Children with severe physical disabilities often require a range of technological devices to aid them with t~fundamental tasks carried out in every&y life. These task areas may include mobility, communication, environment control and computer access for education. i% most epcient, and often the most cost-effective, way of providing for these requirements is by the provision of a single, integrated system tailored to the individual's needs and abilities. BASIS, the Barn&y And Shejield Integrated System, b an integrated control system based on a wheelchair-mounted personal computer (PC.) and currently implements the following modules: wheelchair control; a spoken communication package; control of home equipment via in.a-red; and a faility to run third-party software. 7he system presents a consistent and untfown environment to the user fir selection and activation of these modules and can be controlled by one to four switches (scanning or directed access), a touch screen, a headpointer or a mouse. Safety considerations have played a central part in the design of the system. BASIS can be tailored to the user's requirements by editing a textjle in software and by connecting the appropriate hardware modules to the serial and parallel ports. The graphical user intetface has been designedfor use by children and employs pictorial representation (icons) of available finctions on a colour screen. These icons can be chosen from clip-art or drawn on computer drawing package. It is also possibb to scan in and utilize drawings or photographs.
The computer-based integrated system offers significant advantages over systems previously reported, which were based on logic-gate circuitry with feedback to the user via a LJLD away.