This Alberta student is becoming the face of assistive tech that uses only his face

Learning is a bit easier for Liam Dansereau now that he can use AI to control his laptop, something the teen with cerebral palsy struggled with previously.

A Beaumont, Alta., student is using his head to solve mobility issues he’s had during his education.

Thirteen-year-old Liam Dansereau has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. Thanks to new technology programmed with his mobility needs in mind, his facial expressions are now all he needs to control his laptop.

Previously, the Grade 7 student had to hit multiple switches on his wheelchair just to click one link.

His school division – Black Gold School Division – was home to a Google-certified tech expert determined to find a way to make the process smoother.

Darren Maltais went through a few phases of AI-assisted coding before he landed on a potential long-term way for Liam to learn. Other methods, which have varying success depending on the student, weren’t cutting it for Liam.

“He can use voice-to-text very well, but it’s pretty finicky, so that wasn’t ideal … He came to us in Grade 4, and it was a lot of trying different tools and trying to get voice control, trying to use the switches. (When he was) in Grade 6 is when I saw that face control came out,” Maltais explained.

Liam’s new Chromebook, which offers AI-powered facial and head control for function, meant a newfound independence – as well as new goals unfolding along his educational journey.

“He was awesome at it. He was able to scroll, he was able to click links. He was able to do all these things that before were just so difficult for him to do,” Maltais said. “It was like an instant change in how he interacted with tech.”

“Like, 100-per-cent better,” Liam added.

Marcie Kagie, Liam’s educational assistant, says he’s learning punctuation, conjugation and spelling without needing her scribing assistance.

“Just seeing him being able to thrive and do so well in the classroom, be like the rest of his classmates, it’s amazing,” she said.

His dad Joe says it’s been “a new world,” for the family now that he can read and navigate without an aide.

“I was hoping that technology would help Liam through his life. I know it can be a little invasive sometimes, but for him, I’m hoping it really elevates him forward,” he said.

Liam’s grades are now getting better, his teachers say, and he has plans to integrate technology in a future career, too. He’d like to work in web or game design.

“I think with the help of AI in the background, it’s allowed the impossible to happen for a lot of students. Now teachers are, if they find a gap or a student need, coding the answers, making their own apps, they’re doing these things that would have been impossible a couple years ago,” Maltais said.

He also thinks artificial intelligence – at least as it’s used to help Liam – has its place.

“We focus on the generative AI aspect as opposed to the barriers that it’s eliminating for students who are speaking another language, or with reading disabilities, or mobility disabilities.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson