[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 78 (Thursday, May 11, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1014]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         HOME FOR GUIDING HANDS

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                           HON. DUNCAN HUNTER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 11, 1995
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, mentally and physically disabled people are 
being helped by computers in two homes for the disabled because of 
techniques developed by Lloyd Hartvigsen. He credits part of the 
success for the lab he established at the Home for Guiding Hands at 
Lakeside, CA, to Lorraine Barrack, now 36 years of age, who has had 
cerebral palsy since birth.
  ``It just made sense that people who can't speak might find their 
voice with the aid of a computer,'' said Mr. Hartvigsen, a retired 
printer who established a 10-terminal lab for residents of the Home for 
Guiding Hands. The mother of Lorraine Barrack, Mrs. Elaine Barrack, 
said ``It's the first time my daughter has been able to write us a note 
that says `I love you.' This was the first year she's been able to send 
out Christmas cards. You just can't know how precious these notes and 
letters are to me.''
  Mr. Hartvigsen, working with Lorraine's family, decided that the wand 
and touch screen would be perfect, since she had control of her head 
movements. ``With a touch screen, everything you do with a keyboard can 
be done just by touching the screen,'' he explained. ``To use the 
computer, Lorraine puts on a cap with a foot-long wand attached. By 
leaning forward and tapping the wand on certain parts of the computer 
screen, she can write a note or play a game.''
  Lorraine and 14 classmates at the Home for Guiding Hands use the 
computer system to do schoolwork, to paint and draw, and also to learn 
to type and send letters to relatives and friends. Mr. Hartvigsen is 
also employed part-time as a computer instructor at St. Madeleine 
Sophie's Center for the Handicapped in El Cajon, CA. He began volunteer 
work at the Home for Guiding Hands in 1988, but it was in the past 4 
years that he realized how helpful computers could be as communication 
tools for the developmentally handicapped. Originally a volunteer at 
the Home for Guiding Hands, he was hired several months ago by the Home 
to operate the computer lab that he had set up. He now instructs 
residents of the Home in the use of computers, as well as residents of 
the St. Madeleine Sophie's Center.
  Mr. Hartvigsen is the son of Austin Hartvigsen of Santee and the late 
Mrs. Austin Hartvigsen, both of whom were volunteers for several years 
at the naturalization ceremonies in San Diego. They welcomed the new 
citizens, answered any questions they might have, and helped them 
register to vote. The family is an outstanding example of the best in 
volunteerism in America.


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