A High-Tech Helping Hand
To hear Nancy Baesman tell it, the development of the Visions System – a computerized communications system for individuals with developmental disabilities – began as a series of seemingly minor incidents that gradually coalesced into something much greater:
Her husband, Bill, standing in a high-end audio shop and realizing that one person’s entertainment could be personalized into another person’s independence.
Her son, Grant, educated in business but something of a computer buff as well, seeing in computer technology the potential to meet the needs of people with developmental disabilities.
And Nancy herself, trained as an educator, developing what she would later describe as “primitive” communications systems the likes of which the Visions System would maybe one day replace.
But perhaps the most important Baesman – the one who could tie it all together – was Stacie, Bill and Nancy’s daughter, and Grant’s sister.
It was their love for the developmentally disabled Stacie that inspired her family to create a communications system that would allow her to live free from the supervision of her parents or any support staff.
“We had to figure out a way she could be independent,” Nancy said.
What they figured out was the Visions System, a computerized voice and picture communications system that, once installed, provides much of the same guidance a parent, guardian or support staff could.
People with certain developmental disabilities can handle a wide range of tasks, but they may require reminders and other minor assistance in order to recall what tasks to do when, and perhaps some guidance as to how to do them.
Enter the Visions System.
Much like a high-end audio or telecomm system that can be installed in every room of the house and maintained from a centralized console, the Visions System features speakers in many (if not all) the rooms of a house. At regular intervals, the computer running the system will remind the user – via a voice feature – to go shopping, keep a dinner date or lock the doors in the evening.
The system runs proprietary software developed by the Baesmans, who hired dedicated programmers to put it all together.
Another integral part of the system, the computer’s monitor acts as a touch-enabled screen, where picture prompts further aid the user in recalling and accomplishing tasks.
Visions for Independent Living, the company formed by Nancy’s family to promote and install the Visions System, has installed approximately 50 systems around the country, from Maryland to California.
While Nancy concedes that the system has been more successful for some more than others, there have been no negatives to the experience thus far.
And some of the success stories resonate with her. She gets emotional recounting the time a developmentally disabled woman called to thank her for installing the system in her home, crediting the system for helping her care for her young daughter who is not disabled.
However giving of themselves the Baesmans have been in developing the Visions System for people outside the family, Nancy is perhaps most excited about what it has meant for her daughter.
For instance, using a third element of the Visions System, a more traditional card-and-picture communication system, Stacie is shopping for herself and cooking for herself.
“Nobody would have told you, ever, that Stacie would be able to cook alone,” Nancy said. “She’s being able to reach a potential no one knew she had. And that’s what’s so exciting.”