"I will have to say I was very skeptical. Since I live down the road from their offices, I stopped by to try it out. To my dismay, it is pretty easy to pick up. There is some muscle control issues that you need to work on, for instance the mouse is a little hard to work at first, but with practice it becomes nothing. The biggest thing to overcome when learning a new piece of ergo equipment, is lack of self discipline and stick-to-it-edness. With practice and hardwork it becomes worth it. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. I think this is pretty beneficial!"
-- John Ford, Engineer at Lockheed Martin, Orlando
“My husband and I believe the orbiTouch holds great promise as a means of communication for certain children on the autism spectrum. Because each of these children learns so very differently and there is no set therapy guideline, we as parents are always looking to try anything that just might be exactly what our child needs in order to communicate. The Blue Skies project is raising funds to get this device into the hands of children with autism as quickly as possible right here on a local level. We can expect it will give some of these children a voice for the very first time and to help others communicate what is inside of them even more clearly. While it won’t work for every child, no one will know how it will help their child until they try.”
-- Karen Howington Mother of a twelve year old son with autism
"The orbiTouch Keyless Keyboard has given our family the joy in watching a child that hated to write, blossom into one who is writing and even making small power point presentations. Blue Skies is giving children on the autism spectrum the ability to shine by allowing them to use innovative technology to communicate with others. For some children on the spectrum, communication is often absent or limited. I feel that the Blue Skies project is creating a bridge between the child, who can not communicate, and those that love and care for him the most. What an incredible tool to provide to these families and know that each child is crossing that bridge of communication with their loved ones.”
-- Allie Spangler, mother of a son with autism
“This is Amy! She is thrilled with her new keyboard!
I have to tell you that we, at the Assistive Technology Team, are so impressed by this keyboard that I had to pry it out of a colleague's hands (he LOVED the asteroids game) to bring it to Amy. It seems to be working just fine. We LOVE the mouse feature and Amy caught on very quickly to the process. It will take some practice for her, of course. We find that her left-handedness and CP are offering more of a challenge than her vision impairment. She is nothing if not perseverant and comes from a wonderfully supportive family so we plan to let her take the keyboard home for the summer and establish an assigned training plan using your wonderful CD. We can set goals for her to accomplish in speed and accuracy before moving on. I know that she will endeavor to do her best.
We are so grateful for your generosity and will send regular progress reports.”
-- Sally Norton-Darr, Assistive Technologist
Communication Without Barriers: The orbiTouch® Keyless Keyboard For Persons With Autism
Catherine Zeh sits in front of her desk with her Hewlett Packard PC sitting on the desktop. She is preparing to input information onto a page. In front of her is a plastic sheet showing her various directions to move the two domes on the orbiTouch keyless keyboard in front of her. Resting comfortably with the keyboard at arm’s level, she starts typing. “There is no finger motion involved in using the orbiTouch. I just move the two domes in different directions and I am typing,” says Zeh with a strong sense of pride and accomplishment. She says she likes using the orbiTouch because there is less finger and wrist motion, and she can sit longer spells without being tired.
Ten minutes later, she has typed 303 words in four paragraphs. A spell check review shows she typed nine words incorrectly. Still, her periods, question marks, quotations, spacing between lines and paragraph indentation are flawless. Before she started today’s work she had not used the orbiTouch in close to four weeks. She believes her efficiency rate and typing speed would be higher if she had used the orbiTouch during those four weeks. Almost three of those four weeks were spent vacationing with her parents and then grandparents. Twenty-year-old Catherine Grace Zeh is a high functioning individual with autism. A graduate of Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA, in June 2000, Zeh loves working with computers. In fact, she just loves working. She dreams of returning to work in an office where she can utilize her computer skills and general administrative skills. Her software experience includes working with Data Entry Speed 8000 KPH, Microsoft Word, Access, Excel, PowerPoint and CPC 700 Closed Captioning Software. She enjoys filing, web researching and perhaps captioning once again. She was a Closed Captioning Editor from July 2000 to December 2000, for Fairfax County Public Schools, Chapel Square Center, Annandale, VA. She did transcription from audio and written scripts. However, she does not want to do captioning full time “Captioning full time is tedious and tiring because your fingers are moving all the time,” she says.
Returning to the orbiTouch she says, “The orbiTouch can be used by people who caption. After 30minutes of captioning, especially in real-time, your fingers are awfully tired, and your back aches,” says Zeh.
Zeh’s typing speed is 50 words per minute. With the orbiTouch it is 30. With more usage, she believes she can reach 40. Aware of repetitive stress injuries resulting from too much typing, she believes the orbiTouch can reduce injuries because, “there is no finger and wrist motion.” Zeh says it took her five hours to learn to use the orbiTouch to where she was typing more than 20 words per minute. Some people with autism have an ability to memorize songs, dates, facts and other information that they can recall instantly. According to Zeh, initially sitting in front of a computer for about two hours with the combinations chart in front of her, she memorized about 60% of the combinations of movements. She believes she knows more than 75% of the letter combinations and half of the other combinations.
