Quadriplegic engineering

Hi ghost, Welcome to The Forum. I am also a c 4/5, but my injury is complete. So I may have less capability than you do. Of course, we know that each injury is unique, even if they're at the same level.



If you want to work with a computer and a mouse, there is good news for you: it's entirely possible and well within your capability. Right now I'm using a Mac and a device called Head Mouse. I believe it's from Orin instruments. The software is included with the hardware and the latter is a bit expensive, around $1,000. But I've been using it the last 10 years, I wouldn't want to be without it. Recently, I tested it on a Chromebook, and it works there as well. I do know that it works on Windows as well, and when I run Linux in a virtual machine it works there also.



The head mouse that I use requires a small reflective dot, either on my forehead or glasses. I prefer to stick one on the nose piece of my glasses so that I don't have to use a new one Every time I sit down at the computer. With the dot in place, the Mouse pointer moves anywhere on the screen you are looking at. I have a very sensitive micro switch connected to the cam . These are available from Microsoft in their accessible devices and are relatively cheap. I cannot move my fingers or wrist, instead I pronate the arm, which drops my thumb onto the micro switch to make a click. I'm using it right now to write this response to you.



In the past I have used Dragon, but the Macintosh version is abysmal as well as expensive. The recent versions of macOS have some dictation software built-in, but I have found in my Mac Mini that the computer fails to respond occasionally. What I am doing at the moment, instead, is using a voice notepad in Google Chrome to capture my voice dictation. When I am done, I will select this text and paste it into the reply box on the form to post it. You may be using Windows, in which case the Dragon software works a little better.



I have noticed that the latest versions of macOS have a built-in head Mouse kind of feature. I am using a Logitech c525 webcam, and in the accessible settings for macOS, I am able to turn on a feature called head pointer. Basically, it replicates the function of the head Mouse and tracks my head movement to move the pointer. It seems to work quite well. If I use that, I can make simple facial gestures like moving my lips left or right to make a left or right click. There may be head pointer features built into Windows lately, but I have not checked.



As for the keyboard, in the accessibility sections in macOS you can turn on an on-screen keyboard and then point-and-click Using the head Mouse, or built-in Head glance feature in the OS. for people that have trouble even operating switch to click, there is a feature called dwell , which essentially means auto click after a defined delay. For example, if I turn on that feature, then anything I point at without moving for at least two seconds will be clicked. Windows and Linux also have on-screen keyboards which you can use.



I'm on the computer at least 8 hours a day, and these tools allow me to be quite effective and productive. My employer chose to put me on long-term disability rather than ask me to come back to work When I was released from hospital, but that was mainly because my job involved international travel, which would have been difficult to continue without an assistant travelling with me. In short, I don't see Any reason why you could not work in an office doing electrical engineering if it mostly involved computer work.