This caught my interest because my father (PD, ~3 yrs.)
has been in the hospital for three weeks. He cannot speak
coherently to indicate his needs, although he can make
himself understood with considerable effort/ guesswork
by a nurse's aide or myself. I have been unable
to get him to point to a list of foods, personal needs, etc.
I had heard of technology that allows a user to control
a computer by looking at what he/she wants. A search on
Alta Vista revealed that it actually exists, although it's very
expensive. It allows a patient to control up to ten lights or
appliances, and a speech synthesizer can generate up to
126 phrases. If the user can control his/her eye position,
he or she can use it.
The Web address is http://www.lctinc.com/docs/ecs.htm
(LC Technologies, Inc. 800-EYEGAZE)
On another issue, Dad appears very frustrated. My
suspicion is that there is a disconnection between his
thought processes and speech: that is, he knows what he
wants to say and BELIEVES he has said it, and he can't
understand why people don't respond. (I bought a digital
memo player, recorded what he said, and played it back
to try to help him realize that he is NOT saying what he
thinks he has said.) Has anyone else had this type of
experience?
-Bill
