through technology is real, and there are people fighting to make it accessible. This book is your starting point.
Thank you so much, Precious “Preciosa” Myers-Brown, for giving us your valuable time! We wish you all the best for your journey ahead!
