Ron Morasse’s 24 year-old daughter was born with spina bifida; a fault in the spinal column in which one or more vertebrae fail to form properly, leaving a gap or split. Subsequently, she is confined to a wheelchair. That means that simple things like turning on a light, or flipping a switch can be very difficult. It’s not like she can just stand up to reach any of these switches if they’re out of her range. And simple things like getting to a switch may be difficult. It requires wheeling the chair around. That means, if she was laying in bed, or sitting on the couch, and she needed to turn on or off the light, she would have to maneuver herself out of the bed into the wheelchair, and then over to the light switch.

But Ron has had experience with X10 for a long time, and decided to put it to work for his daughter. "I have used X10 products to automate all the appliances in her room that are not inherently controlled by remotes (such as her TV)." Throughout the rest of the house, he’s installed outlets and switches to everything that she uses, so she can control everything by remote control.

"I have also linked my burglar alarm system to the X10 controls so that if an alarm arises, critical lights inside and outside my home are activated as an extra security measure," Ron said.

But there’s a double benefit here as well. This is what Ron told us. "While these installations were intended to increase my daughter's quality of lifestyle by gaining her access to lights and appliances that are difficult for her to access otherwise, (and they certainly did accomplish that), my wife and I also benefit from the X10 components in that it is easier for us to control lights and appliances remotely than it would be if we had to go to the specific room or location of the item being controlled."