Number 219 - August 2001

Searching For Life
Burton Shane (bshane39@yahoo.com) Dec 2000 ACGNJ News
Around 1985, physicist Stephen Hawking's life was saved by surgery that rendered him speechless. He had been so ill that his wife was advised to allow removal of life-support since there was no hope of a useful life. By coincidence, my doctors had also pronounced me terminally ill. I had briefly experienced the helplessness of inability to communicate, and I empathized with Mr. Hawking. He was given a speech-enabled Datavue 25 to ensure that his knowledge would not be lost to mankind. I too had a Datavue 25, and it was apparent to me that many unfortunate people could be greatly aided by adapting proliferating inexpensive personal computers to help overcome disabilities.     I volunteered my services at hospitals and rehabilitative institutes, and was able to create programs and custom interfaces for people with multiple disabilities. I would like to recount just one story of how a personal computer made a difference. A friend operated a pre-school that specialized in children with disabilities. They usually hired an extra medical aide for each student. He approached me with a special case--a student who was afflicted with cerebral palsy since birth and had volitional control over only one finger. One finger! He could not walk, talk or grasp an object. His development was arrested because he could not interact with the environment.     I wired a position sensor as an input device to be strapped on his finger. I wrote a program that allowed him to select letters and pictures displayed on the CR T and to make simple drawings, and print them out. I demonstrated it to the pre-school owner, and he later	told me of its first use. They setup the system and strapped the input sensor to the child's finger. They "walked" him through the necessary steps for creating a drawing, then allowed the child to create one on his own. As his nervous parents looked on, he completed a simple drawing and sent it to the printer. As his very first drawing noisily scrolled out of the printer, the parents started to cry, the teacher started to cry , and as he was telling me this story, I began to cry too.     Like Stephen Hawking's doctors, mine were overly pessimistic, though it took a transplant and some extra help to keep me going. It is ironic that the personal computer that has become such an important part of my life (indeed a more important factor in everybody's life), was instrumental in extending my life. I was critically ill, and after a hectic helicopter ride, was ensconced in a glass-enclosed intensive care facility where I desperately awaited a transplant. I was able to watch as they did remote computer searches in databases across the country trying to find a suitable organ in time. I still remember the look on the computer operator's face as he involuntarily looked up into my eyes when his search was successful. I knew instantly, and though it meant a lot to my family and friends (and myself), my predominant feeling was the excitement that I still feel when I complete a successful search.     I have spent much of the extra time I have been allotted to encourage others to use computers for the betterment of mankind. I hope this story will inspire others who will similarly find some way to contribute.
Number 219 - August 2001