Behind the Scene Look at HP's Contribution to Derrick Daniels' ABILITY House

	Derrick Daniels and Larry Fruge Take a behind the scene look at HP's contribution to Derrick Daniels' new home — the first ABILITY House ever built for a person who has quadriplegia. Built in partnership with Habitat for Humanity International and ABILITY Awareness, a nonprofit organization committed to improving the lives of people with disabilities, an ABILITY House is an affordable, accessible home designed for a person who has a disability. Derrick's home, which was built in partnership with Habitat Birmingham and sponsored by BellSouth and ABILITY Magazine, features state of the art technology designed to give Derrick back a little of the freedom he lost when he was a senior in High School. As HP employees Al Bates and Larry Fruge share in this story, HP's product donation was just the beginning of helping this remarkable young man realize his dreams. Derrick Daniels also shares his perspective.

Derrick Daniels

"I never had a computer before so this is my first -- I'd really like to thank everyone for that. And Larry has been a blessing, he's God sent. Anytime I call him, he helps me out. HP sent a very good person. He's a good employee and he's my buddy. I am very blessed by HP's efforts." Derrick Daniels

"Seeing Larry's generosity over the last several months has made me want to be a better person. It feels good to know that we still have people in this world who care so much about others." Al Bates

"... the thing I noticed the most about Derrick was the first time I talked to him about what this computer was going to do. He lit up like a Christmas tree. I had not seen that in somebody's face in a long time. To me, that is what makes life worth helping someone -- when you see, for the first time, that ray of hope. Really, in a sense, that ray of freedom." Larry Fruge

HP District Manager Al Bates

Al Bates

When the PC arrived, Larry quickly realized that this was more than installation. He explained to me that the PC was designed to control the lights, doors, TV, radio and other appliances in Derrick's home. Not only would need to test the system, which required learning all the third-party software, but he would also need to teach Derrick how to use it.

Although this would take considerably more time that we had anticipated, Larry didn't hesitate. He took all the equipment home, installed it, and began to learn how to operate his house as if he too were paralyzed from the neck down. In the process of trying to control devices in his home with the PC, he discovered a problem with the AC phases. Larry contacted the manufacturer of the power plugs, and they created a fix. He then worked closely with the electrician for Derrick's house, including ensuring that all the conventional style switches were changed to automated ones so that the PC would successfully control all the devices in the house.

All of this was above and beyond HP's commitment, yet Larry was happy to do it. He continues to visit Derrick on his own time, helping him work with the software on his system, including a professional dictation package that will enable Derrick to realize his dream of going to college.

Seeing Larry's generosity over the last several months has made me want to be a better person. It feels good to know that we still have people in this world who care so much about others.

Customer Engineer Larry Fruge

HP Customer Engineer Larry Fruge
My name is Larry Fruge and I work for TSG Customer Services in Birmingham, Alabama. When Al initially approached me about the ABILITY House, I didn't know what it was. I spoke with Michael Takemura, the director of HP's Accessibility Program, and he gave me some background information and connected me with BellSouth's Ron Talley, who became my main contact through the whole process.

HP had provided an HP Pavilion Media Center PC with a 17" flat screen monitor for Derrick's ABILITY House. We had also provided an HP printer-copier-scanner all-in-one device and an HP Photosmart digital camera. Ron shared that they wanted HP to install the PC and then show Derrick the system to help prepare him for a media event scheduled for May 17. This event, sponsored by BellSouth, Habitat for Humanity and ABILITY Awareness, would give the local media an opportunity to meet Derrick as he demonstrated the technology in his ABILITY House.

As Al shared, I quickly realized that this would involve more than an installation and demonstration. I needed to load the third-party software that had been selected to allow Derrick to control the devices in his home -- the hardware itself was not going to solve any of his problems. More importantly, I needed to learn how to use this software so that I could show Derrick what these tools were intended to do, and then teach him how to do it for himself.

Al and I decided to take ownership because it was just the right thing to do. As he shared, I took the system home and installed it. Much to my surprise, my family fell in love with it. We were quite impressed with the PC, just as a media center itself. My family didn't want me to leave with it, which really shows the truth of how nice this system was.

I started teaching it to control the devices in my house, such as the lights and appliances. Al's right, I was able to control items in some rooms, but not in others. It turns out that everything was on one phase. All new houses, as a general rule, have two AC phases from the input boxes. Some rooms are on one phase and some are on the other. As long as I stayed on the first phase, I could control all the devices, but if I moved over to the second, there was no communication.

I spoke with the manufacturer and they suggested installing a joining device across the two phases in the house's electrical box. This resolution would be critical because that's how the PC communicated with the household devices - by sending signals over the existing AC wires.

