Life post-trach: mental health?

[Weltschmerz]

Hi Jon, I am sorry I didn’t see this until now - no notification or anything. My wife has the support of the assisted communication technology people in the NHS here. They came out for a visit and have adapted settings and left a picture card and an alphabet sheet thing. To be honest I wasn’t sure that they were different kinds of Tobii devices. Why would the I-series be better? I’m curious to see if we can get away from frustration and back to some sort of communication. It’s been some time now since my wife was able to blink properly. We had to move away from that to rolling her eyes up for yes, and down for no. The typing seems almost compulsive at times but it’s not producing words or phrases that make sense. I mean, it’s not unicorns and spaceships or anything but just unsettling comments which feel like they conceivably could be true but happen not to be (eg telling me I’d gone for a walk with a friend I haven’t seen for 18 months).

Anyway, thanks for checking back in. I saw your posts elsewhere and am very sorry for your loss. There is so much more to say but that is my first instinct and I hope you are able to find some peace.

 

[jonico]

Could someone please help Weltschmerz figure out how to get an actual Tobii Dynavox I-Series self contained computer with stand where he is in Scotland? Is it possible? The Tobii eye-gaze bar for the base of a laptop his poor wife is using is sh--!, and his wife will be forever frustrated. I am not aware of how to pull things off like this internationally. Thoughts? If I ship one to him, will he have support over there? Can't promise I can, but wondering. Open to all ideas...Jon

 

[jonico]

W, Here is a link to the page featuring the I-Series on Tobii Dynavox's Great Britain site. My wife went with the smaller I-13, which wasn't perfect, but served her well for years. You'll see this is a complete computer unit with the eye sensor unit built in at the bottom of the screen. I've seen some conversation here regarding similar products that other PALS preferred over the Tobii, but I didn't pay attention since we were satisfied with what we had. Might be worth a search. Perhaps your tech people at the NHS could help you get a Tobii I-Series, or similar.

Also, in the interim, I would receommend taking a look at my 'Eye-spelling sheet' post in the Tips, Tricks and Gadgets thread.

 

[Weltschmerz]

Thanks for these links and tips. I hadn’t seen those computers before with the eye tracking integrated into it. I really thought this eye gaze along the bottom was sufficiently fancy. To be honest, some of this is tech but some of it is tiredness, too, I think. I’ll follow up with our assisted communications team about available alternatives to try, though. Thanks.