ORLANDO, Fla. – Anyone who meets Maylan Chavez can't help but notice how happy she is despite her many physical challenges.
“A lot of people ask me, 'Oh, how do you do it?” Chavez said during her visit to an assistive technology conference in Orlando. “The answer is always so simple: You just have to do it. You just have to go out and try.”
That positive attitude helped the 24-year-old land her dream job with a company that is helping her communicate with the world.
“She showed interest in working with us and we showed interest in working with her,” said James Brinton, the assistive technology coordinator and speech-language pathologist with LC Technologies Inc. “So it was a natural fit to say, 'Learn how to use the Eyegaze Edge, and then teach people what it can do in real life.'”
Doctors diagnosed Chavez with spinal muscular atrophy when she was a baby. It's a genetic disorder that affects the nervous system and the control of muscle movement, so it limits Chavez’s use of her arms, legs and other muscles.
Doctors, family and friends feared she would not live to see her second birthday.
According to the National Institutes of Health, a vast majority of affected children do not survive past age 2 due to respiratory failure.
But Chavez is not only beating the odds, she’s thriving and teaching others just like her how to get results.
“Surreal is the best word I can use to describe it,” Chavez said. “As long as you want to achieve it, you can do it with the right resources and the right support.”
Chavez says her mother wondered what her future would hold but neither of them ever let Chavez’s disability stand in the way of her happiness or success.
“To see something like this occur for me is something she's very proud of,” Chavez said.
Chavez says she first learned about LC Technologies and its EyeGaze Edge at a conference held last year in Orlando.
“And who would have known a year later, I was right back at the same conference - but as an exhibitor for LC Technologies, speaking about the product to other people in the community just like me,” Chavez said.
Her co-workers say it was a natural fit.
“We saw that she was a ray of sunshine,” Brinton said. “She was advocating. She was communicating.”
Now, Chavez is helping show others how to use this latest and greatest tool, both online and in person.
Chavez says that through the use of a specialized infrared camera and tablet attached to her wheelchair, she is able to surf the web, engage in social media and even type emails -- all by just focusing her gaze on different parts of her computerized screen.
The company is also exploring if this kind of technology can help patients in emergency rooms too.
The new project is called Eye Voice, and Brinton says it is currently in the research and development phase, with a Jacksonville hospital being tapped as one of the company’s beta test sites. But Brinton says the good news is the project is moving forward with testing being done on both the hardware and software.
“They can let their family know if their nurses are caring for them properly. They can participate in really important family discussions, which really opens up a world of possibilities,” Brinton said.
Brinton says the company is also working on improving the current Eyegaze technology and creating an Eyegaze Edge encore camera, which could help even more people.
He says engineers are working on redesigning the camera, and putting in new features that would help people with atypical eye conditions use the technology to communicate with their computers and the world.
“When someone's communication is taken away from them, often we don't realize is not just the words, but it’s the connection to the whole world around them that's taken away,” Brinton said. “So the right kind of technology can not only help connect them to communication, but connect them once again to life. It’s huge.”
Chavez says she cannot wait to share those possibilities with others.
“It's incredible. It's something that I never expected,” Chavez said. “But it's such an amazing opportunity.”