cerebralpalsy
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Uber faces lawsuit for denying rides to woman with service animal
Uber is facing still more legal trouble over its accessibility issues. Texas resident D'Edra Steele has sued the ridesharing company for allegedly denying her 25 rides due to the service dog she needs for her cerebral palsy. Reportedly, drivers would either give excuses (such as a lack of blankets or dog allergies) or would even speed off the moment they saw Steele's companion animal. Steele also had to deal with "disparaging" remarks some of the times she did get rides.
Robotic exoskeletons improve mobility for kids with cerebral palsy
Kids with cerebral palsy (CP) can have limited movement (and therefore independence) throughout their lives. Some of them who experience the related set of neurological and movement disorders have what's called "crouch gait," which is characterized by excessive bending at the knee; up to 50 percent of people with cerebral palsy stop walking by adulthood. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been testing robotic leg exoskeletons that help kids with CP walk more easily. According to the researchers, six of the seven study participants showed improved knee extension and were able to walk with robotic assistance after just six trials.
Robotic exoskeleton for babies can help prevent cerebral palsy
University of Oklahoma's robotic exoskeleton for babies does two things: (1) make the kiddos look like tiny Dr. Octopuses and (2) help prevent cerebral palsy. The motorized device has power steering that gives babies at risk of CP a little push needed to be able to move and crawl like their peers can. See, the condition can be caused brain damage, infections and injuries early in a person's life. To combat the disorder, therapy must start as early as possible -- unfortunately, it's not typically diagnosed until a child turns one year old.
Sony made a custom PS4 controller for a gamer with cerebral palsy
It's tough to use gadgets when you have cerebral palsy -- few of their interfaces take the movement disorder into account. However, a Sony staffer went the extra mile to make sure this wasn't a problem for one gamer. When Peter Byrne wrote Sony complaining that the DualShock 4's touchpad was difficult to use with his cerebral palsy (he'd inadvertently hit the pad and pause the game), the company's Alex Nawabi made him a custom version of the official PS4 gamepad. The modified controller, which took 10 hours to make, disables the touchpad and uses another button to fulfill that role.
Even cerebral palsy can't stop this dedicated video creator
Christopher Hill isn't your typical video producer. The youngster whipped up the clip after the break controlling his array of Macs almost entirely with a single switch. Chris has cerebral palsy, a severe motor function impairment that makes it all but impossible for him to interact with a computer through a traditional keyboard and mouse. Instead, a button is mounted behind his head on his wheel chair, which connects to a Discover Switch. That blue and green USB peripheral, which looks quite a bit like the Staple's Easy Button, allows him to manipulate anything on the screen with nothing more than the back of his head. The one thing Chris left to someone else in the clip below is the subtitles. While he could actually type them himself, it would have taken a very long time, so he graciously accepted some help from his father. Click on through for a nice heart-warming tale about the power of modern technology.
