Pádraig and I are invited speakers at the 2017 Conference of the International Society on Virtual Systems and Multimedia taking place next week in UCD. We are in illustrious company and it is a huge honour for us. Our contribution will be delivered by Prof Lizbeth Goodman. Very unfortunately, given our current circumstances with another ‘patient’ in the house, we will not be able to take up this very kind invitation in person this time, but we will be there in spirit!

We had another visit in the CRC and met with some therapists there who are going to do a few things for Pádraig: they will prepare a better table for his wheelchair with a fix and a ‘sunk’ access point for his switches; they will build a new switch replacing the ‘yellow’ yes/no switch that got lost during our last visit in Beaumont Hospital; and they will help us to develop a ‘low-tech’ communication system for Pádraig that we will then, in a separate step, transfer to his Tobii computer. Altogether quite amazing news!

His physio sessions amaze each time as Pádraig is showing strength and determination that almost spectacular in the context.

I’ll be going to sleep tonight knowing that things could be so much better, but feeling that things could also be so much worse. They always can.