Imagine if you needed to ask for help, but couldn't speak, write, point, or control your hands. How would you communicate?
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This is a typical challenge faced by some of the special needs kids at The Cranleigh School.
Unable to talk and with limited motor skills, seven-year-old Grace Tillott generally communicated by indicating 'yes' or 'no' with her eyes.
But new eye-gaze technology bought by the school with a $10,000 Telstra Kids Fund grant means little Grace is now able to communicate directly for the first time in her life.
Surrounded by beaming teachers and parents who were buzzing with excitement, Grace controlled the cursor on the iPad-like screen simply by shifting her gaze.
Darting her eyes between the drums on the screen's digital drum-set, Grace was the only controller of the music that played.
It was the first time her parents had heard her play music on her own.
"She was amazing. She loves music, and was playing it and looking at us [as if to say], 'look at me'. It brought a tear to my eye, I was crying," mum Janine said.
"Most people have to go to the States to get [this technology]."
Cranleigh School principal Sue Roche explained that traditional ways of communicating with children of high physical needs were incredibly labour intensive.
Previously, an adult had to interpret a child's 'yes' or 'no' responses to a series of picture-options – a single sentence could take five minutes to interpret.
"When I started in special education 35 years ago, children with this level of disability weren't asked [questions]. [With] non-mobile and non-verbal kids, people just thought, 'we're not going to educate them'. This is really big," she said.
The Telstra Kids Fund has expanded with the theme of digital inclusion this year, providing grants to organisations to help children with special needs become part of the digital world.
"The work of the Cranleigh School is inspiring and this technology will help enable students here to communicate in ways they may have never experienced before," said Chris Taylor, Telstra countrywide area general manager for the ACT.
The eye-gaze technology was a total hit with the kids, who couldn't wait for their turn.
"You can see the engagement immediately, the sky is the limit. We can use this for their literacy and numeracy, they'll be able to create art – were really just beginning with this," Ms Roche said.
