Thank you for visiting my JustGiving page. We are extremely grateful for your interest!
As most of you know, our daughter Tamsin is unable to speak as a result of her cerebral palsy. However, she has amazing eyes. They say that a person’s eyes are the windows to their soul, well that could never be more true than in Tamsin’s case!
At the moment, Tamsin uses a communication book (where she “eye points” to pictures and symbols) to get her message across. She also has a communication device – a computer which speaks her words as she types them (she types by moving her knee to press a switch). Unfortunately, she does not have enough control to type her words as quickly as she wants to say them. Instead, we are in the process of changing her device to one which she can operate simply by looking at it. This should provide much faster and simpler access to words and reduce her frustration giving better accuracy and a clearer voice. We are very excited by the opportunities this could open up for her. However, it is an expensive bit of kit. The computer itself is being partially funded by Oxfordshire PCT and partly by a charity called the Sequal Trust. However, we would like to make a contribution too and a sporty fundraising challenge seemed a good way to go.
So I have signed up for my first ever triathlon! It’s on 20 Aug at Dorney Lake, Windsor. Officially a “sprint” distance it’s a half mile swim (wetsuit required) followed by a 20km bike and 5km run. I never dreamed I would ever consider myself to be a runner but since losing weight last year, I think I now qualify (not about to enter the Olympics or anything but you gotta start somewhere right)!? It’s true I swam in a few galas in my time but that was over 20 years ago and never in a wetsuit! I know it’s not exactly in the same league as ironman or the marathon but I’ll be delighted if I manage to complete the course in one piece. I’m very excited, both about the triathlon and about Tamsin’s new voice.
Thanks again for your support.
Karen :o)
PS> I’m sure you’ve all done this before so you’ll know that donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure (and they’ll never sell your details or send unwanted emails).
If you’re keen to learn more about how eye gaze technology works, just google Tobii CEye
