This Is Not IT Support

It Is Assistive Digital Identity Configuration

When a mainstream IT technician fixes a problem, the goal is simple:

• Restore functionality

• Repair a device

• Reset a password

• Install software

The assumption is that the user can operate the system once it works.

For many people with cognitive, psychosocial, neurological, or executive functioning challenges, that assumption does not hold.

What is required is not technical repair.

What is required is capacity-aligned configuration.

The Difference Between IT Help and Assistive Configuration

Mainstream IT Help

Mainstream IT operates on these assumptions:

• The user remembers passwords.

• The user understands authentication prompts.

• The user can follow multi-step recovery flows.

• The user maintains device continuity.

• The user can manage phone number changes safely.

• The user understands consequences of SIM replacement.

• The user can complete complex recovery forms.

If the system works, the job is done.

Assistive Digital Configuration

Assistive configuration begins with different questions:

• What is the client’s working memory capacity?

• How does the client respond to stress?

• What happens when the phone is lost or smashed?

• Does the client change numbers impulsively?

• Can the client tolerate administrative friction?

• Is there executive function impairment?

• Is there trauma-related avoidance?

• What is the risk of identity lockout?

The goal is not to “fix the device.”

The goal is to stabilise participation.

Why This Matters

Modern digital systems assume:

• Persistent phone numbers

• Stable device ownership

• Backup code storage

• Multi-step authentication understanding

• Security awareness

• Planning capacity

For vulnerable clients, these assumptions are fragile.

When Two-Factor Authentication fails, this is not a technical inconvenience.

It can affect:

• Access to NGOs

• Health department communication

• NDIS coordination

• Housing applications

• Financial access

• Government compliance

This is a functional capacity issue.

Pre-Literacy Digital Configuration

Many special needs clients operate at what could be described as pre-digital-literacy level.

Not because of intelligence.

Because of:

• Cognitive overload

• Executive dysfunction

• Memory instability

• Emotional reactivity

• Limited digital scaffolding

They may not understand:

• That phone numbers anchor identity.

• That changing SIM cards affects authentication.

• That Authenticator apps must be backed up.

• That password resets do not remove MFA.

• That recovery emails must be configured first.

Without structured setup, failure is predictable.

This is not misuse.

It is system misalignment.

What Assistive Configuration Actually Involves

It includes:

1. Identity Stabilisation

• Remove volatile anchors (phone numbers as sole recovery).

• Add stable recovery email.

• Add multiple authentication methods.

• Generate and securely store backup codes.

• Create redundancy pathways.

2. Behavioural Risk Mapping

• Identify likelihood of device loss.

• Identify impulsive phone number changes.

• Identify frustration triggers.

• Identify vulnerability to retail upselling.

3. Capacity-Aligned Design

• Reduce cognitive steps.

• Reduce dependency on memory.

• Minimise authentication friction.

• Build redundancy.

• Document credentials securely.

• Create recovery protocols.

4. Environmental Safeguards

• Train support workers.

• Provide scripts for phone stores.

• Establish pre-change protocols before SIM replacement.

• Prevent downstream lockout events.

This is not troubleshooting.

This is infrastructure design.

The Cost of Misclassifying This Work

If this is labelled as “IT support,” it becomes:

• Reactive

• Episodic

• Device-focused

• Short-term

• Underestimated in value

If recognised correctly as assistive digital configuration, it becomes:

• Capacity-based

• Preventative

• Communication-preserving

• Participation-protecting

• Risk-managed

This work protects:

• Access to healthcare

• Engagement with NGOs

• Legal identity continuity

• Financial participation

• Government service access

That is not IT repair.

That is digital participation architecture.

Digital Identity as Assistive Technology

Traditional assistive technology supports:

• Mobility

• Vision

• Communication

• Physical independence

Modern independence also requires:

• Stable digital identity

• Authentication resilience

• Communication continuity

• Secure configuration

For many clients, their email account is their access to the world.

If that account becomes unstable due to cognitive-system mismatch, independence is reduced.

Designing systems that account for this is assistive work.

The Core Distinction

Mainstream IT says:

“Here is your password reset. You’re good to go.”

Assistive configuration says:

“Let’s redesign this so you don’t lock yourself out next month.”

Mainstream IT restores function.

Assistive configuration protects participation.

Mainstream IT assumes capacity.

Assistive configuration designs around capacity.

Conclusion

This work is not mainstream IT help.

It is:

• Digital identity stabilisation

• Authentication risk mitigation

• Capacity-aligned configuration

• Communication continuity protection

• Assistive digital infrastructure design

In an increasingly online world, digital identity is not optional.

For vulnerable clients, it must be configured deliberately — not repaired reactively.

That distinction matters.

Because stability in authentication is stability in independence.