The image on the cover shows a child using a BBC Micro with a keyguard device similar to the Special Access Systems Keyguard we hold in our collection.

A very comprehensive, and positive guide on what options were available at the time for those with a range of needs.

"Micros for Handicapped Users" has been written to enable the previously disabled person to benefit from the new technology in ways which lead to independence. 

This book does not include computer programs but it does explain in plain English how a micro can become an easily managed aid, offering independence in the home and the possibility of extended contacts outside.

From the Foreword: 

"This book will give hope, advice and information for many who are disabled or those who want to help them."

The Contents include: 

How a micro can help you. The kinds of programs written for disabled people by winners of THE TIMES National Microcomputer Challenge. The application of Information technology for those with Special Needs. Micros in Special Education. Self-help for parents. Electronic mail and robotics in the service of disabled people. Lists of useful organizations and helpful people in various parts of the world.

This book has been designed and produced so that the pages lie flat when the book is open.

The illustration on the front cover is taken, with permission, from a publication of the Information Technology Awareness Programme (Department of Industry).

The book includes first-hand accounts by, among others: 

• An elderly man, housebound and disabled, who has discovered ne interests.
• A parent who teaches his Down's syndrome teenager with the aid of a micro.
• A profoundly deaf young woman is able to converse with others, miles apart.
• Teachers of multiply handicapped children who report that pupils have made progress of a kind previously thought impossible.

The author's experience as a member of the Community Health Council and as Chairman of a local MENCAP society have given him insight into some of the needs of disabled and handicapped people. In addition, as a consultant to the Open University (Micros in Schools Project) he has acquaintance with the requirements of teachers in Special Education.