Lightwriter
Encyclopedia
Lightwriters are a type for Speech generating device.
Lightwriter is the brand name of Toby Churchill Limited, a British company founded by Toby Churchill
.
For people who are unable to use a keyboard, some models of Lightwriter offer the option of an on-screen keyboard with selection made by a switch using a scanning technique.
Some models of Lightwriter offer the facility to connect to a printer to provide printed output.
Word prediction is included to make a significant reduction in the number of keystrokes.
The latest model of Lightwriter, the SL40, has a built-in mobile phone which provides text messaging and the option of voice telephony with the synthesised speech sent to the person on the other end and the incoming speech message being broadcast through the Lightwriter's loudspeaker.
Lightwriters are available in a wide range of European languages.
Lightwriters are used by many people with acquired speech loss following laryngectomy
, tracheostomy, stroke
, head injury
, or with progressive neurological diseases such as Motor Neurone Disease
(also known as Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS
), Parkinson's Disease
, Multiple Sclerosis
(MS) or Huntington's Chorea.
Lightwriters are also used by people with congenital speech loss with conditions such as Cerebral Palsy
after literacy has been gained.
was a British woman diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease who attempted to change British law so she could end her own life with the assistance of her husband without it being classed as assisted suicide, which is illegal in the United Kingdom.
Pretty went to the House of Lords
and the European Court on Human Rights using her Lightwriter to argue her case, but was unsuccessful.
starring Kenneth Branagh
and Helena Bonham Carter
, she used a Lightwriter while playing the part of a young woman with Motor Neurone Disease
.
Within a few days the only voluntary movement Toby had left was an eyeblink, all other physical movement and speech being frozen. He was then in a state of ‘locked-in syndrome’, where he was perfectly aware of everything that was said to him but unable to respond, a condition eloquently described by Jean-Dominique Bauby
in his book The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
. Toby’s family and friends had to quickly learn new communication techniques: the use of ‘closed’ questions (ones to which only a “yes” or “no” reply is required - with 1 eyeblink for “yes” or 2 eyeblinks blinks for “no”), and using an alphabet board with auditory scanning “first row?, second row? etc” until Toby blinked to select that row, and the same for each letter across the row. It was a tedious process but all that was available at that time.
Gradually, some movement returned to his left hand and arm, and a little to his legs, so he was no longer bed-bound and after a few months was transferred to Stoke Mandeville Hospital
(National Spinal Injury Unit) for further physiotherapy and rehabilitation and was there introduced to the early POSSUM Row/Column scanner. While this was less tiring for the communication partner, it was not portable and became unnecessarily slow after Toby had regained hand movement and the ability to type. Toby then quickly put his engineering skills into practice to design a portable communication aid - a typewriter which instead of typing on paper, typed the message on a display, and this was the logically named the Lightwriter. Toby had no plans at that time to make more than just for himself but, as he met other people in a similar position, realised that there was a demand for them and started to manufacture them for other people, founding the Company in 1973.
Lightwriter is the brand name of Toby Churchill Limited, a British company founded by Toby Churchill
Toby Churchill
Toby Churchill DSc FRSA is a British disabled entrepreneur.He founded a company manufacturing communication aids for people who cannot speak.-Biography:...
.
About Lightwriters
Lightwriters are text-to-speech devices - the person who cannot speak types a message on the keyboard, and this message is displayed on two displays, one facing the user and a second outfacing display for the communication partner(s). A speech synthesiser is also used to provide speech output.For people who are unable to use a keyboard, some models of Lightwriter offer the option of an on-screen keyboard with selection made by a switch using a scanning technique.
Some models of Lightwriter offer the facility to connect to a printer to provide printed output.
Word prediction is included to make a significant reduction in the number of keystrokes.
The latest model of Lightwriter, the SL40, has a built-in mobile phone which provides text messaging and the option of voice telephony with the synthesised speech sent to the person on the other end and the incoming speech message being broadcast through the Lightwriter's loudspeaker.
Lightwriters are available in a wide range of European languages.
People who use Lightwriters
Lightwriters are text-to-speech devices and so require some degree of literacy.Lightwriters are used by many people with acquired speech loss following laryngectomy
Laryngectomy
Laryngectomy is the removal of the larynx and separation of the airway from the mouth, nose and esophagus. The laryngectomee breathes through an opening in the neck, a stoma. This procedure is usually performed in cases of laryngeal cancer...
, tracheostomy, stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
, head injury
Head injury
Head injury refers to trauma of the head. This may or may not include injury to the brain. However, the terms traumatic brain injury and head injury are often used interchangeably in medical literature....
, or with progressive neurological diseases such as Motor Neurone Disease
Motor neurone disease
The motor neurone diseases are a group of neurological disorders that selectively affect motor neurones, the cells that control voluntary muscle activity including speaking, walking, breathing, swallowing and general movement of the body. They are generally progressive in nature, and can cause...
