AV company helps disabled communicate

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AV company helps disabled communicate

http://www.avpress.com/n/25/0325_s12.hts

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Sunday, March

25, 2007.

By BRENNA HUMANN

Valley Press Staff Writer

LANCASTER, California - They say that the average person speaks

thousands of words a day. But what if your ability to communicate

were taken away - what if each word, even each small sound within

it, was a struggle that took agonizing minutes to complete?

You might look to technology to help, and you would find that the

company behind visionary devices leading the way in communications

for the disabled exists right here in the Antelope Valley.

Words +, Inc. began in Sunnyvale in 1981, founded by husband and

wife team Walt and Ginger Woltosz.

After Ginger Woltosz's mother, Lucille , was diagnosed with

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease) in 1978, and

became unable to speak or write in 1980, the couple began designing

computer hardware and software to help her communicate - some of the

first of its kind in the world.

" We didn't know what we were doing - we were pioneers. The truth is,

we never developed an efficient system for her, " Woltosz said of his

mother-in-law, recalling the brief months the family had before her

death in the fall of 1980.

The project was shelved for a time in favor of Woltosz's aerospace

career, but inspired further when the family continued to meet other

disabled individuals who needed help.

" I kept wanting to find a way to use aerospace simulations

technology for health care, " Woltosz said.

The company sold its first communications system in the fall of

1981, he said.

Later, " With about six week's worth of money in the bank, we took a

leap of faith, " he said.

They moved the company to the Antelope Valley in 1988.

Words + systems are based on either symbol or text programs or a

combination of the two, depending on the language ability of the

client, as many may be young children who are still learning to read

and write.

Programs work around either " direct " or " indirect " selection

abilities of clients.

In direct selection devices, clients choose functions with a

pointing device or by typing or even with something as subtle as

their eye's gaze.

In indirect selection devices, clients whose physical abilities are

more limited can activate some kind of switch, by perhaps blinking,

or even moving an eye or a body part, as a computer scans through

communicative options.

" It's slow, but you can do virtually anything that any of us can do

with a keyboard and mouse, " Woltosz said of such systems.

" We're probably very well know for creating the equipment that

Hawking uses, " he said. Hawking became a client in 1985 and

still uses Words + equipment today, Woltosz said.

Other clients include former San -area football coach Charlie

Wedemeyer (featured in the film " Quiet Victory " ) and father and son

marathon team Dick and Rick Hoyt.

Words + software is available in a number of mobile or fixed

devices, many of them covered by insurance, Medi-Cal or Medicare.

" Virtually all of our systems can run on a desktop computer, but you

can't take that to the mall. "

From small portable screens to larger units that can be mounted to a

wheelchair (even connected to a power wheelchair's battery), or

stationary computers for the bed bound, " It's really the mobility

issue that determines (the device), " Woltosz said.

" People are actually working with these devices now, " he said,

pointing to Hawking, who is " living a more or less normal life and

making contributions to society, despite his disability.

" When people have these kinds of diseases, there's a tendency to

focus on what's been lost. "

However, Hawking told him once, " I don't have the time to do the

things I can do, so it doesn't seem important to worry about the

things I can't do, " Woltosz said.

Though Words + was the first venture for the Woltoszes, their

industry-leading pharmaceutical simulations software, created

through Simulations Plus, Inc., is now the parent company of the

business, opening in 1996 and becoming publicly traded in 1997

(AMEX:SLP).

Simulations Plus creates computer-based mathematical models for

pharmaceutical companies which can predict the physical properties

of potential drugs and chemical compounds - even their probability

of certain side effects, cancer-causing properties, DNA mutations or

coronary risks - without them ever having to be synthesized or

tested in a lab.

Woltosz is Chairman and CEO of Simulations Plus. Shares have done

well this year, rising from $2 to $9, he said, noting that Friday

marked an all-time high for their stock price at $9.65.

Company revenues are expected to grow by $2 million this year.

Simulations Plus' current market capitalization is at $72 million.

" Most people don't even know we're here, " Woltosz added.

Jeff Dahlen is president of Words +, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary

of Simulations Plus.

With 37 employees, Woltosz's two businesses employ chemists,

electrical and chemical engineers, biochemists, molecular biologists

and others - all who program as well.

An Air Force Staff Sergeant prior to going to college, Woltosz spent

more than a decade in aerospace, developing simulation and modeling

software.

He came to the Antelope Valley in 1976 to work at Air Force

Base's Rocket Propulsion Lab.

Woltosz, 61, grew up in Rochester, New York, and now lives with his

family in Palmdale.

Over the years, the growth he's witnessed in the Valley " has made us

a more attractive location, " he said, especially for the highly-

skilled scientists and software engineers needed by his companies.

The Antelope Valley, he said, " really grows on you. "

Words +, Inc. and Simulations Plus, Inc. are at 42505 10th St. West.

For details on Words +, call (800) 869-8521 or (661) 723-6523.