BIS Annual Review 2015

OPENING WORLDS

OF POSSIBILITY

300

MEMBERS OF THE TECH COMMUNITY

INFLUENCED BY BEIT ISSIE SHAPIRO’S

PROGRAMS

800

CAREGIVERS, PROFESSIONALS AND PARENTS

TRAINED TO USE TECHNOLOGIES FOR

CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

120

CHILDREN ASSISTED BY IPADS

WITH SPEECH, MOTOR SKILLS AND PLAY

AMIT: THE POWER IS IN HER EYES

Amit is five and a half and has Rett Syndrome. She is dependent

on others for almost everything due to her severe motor

disabilities and because she is unable to communicate verbally.

Her power lies within

her eyes. Thanks

to the eye-tracking

computer, she can

truly participate in

activities at school, sing along, choose what she wants to do and

eat, remind her mother that she promised they would play dress-

ups, explain where and when she is in pain, as well as when she

needs a little quiet time.

Over the past year, many students with motor impairments at

Beit Issie Shapiro's Special Education School started to use the

eye-gaze

system to communicate, enabling them to learn, play,

and fully interact with their surroundings.

The

eye-gaze

system, notwithstanding its clear advantages, was

not made for use in the water, which originally excluded certain

children from participation in the weekly scheduled hydrotherapy

sessions at the Williams Island Therapeutic Swimming and

Recreation Center.

Together with Tikkun Olam Makers, Beit Issie Shapiro brought

this need to the TOM makethon, out of which resulted a special

waterproof enclosure for the device that sustains operability. This

innovation has meant that Amit can tell her hydrotherapist what

she is enjoying and how long she wants to stay in the pool.

Amit is five and a half, and is the first

in Beit Issie Shapiro to benefit from

the

eye-gaze

system in the water.