(also known as Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS
ALS
ALS refers to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's diseaseIt may also refer to:-Medicine:* Advanced life support, a level of medical training* Anterolateral system, part of the nervous system...
), Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
, Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
(MS) or Huntington's Chorea.
Lightwriters are also used by people with congenital speech loss with conditions such as Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement....
after literacy has been gained.
Lightwriters in the news
Diane PrettyDiane Pretty
Diane Pretty was a British woman from Luton who became notable after being the focus of a debate about the laws of euthanasia in United Kingdom during the early part of the 21st century...
was a British woman diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease who attempted to change British law so she could end her own life with the assistance of her husband without it being classed as assisted suicide, which is illegal in the United Kingdom.
Pretty went to the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
and the European Court on Human Rights using her Lightwriter to argue her case, but was unsuccessful.
Lightwriters in the media
In the 1998 film The Theory of FlightThe Theory of Flight
The Theory of Flight is a 1998 film directed by Paul Greengrass, starring Helena Bonham Carter and Kenneth Branagh. Carter plays a woman with motor neurone disease, and the film deals with the sexuality of people with disabilities....
starring Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
and Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
, she used a Lightwriter while playing the part of a young woman with Motor Neurone Disease
Motor neurone disease
The motor neurone diseases are a group of neurological disorders that selectively affect motor neurones, the cells that control voluntary muscle activity including speaking, walking, breathing, swallowing and general movement of the body. They are generally progressive in nature, and can cause...
.
Some notable Lightwriter users
- Toby ChurchillToby ChurchillToby Churchill DSc FRSA is a British disabled entrepreneur.He founded a company manufacturing communication aids for people who cannot speak.-Biography:...
Inventor of the Lightwriter - Professor Sydney Selwyn
- Diane PrettyDiane PrettyDiane Pretty was a British woman from Luton who became notable after being the focus of a debate about the laws of euthanasia in United Kingdom during the early part of the 21st century...
- Ben Parkinson
The History of Lightwriters
In 1969 Toby Churchill was working in France when he fell ill after swimming in a polluted lake. The doctors initially believed he had sunstroke and that the symptoms would soon pass, but became perplexed as he began to deteriorate rapidly and decided to get him back to England as quickly as possible for further treatment, and he was transferred to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge where doctors could not decide whether the problem was neurological or vascular, and their diagnostic tools were limited since this was before the days of CT and MRI scanners which nowadays can look inside someone's body non-invasively.Within a few days the only voluntary movement Toby had left was an eyeblink, all other physical movement and speech being frozen. He was then in a state of ‘locked-in syndrome’, where he was perfectly aware of everything that was said to him but unable to respond, a condition eloquently described by Jean-Dominique Bauby
Jean-Dominique Bauby
Jean-Dominique Bauby was a well-known French journalist, author and editor of the French fashion magazine ELLE.On 8 December 1995 at the age of 43, Bauby suffered a massive stroke. When he woke up twenty days later, he found he was entirely speechless; he could only blink his left eyelid...
in his book The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a translation of the French memoir Le scaphandre et le papillon by journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby. It describes what his life is like after suffering a massive stroke that left him with a condition called locked-in syndrome...
. Toby’s family and friends had to quickly learn new communication techniques: the use of ‘closed’ questions (ones to which only a “yes” or “no” reply is required - with 1 eyeblink for “yes” or 2 eyeblinks blinks for “no”), and using an alphabet board with auditory scanning “first row?, second row? etc” until Toby blinked to select that row, and the same for each letter across the row. It was a tedious process but all that was available at that time.
Gradually, some movement returned to his left hand and arm, and a little to his legs, so he was no longer bed-bound and after a few months was transferred to Stoke Mandeville Hospital
Stoke Mandeville Hospital
Stoke Mandeville Hospital is a large National Health Service hospital within Aylesbury Urban Area to the south of the town of Aylesbury, near the village of Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire...
(National Spinal Injury Unit) for further physiotherapy and rehabilitation and was there introduced to the early POSSUM Row/Column scanner. While this was less tiring for the communication partner, it was not portable and became unnecessarily slow after Toby had regained hand movement and the ability to type. Toby then quickly put his engineering skills into practice to design a portable communication aid - a typewriter which instead of typing on paper, typed the message on a display, and this was the logically named the Lightwriter. Toby had no plans at that time to make more than just for himself but, as he met other people in a similar position, realised that there was a demand for them and started to manufacture them for other people, founding the Company in 1973.
See also
- Augmentative and alternative communicationAugmentative and alternative communicationAugmentative and alternative communication is an umbrella term that encompasses the communication methods used to supplement or replace speech or writing for those with impairments in the production or comprehension of spoken or written language...
- Speech synthesisSpeech synthesisSpeech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware...
- Switch access scanningSwitch access scanningSwitch access scanning is an indirect selection technique , used by an assistive technology user, including those who use augmentative and alternative communication to choose items from the selection set...