Communication d By Computer

By JOEL SCHWARZ

A computer, earphones equipped with sensors, and Morse code are

the voice elements being used by a small number of handicapped

people to t talk' to the world.

112 • AMERICAN WAY, JUNE 1983

N ot long ago a short note, crisply printed on a home computer, arrived among

the sacks of mail delivered to the White

House . The moving letter was one young boy's celebration of freedom - the freedom to express himself clearly and to be under­stood after a lifetime without communica­

tion. The letter read in part: "Dear Mr. President. I'm Steve Harper.

I'm 13 years old. I have cerebral palsy. I live in Washington State. I can ' t talk. I'm in a special project for the University of Wash­

ington. This project is for people who can't talk, but can with a computer ... . The reason I ' m writing is because you o.k.ed it. I just want to thank you for doing that~ You have

given people who can't talk a chance to talk!

You won't be disappointed of them I can promise you that! "

Steve Harper is among a handful of young

people who are perhaps thc greates'r bene­

ficiaries of the computer revolution. He and

other subjects are using small computers mounted on their wheelchairs to communi­cate by Morse code.

The Morse code is sent when the user

moves his or her head from side to side, touching sensors housed in earphones . The computer translates the electronic dits and dahs into letters that appear on display screens facing the user and the person with whom he or she is communicating. By sig­

naling with a programed code, the user can activate a printer, which will write out the complete message , or triggers a voice syn­

thes izer, whereby the message is spoken hy

the computer. The Morse-code-based communication

system, as it is called, was designed by the Alternative Communications System Proj-

ect at the University of Washington's Child

Development and Mental Retardation Cen­

ter in Seattle. Although it has been tested on a limited number of people so far, thi s federally funded system has the potential of liberating thousands of victims of cerehral

palsy, strokes, and paralyzing accidents who lack the motor coordination to speak

or write normally. Communication us ing the Morse-code

sys tem is slow hy normal standards, averag­ing about eight words a minute . But that is about four times as fast as cruder systems

most cerebral-palsy victims employ, such as wands attached to their heads , which are

used to point to words or letters written on a board or to peck at special keyboards. Some cerebral-palsy victims also have developed eye codes to communicate with their fami­

lies and a few close friends. But these kinds

Speech-and-Iangu~e therapist Judy Matas explains to Steve HarpE7r how to operate his new Morse-code system .

of communications can ' t be understood by most other people .

The development of the Morse-code sys­tem grew out of a chance encounter in 1975 when Al Ross, a research engineer at the University of Washington, was video-taping students in special-education classes. One

of the students was Dennis Robertson , then nearly 21, a cerehral-palsy victim who was filmed typing with a head wand. Ross recalls:

" I watched that tape over and over and

watched how Denni s struggled with the head wand. It required fine motor skills to find I of 40 typewriter keys and then touch it with an 18-inch-Iong stick. There seemed

W

AMERICAN WAY, JUNE 1983 • 113

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114 • AMERICAN WAY, JUNE 1983

AI Ross (left) developed the Morse system for cerebral-palsy victim Dennis Robertson (above) . The system has allowed Robertson to attend college.

there should be a better way for him to communicate. "

Ross tested Robertson, who knew a little

Morse code, on a typewriter using dots and

dashes . Then Ross, who has an e lectronics background , wenL to work. With surplus

Western Union Teletype parts married to a

video converter, Ross built a prototype com­

munications system . Robertson meanwhile

had been mastering Morse code.

Robertson was about to be in s titu­

tionalized, but his skill in using the Ross

machine convinced state officials that he

had an effective method of communicating.

Robertson soon afterward was admitted to

Fort Steillacoom Community College and

later became its first severely handicapped

graduate. He is now enrolled in Pacific Lutheran University where he is working on

his bachelor's degree in journalism.

"I was so moved by Dennis's ability to

use the equipment r developed that I wrote a

grant proposal to fund further research,"

says Ross.

Federal funding began in 1979, and a

multidisciplinary team that included en­

g ineers, co mputer programers , speech

pathologists, social workers, and occupa­

tional therapists was formed at the U ni ver-

sity ·of Washington under the direction of

Wesley Wilson, head of the Alternative

Communications System Project.