Once this solution was defined, I worked closely with the electrician for Derrick's house. As Al said, he replaced the switches and installed the capacitor (joining) device HP had purchased to couple the two phases together. Once that work was done, I was able to install the computer and everything worked fine.

That was the day I met Derrick. I was in the computer room installing the system and I heard his automated wheelchair. I stopped what I was doing and went into the living room and said, "You must be Derrick." He looked at me with his eyes and said, "Who's Derrick?" "Don't mess with me man," I said. "I know it's you." He laughed. Derrick is quite a kidder. He has a real good sense of humor and that's the way he seems to live his life. He also has a very positive attitude, which I noticed right away -- it spoke volumes to me about what his character would be like.

Derrick and I had one day to prepare for the media event. I showed him how he could control devices in his home with the PC, which included teaching him how to use the mouse. We had a third-party device called a Tracker that sat on top of the monitor. It looks for a reflective dot that can be placed anywhere on the body. Since Derrick is a quadriplegic, the only movement he has is his head, so the dot is placed on his forehead. As he moved, the Tracker followed the dot and moved the cursor accordingly. He could also use the Tracker to open programs. We stepped through all of that and he got to the point where he was moving well and feeling comfortable.

Derrick's HP Pavilion Media Center PC

I returned the next day for the media event. Derrick showed off all the products and people were quite impressed that he could control all these devices, including turning the lights on and off, and even dimming them. He also demonstrated his control over the outside lights - we had made sure those worked as well in order to give Derrick a sense of security. If he heard anything outside, he could turn on the lights in the front or in the back of his carport.

Derrick also demonstrated his lift chair. An organization had contributed this lift mechanism, which took Derrick from his shower all the way to his bed on a rail system in the house, allowing the caregiver to roll him with very little effort. The system was really designed to protect the caregiver's back because that's usually the first thing to go, not their heart, but their back.

At the end of the day I asked Derrick if he was tired and he said, "Only my neck".

After the media event, Derrick and I continued to work together. I went back, like Al said, not as a representative of HP, but on my own. HP had already gone way beyond what we had been asked to do. I had come to like Derrick. He seems to have an instant friendship with everyone he meets, and we just clicked.

I showed him how to use the simulated keyboard, another third-party software product. By moving the mouse over certain keys, he could type into Word documents. He really liked that. But I think the software he liked the most was the professional voice-activated dictation package. I had spent a lot of time while I was at home teaching the software to understand my voice. Derrick and I have spent a lot of time on this together as well, and he's still learning.

I think the thing I noticed the most about Derrick was the first time I talked to him about what this computer was going to do. He lit up like a Christmas tree. I had not seen that in somebody's face in a long time. To me, that is what makes life worth helping someone - when you see, for the first time, that ray of hope. Really, in a sense, that ray of freedom. Being able to do something without having to ask someone else to do it for you. Being able to tune a radio on your computer for yourself, or control the volume for yourself -- in a way that you've never been able to do before, without asking somebody to turn the channels for you. Or being able to create a Word document by yourself. That moment... seeing his face... it was all worth it.

When Habitat Birmingham, BellSouth and ABILITY Magazine got together, they were considering how far the technology could take them. This was their first effort to build an ABILITY House where the technology would support a quadriplegic. Things were done very differently in that house. The computer was a lot different, and the software was handpicked. BellSouth's Ron Talley said that this had been their greatest challenge by far -- to build a house that could actually support Derrick's needs as a quadriplegic.

Derrick's ABILITY House

At the end, we all stood back and saw what Derrick could do and knew that these weren't just pipe dreams, that it really could work. I think the results speak highly of the sponsors -- BellSouth and ABILITY Magazine, as well as Habitat Birmingham and all the people that volunteered their time working on Derrick's home.

I spoke with Derrick yesterday and he was having some problems with some of the magic cursor software. We talked for a while and I have no doubt that he'll stay on top of it. One day he worked on a problem for seven hours. He's really determined to figure this system out and conquer it. Again, that's just his character. Derrick's next goal is to go to college and get a computer science degree. With the tools HP has put in his hands, it's very do-able. He can do a lot unassisted, and that's the most important thing here. Unassisted.

Derrick's 27 years old now. For the last ten years he's had to come to terms with being a quadriplegic... he's had to learn a lot of things. To see him emerge as well as he has, with the attitude he has, is remarkable. And you can sense he wants more. Derrick's not content with what he has -- he wants more and I like that, I like the drive in people. You never mind helping someone that is helping themself -- especially when they're doing it first. It's not like they're asking you to do it for them. Derrick is an achiever.