Assistive & Learning Technology For Students with Disabilities & Special Needs:

Helen Keller-Deaf, Blind & MuteBy: Monee M. Perkins

Helen

What?

Device

HELEN KELLER

Helen Keller at the age of 19 months a healthy child became ill with a high fever which caused her to become deaf and blind. She would feel of people's hands to try to find out what they were doing. She learned to do many things this way. She learned to milk a cow and knead the bread dough.

She could recognize people by feeling of their faces or their clothes. She made up signs with her hands so she could "talk" to her family. She had 60 different signs. If she wanted bread, she pretended to be cutting a loaf. If she wanted ice cream, she would hug her shoulders and shiver.

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HELEN KELLER

Helen’s family invested in her future by hiring a teacher name Anne Sullivan. She taught Helen the signs for the letters of the alphabet. Then she would "spell" the words in Helen's hand to communicate with her.

One day Anne led Helen to the water pump and pumped water on her hand. She spelled the letters W-A-T-E-R as the water ran over Helen's hand. She did this over and over again. At last it dawned on Helen that the word "water" meant the water which she felt pouring over her hand. This opened up a whole new world for her. She ran everywhere asking Anne the name of different things and Anne would spell the words in her hand. This was the key which unlocked the world for her.

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Blind, Deaf and Mute At about 19 months of age she suffered a

severe fever, maybe scarlet fever. Her disability caused her to have estranged

relationships with members of her family because they spoiled their sickly child figuring it was the best way to deal with her.

Once Anne entered her life though she but her through many obstacles after months of practice and consistency which Helen needed she was able to communicate like never before.

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Blind, Deaf and Mute Helen was able to go to school

because of her ability to learn and not have so many tantrums

Helen went on to college with the assistance of Anne

She went on to become an activist And wrote a book about her life and

the affects of her disability

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SMART CANE

The Smart Cane uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to detect obstacles and alert the user on where and how to navigate while walking.

Equipped with an ultrasonic sensor, the cane works in tandem with a navigational system inside a bag worn by the user. Together, they detect RFID tags mounted on small flags that stick out of the ground.

A speaker on the bag's strap alerts the user when an obstacle is in the way and tells the person where to walk. For people who can't hear, a special glove vibrates different fingertips to provide direction on where to navigate.

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SMART CANE

The students who designed the system set up a test with volunteers who used it to navigate around campus. CMU said the volunteers found the system to be effective, especially with navigation.

Since the cane requires RFID flags along the path to navigate, its use in the real world is limited for now. But the students see this as just the first step of a much larger project.

This new sensory can is delightful for both the blind and deaf in that an individual can still navigate themselves around without needing to depend on sound in for success.

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