Hi
Tami- Good
point about using a laser pointer- (either hand held or head
mounted) This
is a video of a person with a mild tremor using a hand held laser for
communication. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yslp78qIKow
It’s
hard to tell in this video, but the person has the pad of their hand
resting on a wrist rest. (He needed to have his hand supported in
order to use the laser.) He
is using the wristrest as a sort of lever to move his hand (hope that makes
sense…) He is really moving more from the elbow and shoulder than
from his hand… Margaret
From:
xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Tami
Brancamp Good
suggestions. This
family might consider larger, low-tech boards with a laser light for
selection. The use of a head mounted laser might be useful for her (if she
has adequate head control). This could bypass the
hand. I would
also suggest moving beyond letter-by-letter spelling of words/sentences and
incorporating prewritten words and phrases (AlphaCore - but in her language
if not English). This will make it a little less labor
intensive. Really
great resources are available from Low Tech Solutions (lowtechsolutions.org).
Tami Tami Brancamp,
PhD Assistant
Professor Speech
Pathology & Audiology University
of Nevada School of Medicine 775.784.4887 775.682.7020
(office) On Jan 6,
2012, at 2:13 PM, Margaret Cotts wrote: Hi
Alisa- 1. What
about using a low tech keyguard? A keyguard might her stabilize her
hand. Buddy
Speak has a pre-made one, but the space for the letters might not be large
enough… He
could also probably get a larger keyguard cut by a plastic store, if it
seems like it would be helpful. He could probably even make a mock up
out of stiff thick cardboard, just to try it
out. 2. I
appreciate that they can’t afford anything expensive, but if a
keyguard is useful to her, it might allow her to use something like a iPad.
(There is a company which makes them specifically for the
iPad)> 3. Another
high tech option would be to use a true 9-pin joystick (not a mouse
emulator). This means she could only travel on an X/Y
axis. In
terms of the diplopia- it might be useful to have a fair amount of space in
between each letter. Also, to experiment with contrast (i.e. white
letters on a black background). Hope
this helps.
From: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Alisa
Brownlee Hello fellow AT
professionals, Below is an
email I received this afternoon. Anyone have any out of the box ideas
for this family? Thanks, Alisa Alisa Brownlee, ATP From: Vlahos Ioannis
[mailto:xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] Dear
Ms Brownlee, I have found your
e mail while searching for information about augmentative communication and
I am addressing you ,hoping to get some advice and
information. We live in
Greece, island of Crete, my wife 58 yrs old., was diagnosed 5 years ago
with ALS (bulblar form). Two years ago she underwent tracheostomy, and she
cannot speak since then. For more than a year She was able to write on a
board as her hands were not affected. However , In the past 8 months her
condition worsened and she cannot write anymore-or she does , but we cannot
read her writing. I have made for
her a large board with printed capital letters of the alphabet , so that by
pointing at the letters we can know what she wants to
say. Unfortunately her
vision is not so good (diplopia) so when she points to a letter her hand
keeps shaking and she ends up pointing to a different
(neighbohring ) letter than the one she intends to
show. This makes
communication very difficult and requires a lot of time and patience and
most of the times we cannot make up what she wants to tell
us. Would you have
something to suggest and advice us for helping and making communication
possible? I know there
are computers . but she cannot use one , because of the eye and the
hand problem. Whatever the
apparatus proposed, it has to have large letters (not a regular keyboard)
and be easy to look at or
touch. I would
appreciate any information you can give
us. we could not
afford a very expensive apparatus, so a rahter simple solution would be the
most advicable. Thanking you in
advance sincerely, Yannis
Vlahos Eva's husband and
caregiver. |