Digital Outcasts Moving Technology Forward without Leaving People Behind

When Iris Connolly was 2 years old, she fell ill on a family holiday and had to be rushed to a hospital in the United Kingdom. The diagnosis came as a shock to parents Sean and Debra of Essex, he a civil worker and she a veterinary surgeon. Their daughter Iris had been struck by a brain tumor and was to undergo 48 weeks of radiotherapy following surgery. Iris survived the operation and began her long road to recovery. Bed-bound and temporarily paralyzed, she was unable to attend school and experienced severe impairment of her brain’s executive function””the part of the brain that controls memory, attention, mental flexibility, and other cognitive activities.