“I have the ability to work and want very much to work full time,” says Zeh who is determined to succeed. One of her immediate goals is to work fulltime so she can travel to Europe soon with family or friends. Her burning desire is to visit Italy where she can see all the wonderful sights of Rome and ride on the canals of Venice. Working sporadically, Zeh feels as though her abilities are being wasted. She is looking for a full time job. After dozens of interviews without success, she is optimistic she will find one. She is certain the orbiTouch will play an important role in her career.
Her one wish for the orbiTouch is, “I would like to see a smaller version,” she says. By smaller she means a thumbs version. She thinks a smaller version will attract more people with autism to become users because using their thumbs will hold their attention.
She has told her friends about the orbiTouch and believes it can play educational, recreational and career roles in the lives of people with autism. Zeh, who weighs her words carefully before speaking says, “The orbiTouch gives individuals with autism a voice in the information technology field.” Zeh adds, “The orbiTouch is a communications tool. Since it can enhance my communications, it can help
other people with autism to communicate.” Zeh wants the orbiTouch to be used in schools where it will give students with autism a chance to show
-- John M. Williams, Assistive Technology Writer
"I have seen quadriplegics demonstrate the orbiTouch. After spending 30 minutes with it, Howard Kaline, a quadriplegic told me, "This is the future. I can easily use the orbiTouch for employment." The orbiTouch may be in his future. It can certainly be in the future of other quadriplegics."
-- John Williams, Assistive Technology Writer
"One of my jobs is to prepare a weekly report about volunteer activity. Before I began using the orbiTouch, it would take me more than two hours to complete. Now I'm able to do it in a half hour to 45 minutes."
-- Shirley Johnson, The Disability Network
"Yes, no keys. How is that assistive technology at its finest? I'll tell you. The "orbiTouch", now is made exclusively by Keybowl, which is why Im spending so much time on this particular product in this column. Soon, I hope, more manufacturers will begin make the device, offering a wider variety of options at competitive prices, to the enormous benefit of people who can't or don't want to use regular keyboards."
-- Barbara J. McKee, Albuquerque writer, poet, performer and producer
Shawn Grassley Discovers A New World Through Assistive Technology
You had to be there to capture the moment. It was more than a Kodak moment for Shawn Grassley. It was a moment of joy beyond description. It was an exhilarating moment of liberation when Grassley looked up and saw he had spelled his name using the orbiTouch keyless keyboard.
I was attending the Helping Hands 20th Annual Telethon in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, on April 26. Hundreds of people were in the studio. Telephones were ringing. Voices were everywhere. Hundreds of eyes were focused on the master of ceremonies, who was making an impassioned plea for donations. In the center of all of this exuberance however, one set of eyes was focused on two domes. Shawn was sitting in his wheelchair, his head bent over the domes. His hands moved the domes forward and backward, left and right, and in other directions. His focus was like a laser beam. He eyes moved left and right and up and down as he moved the domes one at a time. First the letter S appeared. Then H. After two tries A was on the screen. Then two tries later W and finally N. Grassley moved his eyes upward and his head was rigid as he saw his name. Then came the look of triumphant victory. There was the smile. There was the shouting, “I did it. I am not a dummy.”
Very few moments have ever affected me like this one.
For the first time in his life, without assistance from anyone, 35-year-old Shawn had typed his name. For the fist time in his life, Grassley said, “I feel empowered. I want to continue.”
Continue he did. Slowly Grassley typed G. Then R, A, S S L E Y. Nothing Grassley did before in his life prepared him for this time as he read GRASSLEY. He had triumphed again. He was a man with renewed confidence. For the second time in less than five minutes he said, “I can write. I can write. I can speak. I am not a dummy.” Grassley created a keystroke by sliding the two domes into one of their eight respective positions.
When I asked his jubilant mother, Sandy, “Why does he say, ‘I am not a dummy?’” She said with bitterness, “His caseworkers and some of his former school teachers called him a dummy because of his cerebral palsy, and because he could not use a regular keyboard. He is not a dummy!”
Grassley is intelligent. He knows what he wants and says what he wants. He told me, “I want to use this keyboard so I can access the Internet. I want to write e-mails. I want to write letters.”
More importantly, he wants to work. He wants to be independent. He says, “I want to earn my own money and be my own man.” Grassley’s jubilance was shared by others. John Seamon, the executive director of Helping Hands, could not believe what he had just seen. A person he had known for more than 20 years, had in Seamon’s words, “surprised me beyond my expectations.”
Seamon wanted the orbiTouch keyboard. He has been looking for a device to help Grassley communicate, and now he grabbed it, saying with a tear, “I can not describe what I am feeling. I am speechless. This tool is the embodiment of what assistive technology was designed to accomplish for users.” Grassley’s story does not end there. He learned to use the keyboard in minutes, and kept it for some time. He smiled, laughed, and delighted in his new-found power of expression. He said triumphantly, “I can write.”
Grassley is getting an orbiTouch of his own. He knows it will change his life. He knows he has discovered the great equalizer for him. Thanks to technology, he is ready to move forward with his life.
-- John M. Williams, Assistive Technology Writer