Brief Testimonials

The boys’ mother, Judy, says “[Lomak] has been instant success for them. Having watched them use a normal keyboard, struggling to get to the keys and reach them and sometimes even to press them, this has been quite depressing for them. [Lomak] has become really addictive because it’s fast, it’s instant. The ease is amazing. It’s wonderful.

"Lomak has given Ryan and Blake a huge push for independence. With their condition they are not able to do anything for themselves; we have to help them with everything. To be able to go on a computer, write their essays, do their homework and even get on the Internet to access things throughout the world is just been absolutely amazing. With Lomak they will be freer to do lots of other things including study and later on down the track I can see them being able to access university studies and other tertiary courses without the need to always have someone with them. It's absolutely amazing."

“When I use the Lomak my hands are quite relaxed and so is the rest of my body.
"I believe my relaxed sitting at the keyboard is following through at mealtimes. I am finding the Lomak becoming easier to write with, I am getting the flow or swing of operating it. I am sure I will be faster with it in time. I use it with co-writer. It is a voice synthesizer allowing me to hear what I am writing. Lomak will help many people, me included, who can’t manage or have difficulty managing a normal keyboard. I like using it, I think it is great.”

Stuart’s mother, Jean, also adds “Stuart is unable to pick up or use a pen or pencil, or a knife or fork for that matter. [When Stuart started using a computer] he used a head probe. It was very slow and laborious. He now uses that part of his hands that is least affected by his spasticity at that moment, sometimes his thumb, finger or if his hands are clenched, then I have seen him use his knuckle. When Stuart is using the Lomak, his posture is relaxed … slight movements with his head moving the laser beam around the keyboard. [There is] very little strain to his body.
"For me it is great to see Stuart sitting so naturally at his keyboard and I am not constantly reminding Stuart to sit up, or having to pull him up to a sitting position. Stuart will have a lot more energy. He won’t be wasting it using his regular keyboard, which does not suit his disability.”

Karen has been involved in testing the Lomak system. These are some of her comments:

"I think it is really quite an exceptional tool. It offers complete independent access and many other systems fall short of this."

"Lomak's biggest asset is its inputting speed. Trying to do a university course at 8 words per minute would be very frustrating and limiting. I also found voice recognition extremely difficult. I would breathe erratically, take a breath and 3 or 4 words would appear. "

"I like that Lomak is a standard tool not specific to people with disabilities. It is important that people with disabilities are not set aside … we all want to look as normal as possible. Lomak is aesthetically very appealing."

“A lot of [the existing technology] takes quite a bit of setting up … people are busy in the classrooms and don’t have time for this. Head pointers and head wands get very tiring … output becomes very small and effects their ability to learn.

"Two things struck me about Lomak. You just plug it in and can access any software, which is a real plus, and using it to select letters is a no fail thing - you confirm each letter. That’s the key to it. Actual movement [using Lomak] is quite small, quite refined.

"The difficulty is a lot of existing technology is very expensive and specifically
designed to do particular things … you could use Lomak with any software. It would solve physical access for a lot of people.”

He has some head movement and uses the head-mounted pointer.

“…the Lomak system opens doors for me that I never imagined possible. It is far easier to use than any previous system I have tried…”

Linda, Terry’s wife, adds “I have been observing and trying to help Terry use the Lomak. He found voice recognition very frustrating and so did I. He never seemed to progress. He has worked very well and very hard with Lomak. I can see a lot of benefits."