A new digital device may offer more opportunity for the severely handicapped. Karen Younkin is an occupational therapist at the Center for Disabilities and Development at University Hospitals in Iowa City, who says computers let the handicapped communicate in many ways. She sees “kids of all ages, from zero to 90 years old,” and says computers are changing all the time with voice-recognition programs that write down what you say, and adaptive mice so you can operate the computer mouse by speaking. Now a Canadian inventor’s rolling out a mouse for users who can’t even move their arms or hands. The mouse is operated by blinking, and making tiny head movements picked up by a small camera aimed at the user’s nose. For that feature, it’s dubbed — the Nouse. She hasn’t seen the “Nouse” but says an existing tool called a “head mouse” does the same kind of thing. Younkin says there’s already a lot of computer programming and equipment helping disabled kids take classes in mainstream schools today. She says technology helps kids read and write, like programs that read textbooks aloud so students who can’t read can still study and do homework. Younkin says there’s technology available to help with any kind of disability. For more on the University of Iowa’s “Center for Disabilities and Development” as well as the Disability Resource Library, begin surfing at http://www.medicine.uiowa.edu/cdd/index.asp
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