Hello,
My father-in-law has been diagnosed with MND a couple months ago.
6-8 months ago (before the diagnosis) only symptoms were some trouble moving one hand. Today, he's basically completely paralyzed (only able to slightly move one arm) and speech is almost gone (it's extremely difficult, if not impossible, for him to say even a full word).
As you can guess we are quite lost, especially since evolution seems so fast. It feels like our knowledge and actions are always progressing too late, and any kind of delay for equipment or anything gets us worried it could just become inadequate when it's here.
We've at least managed to get him an electric bed and a manual wheelchair (we've been waiting for a specialized doctor's appointment for months now regarding how to choose an electric one. We've seen a neurologist but haven't succeeded in seeing an occupational therapist). Since he has some help at home it's already a step...
Another area where we'd need help, and the one I would like to please ask for your advice, would be regarding speech - hardware & software.
- For now our only lead would be the ACAT software. We found out about it because we researched how Hawking dealt with all this, figuring he ought to have had access to the best kind of setups (?). But once again, we have no real idea what we're doing here.
- Apparently ACAT only runs on Windows platform, so we'd have to buy a W10 pad or laptop, find a way to mount it on its wheelchair (hence probably pad rather than a laptop), and think about how to power it for long duration (find a way to attach some batteries on the wheelchair to ensure at least a few hours autonomy ? accept that the system is mostly an inddor one and thus that the simplest solution is to just plug it once my father and his wheelchair are "all set" ?)
- Figure out what kind of witch would best work for him, hoping it doesn't continue to evolve too fast...
- Any other tips or things to think about ?
As a potentially important note, we are french (and live in France), meaning we're really interested in software solutions that are available for French (ACAT is supposed to be, at least). That being said, of course please suggest anyway, and we'll investigate whether it can be set up for French.
Thank you all for your help.
Regards
My father-in-law has been diagnosed with MND a couple months ago.
6-8 months ago (before the diagnosis) only symptoms were some trouble moving one hand. Today, he's basically completely paralyzed (only able to slightly move one arm) and speech is almost gone (it's extremely difficult, if not impossible, for him to say even a full word).
As you can guess we are quite lost, especially since evolution seems so fast. It feels like our knowledge and actions are always progressing too late, and any kind of delay for equipment or anything gets us worried it could just become inadequate when it's here.
We've at least managed to get him an electric bed and a manual wheelchair (we've been waiting for a specialized doctor's appointment for months now regarding how to choose an electric one. We've seen a neurologist but haven't succeeded in seeing an occupational therapist). Since he has some help at home it's already a step...
Another area where we'd need help, and the one I would like to please ask for your advice, would be regarding speech - hardware & software.
- For now our only lead would be the ACAT software. We found out about it because we researched how Hawking dealt with all this, figuring he ought to have had access to the best kind of setups (?). But once again, we have no real idea what we're doing here.
- Apparently ACAT only runs on Windows platform, so we'd have to buy a W10 pad or laptop, find a way to mount it on its wheelchair (hence probably pad rather than a laptop), and think about how to power it for long duration (find a way to attach some batteries on the wheelchair to ensure at least a few hours autonomy ? accept that the system is mostly an inddor one and thus that the simplest solution is to just plug it once my father and his wheelchair are "all set" ?)
- Figure out what kind of witch would best work for him, hoping it doesn't continue to evolve too fast...
- Any other tips or things to think about ?
As a potentially important note, we are french (and live in France), meaning we're really interested in software solutions that are available for French (ACAT is supposed to be, at least). That being said, of course please suggest anyway, and we'll investigate whether it can be set up for French.
Thank you all for your help.
Regards
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