Tangoed communication
A new device that facilitates synthesised speech is revolutionising
life for its users, children and adults with communication difficulties
or handicaps like cerebral palsy and autism.
The device — called tango! — enables people to “build not just
sentences, but relationships”, according to its creators, New York-based
Blink Twice. It also enhances educational opportunities, social
interaction and “the long-term potential of children and adults who rely
on such devices”, they say.
“The combination of the different communication tools allows children
not only to say what they wish, but also to do it with their own
emotions and personality”, says Richard Ellenson, Blink Twice CEO.
Richard and his son Thomas, who has cerebral palsy, were recently
voted ‘people of the year’ by ABC World News (a division of the US ABC
television and radio network), for revolutionising the way in which
assistive technology is perceived.
Source: bjhc&im April 2007
Disclaimer
|