---------------------------------------------------------------------***--------------------------------------------------------------------Abstract The objective of paper is to design a low cost prototype of a self driven, power assisted smart wheelchair for the disabled belonging to poor community. The wheelchair is equipped with all the necessary electronics to ensure safety and ease of oper...

The widespread use of power wheelchairs has greatly increased the requirements for accessibility of buildings and other architectural structures to handicapped persons. In addition, recent advances in microcomputer technology have made possible increasingly sophisticated power wheelchair interfaces, such as halo, puff and sip, and muscle control mechanisms, which can provide mobility for an eve...

Life expectancy, especially in the older age groups, is growing enormously due to better social and medical care. According to published data on disabled people (1997), about 30 % of the total population (7,119,000) in Austria suffer from at least one physical disability. In this study, data from a micro census as well as a report from the Federal Ministry for Social Security and Generations is...

The medical history of a 16-year-old severely handicapped girl and the social history of her family are traced, with particular emphasis on the extent to which the handicap affected each member of the family. The role of the general practitioner is also highlighted.

Objective: This research was conducted to determine the anxiety levels and coping strategies of the parents who have handicapped children. Methods: Study population included the of parents of 1163 handicapped children who were from 15 rehabilitation centers in a city of, which are working in cooperation with the Ministry of National Education. Of all 405 parents who included in the study and wh...

This paper describes a method and an experimental system permitting a severely handicapped operator, such as a quadriplegic, to control a telenianipulator . These developments form the first phase in the design of the Spartacus "telethesis" . This is a manipulator system specifically developed for a quadriplegic person. Manipulator control experiments which are discussed concern four quadripleg...

Much of the discussion since the Arthur case has centred round the rights of handicapped infants to medical treatment. Little has centred round the question of how far one person can rightly be required to sacrifice her life for another, when she has not been consulted beforehand. This may be due to the fact that most of the discussants are men, while nearly all the carers are women. This small...