European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 7, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday april 7, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 17 voice activated computer system seen As Aid for the retarded for the first time in her 42 years Shirley Jennings had control Over a tiny portion of her difficult dependent life. By kit Frieden associated press Hirley Jennings profoundly retarded her body shrunken and jerked by spastic motion gazed up in wonder at the simple scenes of Home being played on the television Monitor. On a Home movie she watched her sister showing off a new car heard her brother in Law making jokes about mama s housekeeping and saw her Mother getting ready to give the dogs a Bath. She recognized the people and with sounds that were barely intelligible she called them by name and laughed with Delight. But the greatest Joy for Jennings was not simply watching scenes of her family. It was being Able to select the videotape and turn it on and off at will. For the first time in her 42 years Shirley Jennings had control Over a tiny portion of her difficult dependent life. Jennings who lives at the fort Worth Texas state school has an estimated in of 19, is afflicted with cerebral palsy and is bedridden with several handicaps. Now researchers have created a voice activated Erma Bombeck computer system that enables her and ultimately other retarded people with minimal verbal skills to turn on such simple appliances As a radio a to Monitor an electric fan and a Massage pad. Hopefully in six months or so we will have a really sophisticated Cadillac version of Shirley s computer system said Carrie Brown a special education teacher turned researcher. Brown is the assistant director of the Bio engineering project at the association for retarded citizens of the United states based in Arlington Texas which adapted the computer system for Jennings. Over the past two years the arc hired Brown and another expert to develop affordable devices to Aid the retarded. I be Learned there Are people like Shirley who Are locked inside a body that will not function said Brown who has become a Friend of Jennings while developing the voice activated system. With her expressive face her eyes and body movement Jennings is Able to "talk1-1 to Brown who seems to comprehend a great Deal. Still difficulties abound. There were times with Shirley when i was just ready to throw in the Towel and say this will not work it was grueling. I never thought it was any defect on her part it was the primitive system we were using Brown said. We actually did not think it would work because she s so limited. When it did work it was beyond our  there Are Many ways to express Joy. The Day Jennings was successful with the voice computer she shrieked with Delight. Brown and her assistants wept. By uttering the word four Jennings had turned on a videotape of cartoons. We Felt if we could get the system to work for someone like Shirley it would really open doors for other people not As handicapped said Brown. In the beginning the Challenge was to find specific sounds that Jennings could make consistently. Using a head fitted microphone connected to a computer via a voice activation system developed by Scott instruments of Denton Texas Jennings ran through her repertoire of sounds coached by Brown and her associates. They conducted two or three sessions a Day for six weeks. She would be so exhausted As would we Brown said. Through trial and error the researchers determined there were five sounds Jennings could repeat. Each sound was then programmed to operate one of the appliances. A word sounding like four was used to turn on a cartoon film move was used to turn on a vibrating Massage pad Ray was used for the radio Bee was used to activate the Home movie and off was used in All cases to turn off the appliances. Again through trial and error Jennings determined which sounds were linked to which devices and began making decisions about which to operate. She prefers the videotape of her family choosing it most often. The next step in refining the computer system will be to make it portable with a Lap computer and More advanced in translating sounds. For example the system could translate non speech into a whole sentence. If a person s sound for water is Guh the system would respond by repeating the sentence i would like a Glass of water please an arc report explains. The components of Jennings system Cost about $2,300, Brown said excluding the costly development of software. Arc Bio engineering director Al Cavalier said the association has other new products in the works that Are designed to Aid the retarded and Many who Are physically handicapped. All the devices Are designed to be affordable to school districts institutions and even families Cavalier said. Items in the works include a system through which a user would make selections by gazing at a terminal screen equipped with a camera that reads a reflection off the Cornea. A bladder sensor being constructed by the National aeronautics and space administration that uses sensors attached to the skin in the bladder area connected to a device that would use beeps or vibrations to help individuals with bladder control problems. A special feeding device for people unable to use their hands that consists of an elevated plate divided into three sections with attached spoons at Mouth level. That device allows the user to eat at a chosen Pace and select which food to eat next rather than being spoon fed by a hurried institutional worker. Brown said such devices Are an Effort to Aid the handicapped who Are often denied Basic human rights and freedoms or Are simply  we re striving to open some doors for  o Kay you got 15 seconds to  was the last time you heard another in Law joke see you can t eve remember. There is a reason for this. Mothers in Law have been added to the growing list of endangered species. Don t look for them at weddings wearing Black armbands anymore. They re not there. Don t look for them Riding in the Back seat of their son s car while his wife rides in front. They re not there either. And you certainly won t find them paddling Over to their House with a casserole so her son won t starve. Sightings these Days Are rare. There s a whole generation of women out there who want to be Yuppie in Laws but we re not note that i have just changed person i Don t mind telling you my time clock is running out. In a few years i la be too old to be a Mother in Law. I won t have the strength. The relationship in t something you can just throw together on the Spur of the moment. A lot of us seeing no in Laws in our future started careers and got on with our lives. To be a stereotype Mother in Law is a full time Job. Take  it s an Art form that takes stamina and controlled breathing. It in t just something you pick up. You have to have a pained look on your face that leaves doubt in an in Law s mind As to whether you approve or disapprove. And have you any idea of the time guilt takes if you do it right it can take up every minute of your Day. You have to keep track of the holidays spent with her his family making sure to Send polaroids of How you draped their empty chair with a Floral Wreath. You have to milk those wonderful moments when your son was late with your birthday card or forgot to ask what the doctor said after your Check up. And you have to be there when he eats his wife s Lima Beans when he never ate yours. There was a time when i looked Forward to bringing grandchildren Home for the weekend and not Only spoiling them but bleaching their underwear and cleaning out their neglected ears. Frankly i Don t think i could give it the time it deserved. I fall asleep right after the 10 o clock news anymore. I honestly Don t know if we can Ever get Back to the mothers in Law of the 50s, the ones who did the headache commercials that showed a Young Mother grabbing a hot Saucepan out of her hands and grousing irritably Mother please i d rather do it myself some of the few species walking the Earth today Are actually liked respected and needed by their daughters and sons by marriage. It la take a lot of work to get the old stereotypes Back. Someone suggested in View of my age i might consider adopting a daughter in Law one a Little older who would t be As demanding and i d still feel fulfilled. I just want someone i can take to the Park and Lay some guilt on. C 1986 los angles times Syndicate