Three differently-abled children are due to receive Advanced EyeGaze Technology (ART) devices through an anonymous donor.
The Children’s Ark facilitated the donation of the technology which empowers people withdisabilities to interact and communicate by generating speech though typing or selecting varied programmes with their eyes.
Each device costs between US$12,000 and $15,000.
The NGO’s founder Simone de la Bastide explained that after being contacted by the donor, the organisation conducted a search for 12 possible candidates, between the ages of 4 - 19, for the devices.
“This allows them to use the intemet, study, participate in conferences, write books, earn their degrees etc. It opens up a whole different world for AET users,” de la Bastide said.
The candidates were all children with various conditions including muscular dystrophy, brain /spinal injuries, multiple sclerosis, quadraplegics and cerebral palsy.
Representatives from the LC Technology, which invented the device in the United States (US), visited Trinidad earlier this month to host a training session with the candidates.
At the end of the session, three candidates were selected for the devices, with a fourth being donated to the National Centre for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD), where it would be used to train other children and adults.
“The renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at age 21 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), was one of the first users of the AET Device.
Over the years he has written over 105 books by using the system,” de la Bastide said.
The distribution of the ART device was the second major project completed by the organisation for the year, the other being the construction of a library and reading room at the Port-of-Spain State Prison.
Fourteen colonial death row cells were demolished to build the facility, which will be used to facilitate a project where inmates read to their children.