Spinal cord injury causes dramatic changes in a person's ability to function physically, sexually, and vocationally in society With proper rehabilitation, many paraplegics and some quadriplegics are able to live and function with a high degree of independence. Those with higher levels of paralysis (C-5 and above) currently must depend on family, medical personnel, and a variety of assistive devices to accomplish the most basic activities of daily living. This project addresses the use of automatic speech recognition to enhance the use of the telephone byquadriplegics. Simple access to the telephone system is likely insufficient; thus, it is also proposed to examine the use of the same system to maintain verbal notes, allowing the quadriplegic to access these notes as a nonparalyzed individual would access written notes Additionally, the need for other environmental control devices (e g , lighting, security) will be assessed for future workAwardee's statement of the potential commercial applications of the research:The successful implementation of these facilities will impact tens of thousands of paralyzed individuals. They will substantially enhance both the employment opportunities available to quadriplegics and the level of functional independence they are able to enjoy. This will result both in creating a market for this technology and provide some of the income to acquire the technologyNational Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