"We started from where you and I com­

municate and tried to duplicate that. First we

decided what we wanted the system to be

able to do, and then we considered the

engineering problems ," recalls Wilson.

"We were looking for a device that would

not limit the individual. Some of the severe­

ly physically handicapped have higher than normal mental ability, and the existing

communications systems limited them."

Ross adds : "Portabili ty also is an important aspect of

our system. There are other communica­

tions systems for the handicapped , but they require a child to be brought to the device,

which is plugged into a wall. Ours is battery powered. You and I take our communica­

tions system with us, and the Morse-code system allows a child to do the same thing. "

The Morse-code system already has had a

profound effect on the lives of test subjects. "This machine is irreplaceable, the best

thing that ever happened ," says Tina Nott, the mother of 15-year-old Tania Non. Tania,

who hopes Lo become a teacher of the handi­

capped, calls the researchers at the Univer­

sity of Washington, "the greatest people in

this world." Gladys Harper, the mother of letter-writ­

ing Steve Harper, says: "This device is our lifesaver. Steve was

frustrated before because he had no way to

communicate with most people, and he wanted to so badly. He is eager and moti­

vated because of the system, and without it

he would have given up. With it he is totally involved, and he does all hi s own homework

with it , although it might take him two ~ours

to do an assignment that would take ano_ther

child half an hour to do." Then she adds with a big smile, "Steve

talks so much now that sometimes we'd like

to shut him off." Andy Rytter, the father of 17-year-old

Kris Rytter, an honor student, says the

computer has "changed [hi s ] daughter 'S

li fe around 180 degrees . ·' Cliff Rowe, a Pacific Lutheran University

journalism teache r, recalls his initial en­

counter with Denni s Robertson:

"The day I first met him] was ca ll ed to

the registrar 's office. I could see they were dubious about admitting him , and so was

1. Now ... he's plugged into a system thaL

would fit right into any newspaper 's video

display terminal s . Thi s just opens up the

world to Dennis." In the pas t four years the Ross prototype

in st rument has been refined a nd stream­

lined. A second-generation model, intro­

duced last November, has such innovations as the voice synthes ize L a printer using a

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116 . AMERICAN WAY, JUNE 1983

narrow roll of paper, and predictive linguis­

tic programing, which further speeds up

communication. This last feature relies on the computer's

memory, which includes a list of common

words. When a user begins to spell out a

word, the computer scans its memory,

guesses what the word is, and spells it out on

the display screen. If the computer is cor­

rect, the user simply signals for a word

space and starts spelling the next word.

Then the computer guesses again, based on

the ever increasing information as a sen­

tence is being formed. The system isn't designed for everyone

aftlicted with cerebral palsy. According to Judy Matas, a speech-and-language pathol­

ogist, users must have at least average intel-

(Steve was frustrated because he had no way

to COn1rrlunicate J and he wanted to so badly.'

ligence and the ability to spell at least on the

third-grade level . She says it takes about

five months for persons to be able to fully

use all aspects of the system. First they have to learn the alphabet, num­

bers, arid punctuation in Morse code. Then,

as they become familiar with the computer,

they must learn nearly 100 different codes (letter combinations) that g ive access to its

different functions. These codes turn the device on and off, sw itch on' the display

terminal s, ga in access to other computers ,

or activate the voice synthesizer. There is even a code for a message-maker retrieval

system, which permits a LI se I' to store and

quickl y call up frequently used phrases such

as, "Hello, my name is Joe."

Until this year the system had only been

tested on half a dozen peuple in the Seattle

area. However, computers have now been sent to the Schnier Communications Unit at

the Cerebral Palsy Center in Syracuse, New

York; the John F. Kennedy Institute in Bal­

timore; and the special-education depart­

ment of the Mesa (Arizona) Public Schools.

Test s at tho se location s and c urren t

research at the University of Washington

will continue to measure the sys tem 's effec­

ti v·eness. But this re sea rch project already is

a success in purely human te rm s. The smi les of Tania Nott and the laughter or Steve Harp­

er cOlllmunicate cleml y enough what they feel.

And it's even better now that they can tell

you themselves. ~

Joel Schwa}'z is aji'(!(juenl C()lIlribwor to

Alllerican Way

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