DigitalMile x Bubble Days celebrating for a good cause to make Liam's dream come true

Digital Mile X Bubble Days help Liam's dream come true

Digital Mile members are supporting Liam and raising funds at Bubble Days on 2-3 June 2023 - celebrating for a good cause, so to speak.
Liam wants nothing more than an iPad with eye control so he can live out his great passion - computer games.

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LIFEtool Managing Director David Hofer is a big fan of Liam:
"As a child of Generation Alpha and a 'digital native', Liam has an ever-growing user experience, both in the real and digital world, which opens up opportunities for him to make friends and succeed as a role model for gamers* around the world. With the help of eye gaze technology, Liam can communicate, go to school, meet friends and, like so many other teenagers, play computer games. Not so many years ago, Liam would not have had this opportunity, society would have simply labelled him as mentally handicapped - even though he is not and can now prove it to those around him thanks to modern technology."

"At birth I had a severe lack of oxygen and as a result my brain suffered irreparable damage. My diagnosis: Infantile cerebral palsy - athetosis. I can roll on the ground and with the help of a walker in which I am fixed, I can walk. For daily locomotion, I use my electric wheelchair, which I operate with a head control, as I cannot control my hands well. For communication, I use a Surface Tablet with an eye control. This allows me to participate in 'normal' life and also attend school. I am completely mentally and cognitively healthy and depend entirely on the technical aids that are so important to me. I am a fun-loving teenager who, like all other nearly 13-year-olds, loves to play computers and Xbox. I'm also a total Marvel fan and fast cars like in Fast and Furious make my heart beat faster."

Cerebral palsy is an impairment that affects a person's movement, balance and posture. The effects range from weakness in one hand to an almost complete lack of voluntary movement. Among other features, people with cerebral palsy may also have cognitive impairment and/or speech problems. As many as 1 in 4 people affected cannot speak. Cerebral palsy is the most common physical impairment in childhood. There are about 17 million people worldwide with cerebral palsy, which occurs before, during or shortly after birth.

Liam already has an eye controled computer - why does he need another one?

Liam's eye control, which he uses at school and at home for homework, is Windows-based so that he can do maths with it - for this he needs software that is only available on Windows - other applications for school also run on Windows only.
Now Liam has learned how to digitally edit photos and videos at school and has great fun with it. The apps for this are again preferably available as iPad solutions. And above all, it is the computer games that currently have a great appeal for Liam - here too, there are many more games for the iPad than for his Windows Surface. In addition, the new iPad eye controlled device also works outdoors, which his previous eye control unfortunately cannot do. With the new device, Liam could also communicate outdoors and participate in conversations with his family and friends.
Because Liam already has an eye controled device, which was also co-funded by the public sector, he is not getting a second device.