Tracking system gives youth with cerebral palsy freedom to navigate

THELMA GUERRERO
Statesman Journal

May 22, 2007

Edgar Galvan maneuvers his electric wheelchair inside a computer lab at West Salem High School like a skier negotiating a slalom course.

Near the far end of the classroom, he rolls in front of a computer that has what looks like a Web cam perched on top.

A teaching assistant sits on a chair next to him, peels a tiny gray dot off an adhesive paper and places it on the tip of Edgar's nose.

Facing the computer, Edgar, 16, tilts his head slightly, which sends an infrared signal via the dot on his nose to the device atop the monitor. He then slowly tilts his head upward, and the signal sends instructions to the computer to move the cursor.

Focused on the cursor, Edgar slowly moves the pointer with the dot on his nose toward the top of the screen, parks the cursor over a selected file, holds it steady for 1 second to 1.5 seconds, which highlights the document and clicks it open, allowing him to begin his computer lab work.

When he's done, he makes a guttural sound to let the assistant know he's finished.

"He gets around really well on the Internet," said Wendy Zeimantz, a teaching assistant who works one-on-one with Edgar. "He's even built his own Web page."

Locked in a body that refuses to allow him to walk, speak clearly or have full use of his hands, Edgar navigates the computer using a mouse-free device called SmartNav. The device is manufactured by Corvallis-based Natural Point.

"People with disabilities like (Edgar's) are probably always going to need somebody to help them with daily functions," said Warren Blyth, a spokesman for Natural Point. "But with this program, they're able to be in control of something on their own -- in this case, a computer -- which could enhance the way they live and learn."

Born on May 24, 1990, in Oaxaca, Mexico, Edgar suffers from cerebral palsy. He has had a penchant for computers since he was 7, said his mother, Cecilia Galvan, a Salem resident who works as a housekeeper.

"He used to clamp down in school, refusing to come home because he wanted to stay and play on the computers," Cecilia said. "I think that for him, it's a way to communicate with others, which I think gives him a sense of freedom. This program has further enhanced his sense of freedom."

The mouse-free system was created in 2001 by Jim Richardson, a Natural Point co-founder, after an accident left one of his cousins paralyzed. Bent on developing a product that would allow people with severe physical disabilities to have full access to computers, Richardson dropped out of the University of California at Berkeley, where he was studying engineering, and began work on the high-tech product.

SmartNav initially targeted only people with disabilities, but more people without disabilities have begun purchasing the product, Blyth said.

At school, Edgar, who is bilingual, spends most of his day in the developmental learning center, which integrates his educational and therapeutic activities.

"This is a very, very smart and very bright young man," said Chris D'Angelo, West Salem High School's special-education teacher.

"There's no reason why, when we're finished teaching him here, he can't go to college and one day work with computers," said D'Angelo, who also runs the school's developmental learning center. "He's got a brilliant mind."

D'Angelo and some of his teaching assistants are on a mission to raise money to purchase a SmartNav for Edgar's home computer. The camera costs $400. The group also wants to raise money to install a wheelchair lift in Cecilia Galvan's van.

The family owns the electric wheelchair that Edgar uses at school, where it remains when Edgar goes home. Without a lift, Cecilia is not able to hoist Edgar in the 450-pound chair into her van to get him to doctor appointments, school events, the mall, or family outings.

So the mother must physically place her son, and a manual wheelchair, in her van, D'Angelo said.

Edgar gets to and from school in a school bus that has a wheelchair lift, he said.

Despite his disabilities, Edgar has managed to press forward through two years of high school, taking and passing classes in math, reading, writing and science.

Away from school, he stays active, participating in a leadership program sponsored by Catholic Community Services. The program brings together Latino families whose children have mental, developmental, and physical disabilities.

Once he finishes school, Edgar is determined to go to college, his mother said.

"I support him in whatever decision he makes," Cecilia said. "I believe in him, and I think he'll be able to accomplish whatever he desires.

tguerrero@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6815
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps...705220317/1001