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Assistive Technology

Joey Bandi

1/3/11

Stephan Hawking- Hawking was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), commonly referred to in the U.S. as Lou Gehrig’s disease. As ALS progresses, the degeneration of motor neurons in the brain interfere with messages to muscles in the body. Eventually, muscles atrophy and voluntary control of muscles is lost. People with ALS typically maintain intelligence, memory, and personality, even in late stages of the disease. Dr. Hawking became a professor at the University of Cambridge in England. He has used a thumb switch and a blink-switch attached to his glasses to control his computer. By squeezing his cheek muscles and "blinking" an infra-red switch is activated and he is able to scan and select characters on the screen in order to compose speeches, surf the Internet, send e-mail and "speak" through a voice synthesizer.

Lance Armstrong- In October 1996 he was diagnosed as having testicular cancer, with a tumor that had metastasized to his brain and lungs. His cancer treatments included brain and testicular surgery and extensive chemotherapy, and his prognosis was originally poor. He went on to win the Tour de France each year from 1999 to 2005, and is the only person to win seven times

Joey Bandi

1/3/11 Part 2

 

1.)     Sarah has Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP). This disease turns muscle into bone as time progresses. She went to a summer camp through the program DO-IT. This allowed her to have assistice technology to aid her. She is now in her college years, studying many things. With the help of her family, friends, and assistive technology she is able to accomplish all of this.

2.)      Pete became permanently disabled 20 years ago during his final semester in college.  Now, this Canton resident has many of the limitations of a quadriplegic and is bedridden. Easter Seals was called in to train Pete to use certain computer equipment and to customize it in ways that would increase his independence.  Eric’s challenge was to give Pete a hands-free way to control both his computer and the other devices he uses in his daily life.

Pete had been using Dragon Naturally Speaking software to dictate to his computer.  Eric added a second type of voice-recognition software and other equipment that enable Pete to restart his computer when it freezes up.  He also customized computer commands that function as shortcuts to compensate for Pete’s physical limitations and overcome the weaknesses of certain software programs. Now Pete is able to watch TV and do some things independently.

3.)     Danielle has difficulty hearing conversations when there is background noise.  She had tried hearing aids when she was younger but they hurt her ears and now, at 25, she also just didn’t want to be seen wearing them. Her advisor at one of her schools heard about this issue and sent her to a special facility that helps with disabilities and thought that maybe she could get a new Pocketalker. After testing the technology out and liking that it looked like and MP3 player or Ipod and had to have one of her own. With the help of a mini-loan for assistive technology, Danielle now has her own Pocketalker.