[K3PZN-List] CW for Disabled Young Lady

[Curt Milton]

At yesterday's meeting we had a visitor K3JAN.  He described this young lady who cannot speak and has limited dexterity, which I take it to mean she cannot use a keyboard.  

An outstanding local organization Volunteers for Medical Engineering  http://www.vmesolutions.org/ has helped many disabled individuals, but it sounds like they don't have experience with CW.  The founder of VME is a retired engineer.   I remember him (phonetically his name is John Sta-lein but the spelling is more complex) from his employment here but likely he would not remember me) and lives near K3JAN.  

Sending CW ... i have a keyer with a speed control potentiometer that could be loaned with a small paddle.  The test is whether the young lady can send 'recognizable' CW characters.  As many of us once did CW at ~ 5 WPM it can make conversations!  

If she can send a CW character after learning it, then likely VME can design (or modify) an appropriate paddle for her.  (We might need to provide design assistance to implement a simple enough keyer as the menu driven things I have can accidently get enabled).  

If we get past this hurdle -- then comes the audio CW receiver.    I have zero experience here - and it sounds like Andy knows of software solutions 'that work.'  

If the technical factors work, then there is the need to patiently help this individual learn CW.  Honestly I think the best approach is for her caretaker(s) to also learn CW (while relying the decoder at first).  

At a minimum I sense we should provide info to run the CW experiment with her.