Gadgets For A Paralysed Person

Paralysed Gadget Fan – My name is Mike, and I used to work in IT until my health took a turn for the worse. I had a fall and banged my head. Unfortunately, this triggered an underlying issue. My mobility declined over a year or so. I’m now pretty much paralysed from the neck down. I say pretty much, as I can just about rotate my left wrist. I think I am turning into a talking head, maybe Max Headroom 🙂

I am mad about technology and being paralysed. I decided to investigate what my options were. I’d like to give you an overview of the challenges I found, along with a couple of solutions.

Remote Control Devices

By this, I mean your television or cable box. I was referred to an occupational therapist who, in turn, referred me to “The NHS Assisted Technology Department“. They came to my home and showed me a clever programmable remote control. You can connect various buttons to this remote control. This could be a simple microswitch or, in my case, a huge button that I rest my hand on.

The box can be programmed to replace many, many remote control devices. This means you can have one package to control your TV, satellite or stereo.
As I said in my case, I have a large button to control this box. I press it to select the device and function. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it is absolutely liberating to be able to turn the telly over.

Telephone and Front Door Intercom

Assisted Technology also installed a phone/intercom system. It allows me to use my remote control to answer the phone and call existing numbers. To me, this meant I could call my favourite curry house. As the description suggests, it also allows me to answer my front door. Once I know who it is, I can open the front door. So not only can I ring for my chicken vindaloo, but I can also open the front door for the delivery guy.

Mobile Phones

At first, I was still able to use a mobile phone. I just about had enough talent to press the buttons. I did try purchasing a phone with extra large buttons. This was great for making phone calls but not good for using Android applications, et cetera. I found out a lot of Android phones allow you to customise the size of the keyboard and icons. So if you have issues pressing the buttons, then this may be a solution for you.
I also investigated using voice control on a couple of Android phones. This was okay for answering phone calls. It wasn’t any good for using a browser or other applications probably because it’s been designed as a cool feature. Rather than a method of controlling the phone.