Meet Dani! - Envisioning Access

Dani is Breaking New Ground!

Meet Dani—a new member of the Envisioning Access (formerly Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers) family. We are confident that after reading her story you will understand more clearly why we have created our Innovative Technology Initiative for people just like Dani and hope you will support this work. This program will provide Dani and other adults living with physical disabilities opportunities to find meaningful careers, educational, and socialization opportunities. Here is Dani’s story as told by her mother Dione:

On September 26, 2015, just two weeks into her junior year in high school, my independent and energetic 16-year-old Dani suffered a severe traumatic brain injury due to a car accident. She was a passenger in a friend’s vehicle when a driver, who was under the influence of narcotics and in a stolen vehicle, ran the stop sign, crossed the street, and hit the car that Dani was in head-on.

Dani suffered an immediate severe diffuse axonal brain injury (the shearing of the brain’s long connecting nerve fibers (axons) accompanied by a torn carotid artery resulting in stroke. She was intubated on the scene to keep her alive and rushed to the nearest large triage hospital for immediate brain surgery.

Dani spent the next 6 weeks in a coma, suffering from severe seizures requiring her to be airlifted to Seattle Children’s Hospital. Once stabilized she entered a vegetative state for another 6 weeks. Doctors did not have much hope that she would recover.

Thankfully, Dani slowly emerged from her vegetative state. However, she was blind, paralyzed on the left side of her body, and had no memory of who she or anybody else was. In the rehab unit at the hospital, the doctor told us that Dani was one of only two kids that they had ever seen with such a severe brain injury that made a functional recovery.

Dani spent the next three years going to every therapy and holistic treatment I could find, so she could gain as much independence as possible. She eventually gained most of the movement on her left side as well as some vision. She re-learned to speak, and to walk again using a walking aid. Two more brain surgeries followed, but she never recovered her long-term memory.

Now at 24 Dani continues to acquire new skills and she is looking forward to being a part of the VISORS pilot program at Envisioning Access. She could benefit greatly from the help of this new software platform in living more independently in her day-to-day life.

This is where you can help. The VISORS pilot project, a collaboration between Waipoint, Inc. and Envisioning Access, is providing something truly revolutionary.

The VISORS project, which is a part of our Innovative Technology Initiative, offers a potentially groundbreaking solution for people like Dani. The wearable visor will leverage AI technologies, and enable users to accurately locate objects, receive guidance on reaching them, and access real-time detailed information through audio communication and visual enhancement when available. That means Dani can live on her own, access public transportation, and go back to school and work when ready.

(Pictured: Dani and David Stein, one of the inventors of VISORS)

VISORS will never replace human vision, but it serves as an invaluable “second pair of eyes,” empowering individuals with greater independence, accessibility, and autonomy. As part of the Envisioning Access’ VISORS program, recipients will test the new technology ensuring that those living with low vision or blindness provide essential feedback to improve the VISORS for future users.

Dani says, “I am excited to feel so needed for this vital work. My input will help thousands of individuals like me to gain true independence.”

We cannot do this without you. Dani and others will test VISORS so thousands of people can have access to this revolutionary product. The development and testing of VISORS needs your support. You can make a difference in helping someone truly gain independence. Your donation of $50 will compensate a tester. Your donation of $100 or $500 will help in the development of this amazing technology. VISORS will help lift someone out of poverty and give them confidence and independence toward employment, education, and independence.

On behalf of Dani and her mother Dione, we appreciate what you are doing to assist people living with disabilities and Envisioning Access to make the world around us more accessible for all.

Thank you for your support.

Dani is Breaking New Ground!

Envisioning Access, Inc.