“With KeyStrokes I obtained full control over my computer and software.”

Hi, my name is Giesbert Nijhuis. I was born in the Netherlands in 1969 and lived a "normal" life until I was 26. On 23 December 1995 I suffered a spinal cord injury (C3/4) due to a car accident with a rented van. Since that day, my life has been a nightmare. Being paralyzed up to my neck, I cannot move anything but my head. I also suffer from a large number of invisible inconveniences, such as continuous pain throughout my whole body, loss of freedom, extreme dependence, fear of health complications, and so forth. People I meet now, know me as I am today. In contrast, I still see myself as I used to be, but now with disabilities.

Since 1998, I've lived on my own in a specially adapted apartment. I can drive around in my chin-controlled wheelchair, use the telephone, open doors and much more, all through a special switch based remote control. However, a remote control does not always work and, there are numerous basic things I cannot do through it anyway, such as getting in and out of bed, going to the bathroom, cleaning my room, grabbing a sandwich, eating dinner, etc. For all of these basic things I cannot do myself I need help from professionals or friends, who are often not available when I need it. Actually, I need two people or one super robot at my service all the time, which is one of many illusions I have. (Photo supplied by Giesbert Nijhuis and used with permission.)

My neck is broken, but my mind is not. The fact that my body is now severely restricted does not mean that I lost the desire to live fully and actively. Years ago, people with such a high spinal cord injury would simply die, but with time came new technologies. First, it became possible to survive. Later, technologies were developed that improved the quality of life for those with a spinal cord injury (SCI). Curing a SCI is still not possible, but while in the past they would say it was completely impossible, now they say that it might be possible in a couple of years.

When I am alone and it is raining I spend a lot of time behind my computer. (Photo supplied by Giesbert Nijhuis and used with permission.)

One of the recent technologies that improved the quality of life for people, like me, is the computer. Before the accident, I was a photographer and illustrator. After the accident, I wanted to continue in this field. (See also Giesbert's story in the Pro/Design section of the Apple Netherlands site). So, what I needed was a powerful Macintosh computer, a head controlled mouse and an on-screen keyboard. My friends initiated a large fund-raising effort through television and several benefit concerts (I used to play in a band) to make my dream come true. One problem though, there was no good on-screen keyboard available... David Niemeijer, a friend of mine, was able to develop an on-screen keyboard with which I obtained full control over my computer and software (having access to all the keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop was especially important to me).

I use a sip-and-puff device, a HeadMouse® and KeyStrokes® to control my computer. (Photo supplied by Giesbert Nijhuis and used with permission.)

That is the story of how, in 1996, KeyStrokes^® was born. For the first year I was the only user. People who saw me using KeyStrokes got interested and asked me whether they could also use it. I contacted David and he made a new version for internet distribution. That was in 1998. Based on suggestions from me and other users, KeyStrokes has developed over the years in terms of features and compatibility with new system software versions. Most recently, it was developed for Mac OS X. I not only participated as a beta tester, but became increasingly involved with the design. For KeyStrokes 2 I designed the startup screen. For KeyStrokes 3 I designed a new start-up screen as well as the application icon and the snow key design. Most recently, I designed the startup screen and icon for TouchStrokes^® and SwitchXS^®.

The icons I designed for the Mac OS X versions of KeyStrokes, SwitchXS, and TouchStrokes (top row) and some of the icons designed for use in KeyStrokes (bottom row).

Just after the accident, while still in the hospital, I already figured that if I wanted to continue doing creative things it would have to be with a computer. It is nice to see that this vision became reality. I am able to make illustrations for myself and friends. For example, I made CD case designs, movie posters, and many other illustrations, most of which can be seen on my web site at http://www.LaesieWorks.com (Note: "dwarslaesie" is the Dutch term for spinal cord injury).

The computer is a great tool, but still has a long way to go in terms of helping me deal with simple problems such as removing a fly from my eye, or any of those other “simple” things.

Above my bed, I have a self-designed construction with a small and fan-less Cube (silent!). The inset shows what I see when lying in bed: an up-side-down mounted flat-screen and HeadMouse, which, together with KeyStrokes, provide me with access to my computer. Having access to a computer in bed is very important to me when my health is such that I am bed bound for a couple of days or weeks. (Photo supplied by Giesbert Nijhuis and used with permission.)