Good boy Zack

Once again I have been proven wrong by wonder boy.

At school last week Zack got to test out some software produced by Tobii which allows him to access a computer via his eyes.

But wait he is registered blind and can't really see that well? Not a problem for Zack. Honestly, I was astounded at what he achieved. 

He started off sitting on my knee whilst a computer screen just slightly bigger than an ipad was on a stand in front of him. I was casually chatting away, occasionally noticing some lovely little purple circles appear and disappear. Then a gold star burst into lots of hearts. The nice gentleman who was showing us the programme said "Good boy, Zack, well done."

"Well done?" I said. "Why, yes." the nice man replied. Apparently, Zack had been actively using the eyegaze system whilst I had been talking. In fact so entranced with it was Zack that he was laughing and cooing away. 

Even when we put him in his school chair he remained engaged with the programme for a full fifty minutes. At one point a game he did not like was on for a bit too long which Zack angrily shouted about until it was removed. 

Scarlett was in the room too and Zack took delight in showing his sister how he could make fart noises just by looking at stinking clouds of, well I presume it was clouds, don't really want to think about what it looked like. Every time he did a fart noises he turned to look at her stood by his side as if to say, ha, I did that noise. 

What was so fascinating wasn't just that he loved using it from start to finish. But that we could actually get a better understanding of how much he can see, how he uses his vision and how far he can see. It was brilliant, we loved it. 

For Zack the result of just looking at something and getting a reaction was instant, easy and rewarding. I knew he would like it, I just didn't know how much. 

Thanks Zack for being amazing. Again. 

Show off.