tobii
Noreen Harrington
anyone out there using or had experience of Tobii? any views and help would be appreciated. If not, is your girl using any other communication device and would you recommend it?
thanks
Noreen
ANDREW KEHOE
as you know we got a Liberator eye gaze device for Sarah some months
ago - very similar to the Tobii .
So far it has been very slow and hit & miss - mainly due to the fact
that Sarah cannot sit still for 2 seconds and has a short attention
span.
Needless to say we will persevere as it definitely has potential. -
they are the most exciting and promising developments in communication
to date
The only word of caution I would sound is if any parents were tempted
to pay for the device themselves ,( due to lack of funding or waiting
times) , they are very expensive ( €13,000-€15000 approx) - so they
should trial them extensively first and satisfy themselves that they
will work with their child.
As you know , our girls are all individuals and what works with one
may not work as well with another.
regards
Andrew
Noreen Harrington
I couldn't remember the name of Sarah's device and have been meaning to ask you and keep forgetting every time we talk. I think Kate is going to do a trial of the Libertator soon. So far with the Tobii she has been doing well, there are pros and cons. It definitely has potential, depending on the software and programmes you can access and how much support a parent would have access to in terms of customising programmes, or alternatively, how computer literate they are themselves.
It weighs more than a newborn (especially with the stand attached), it's a bit primitive in terms of programming which would be a pain for anyone using initially, particularly if they were not computer literate and wanted to personallse programmes or games, and the batteries (bricks) need frequent recharging. I'm not sure how portable it is. Another device, an attachment Tobii PCEye gaze device is available to use with a PC, I asked about it when we met the technical guys the last day. it costs €4000 vs €15,000 and they weren't making very encouraging noises. We use a Mac, however, it is possible to put Windows on a Mac. I'm going to see if we can trial that, from a cost and portability point of view it might be better (for us), assuming that we get any cost covered by the HSE at this stage. Looking forward to trialing the Liberator, I know what you mean about head movements, and that is also a problem with the Tobii. For girls in a wheelchair, it is easier as keeping Kate still does not have to be a consideration.
Biggest obstacle now will be getting funding!!
talk soon
Noreen
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