RE: OT - Motor Neuron Disease

["Keith Doxey" <ukha@xxxxxxx>]

Hi Brian

Sorry to hear of your relatives illness.

One company making equipment for motor disabilities is POSSUM
http://www.possum.co.uk/possum/

If you want a homebrew solution my first thoughts are a VB program that
displays a keyboard in a window on the PC. Microwitch type Joystick (old
BBC
Micro style) connected to the games port which can be moved in the 4 basic
directions to highlight a different key on the display. Pressing the fire
button selects that key. If the disability is so great that pressing the
button will not be possible then you can wire an air pressure switch across
the fire button. Suitable ones are inside every washing machine. Blowing
down a tube will simulate the button press.

That is how some of the POSSUM stuff works. For people who are almost
totally disabled they do a version where sucking on the tube steps through
options, blowing selects the option. It is also possible to use optical
sensors and reflected light triggered by eye movements.

Hope that has given you a little bit of an idea for things to try. Its not
an area that I really have any experience in.

BTW. I dont consider this to be OT.

People with disabilities are the people who REALLY NEED Home Automation
unlike most of us who are just doing it because it is fun and really cool.

I once attended a lecture by Prof Heinz Wolff where he discussed Home
Automation for the CARING home rather than the SMART home aspects. We are
all getting older and there will come a time when some of us will
unfortunately not have the use of skills that we currently have. That may
be
loss of sight, hearing, movement, memory etc either through illness or
injury, and I believe that we should consider those possibilities, however
much we like to think it wont happen to us. We should therefore design our
systems with that in mind so that they may be easily adapted to match the
changing needs of the users.

I hope you find a suitable solution to make life more bearable for your
relative.

Keith

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Brian G. Reynolds [mailto:brian.g.reynolds@xxxxxxx]
> Sent: 02 August 2001 19:58
> To: UKHA Group
> Subject: [ukha_d] OT - Motor Neuron Disease
>
>
> Hi, sorry for the Off-Topic subject but I'm sure you will indulge me.
>
> A colleague has a close relative who has Motor Neuron Disease and
> is getting
> steadily worse, she is unable to speak and now unable to write so
> has asked
> me if I know of any equipment, keyboard/input device etc. that might
help
> her to communicate.
>
> I am afraid my knowledge of this disease is extremely limited, I
believe
> Professor Steven Hawkin has the same disease?
>
> Hope you can help me to help my friend.
>
> Thank you,
>
> B.
>
>
>
>
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