St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 88

People SI LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 1986 4 Celebrities Inc. Giving Special Kids Some Special Help The 'Simple Gadgetry' Of Bill Nelson's Retirement By Michael Sneed and Kathy O'Malley Reel News John Hughes, who directed the new "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," told an interviewer that he had AP completed the scripts for his next two movies, and, he says, "people won't believe I wrote them." Hughes said last year that his teen-movie days were over and that one of the scripts he was working on was a "woman's movie." Reviews like the one in the Orange County (Calif.) Register are Nelson's work has become sufficiently well known that United Cerebral Palsy asked if he could help teach victims enough muscle control to hold their heads upright. Nelson connected mercury switches to a Velcro headband and a buzzer. When the child dropped his head, the device activated the buzzer, alerting the child. But Nelson then decided, "a buzz is negative reinforcement" and, so, "decided to try the same idea with the positive reinforcement of nice music." His redesigned training device uses a $10 miniature radio, a set of headphones and silver-plated, weighted balls.

So long as the child's head is upright, the balls make contact with the radio, providing the child with Bill Nelson's "positive" device for helping cerebral palsy victims learn muscle control. music music that continues so long as his head's upright. Bill Nelson contends that "positive reinforcement" works best for everyone. Patty Mihnhk of the Times-News in Letiighton, supplied information for this story in a dispatch distributed by the Associated Press. i.i Ml: 'in John Hughes obviously the reason no pre-release screenings of Sylvester Stallone's "Cobra" was held for critics.

Said the Register's reviewer, "Calling this film 'Cobra' is unfair to snakes." The remake of "Invaders from Mars" has to be this year's biggest "inside joke" movie. Among them: The role of the police chief is played by Jim Hunt, who played the little boy in the original 1953 version. In one scene, Hunt's character walks up a hillside that looks just like one In the first flick and says, "I haven't been up here since I was a little kid." In another scene, one of the pods from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is lying under a janitor's cot. No explanation; it's just there. And a newspaper delivery tube near a mailbox is for the Santa Mira Register; that's the name of the town fabricated for the original "Body Snatchers" movie.

Star Tracks Isn't Elton John's marriage, which some said was all over before It began, all over? Disregard those NO VENEER SOLID OAK RM'CA WATER RISISTANT FACTORY FOtYURETHANI FINISH 48" SOLID OAK TABLE 42" SOLID OAK TABLE with claw ft 1" Uol with claw Mt II" Uf 4 owbctck Chat 4 larkln Prmbk chatr AlUh CHECK OUR QUALITY BEFORE YOU BUY rrj -jar VI WE STOCK ui rwiMAC pniL.TOP DESKS. FILES. BRASS BEDS. ROCKERS. mmvci nru-wrkccQ a THAIP STYIES COFFEE TABLES.

BR SETS. WASH STANDS, MIRRORS, BAR STOOLS, CEILING FANS, ond MUCH MORE. reports in Rolling Stone that Julian Lennon is "running around" with Jam! Gertz ever since she appeared in his "Stick Around" video. Lennon took her out to dinner and went to see her in "Out of Gas Lovers Leap" in L.A., but the actress still talks every day with University of Michigan business MECHANICAL engineer Bill Nelson of Allentown, retired three years ago from Western Electric. Since then, he's worked full time on what he calls "simple gadgetry" toys and learning devices that Nelson adapts for severely handicapped children.

Nelson doesn't accept money. The Telephone Pioneers of America pays for the parts and hardware he needs to for example: Enable Luke Bynon, age 5, to ride a tricycle, despite almost total lack of control of his arms, legs and body. Give cerebral palsy victim Michael Tarafas the ability to guide a motorized wheelchair. "A youngster with no fine motor skills can't play with the toys on the market because he can't turn a knob or switch," Nelson says. "With jacks and electronic switch I turn toys into something these children can manage." Sometimes, he uses a "switch" the size of a cigar box.

That way, youngsters with even the slightest motor skills can activate toys such as a skating bear, a crawling doll or a jack-in-the-box. Other switches are connected to "communication boards" used in homes and teaching centers to help a handicapped child "speak." "It's hard for parents to find educational toys they can use at home with their children. If parents can find a source for these toys, they're often too costly to buy," says Nelson. Nelson started working with the handicapped 13 years ago, when his wife needed someone to repair Braille machines for the Allentown Braille League she helped organize. Nelson's been helping the Philadelphia Braille League and the Allentown group ever since.

Nelson says he will try to modify any toy for any handicapped child, despite sometimes needing hours just to learn a child's capabilities. Sometimes, Nelson gets his ideas from learning centers or commercial companies, but many of his aids are "originals." "They tell me what they need for a child and I try to figure out some way to do it," he says. For example, to enable Luke Bynon to ride a "trike," Nelson met with the boy, his mother and physical therapists. Then he devised a "trike" that Luke could operate with a lever, while his feet are strapped to the pedals. The lever propels the trike and also moves the pedals, exercising Luke's legs and the muscles he uses to smile.

Since cerebral palsy victim Michael Tarafas can't control his body movements or use his hands or legs, Nelson utilized the boy's ability to move his wrists slightly. He devised switches that are mounted to the insides of the boy's wrists; a flick of the wrist guides his wheelchair. And then there's Nelson's version of a "Busy Box," a child's toy used to provide sight and sound stimulation. Nelson used household utensils such as a wooden spoon, sugar scooper and rubber spatula connected to electronic switches to turn on lights, sound a siren or whirl a wheel. mil- 1 1 Elton John student Bennett Kaplan, her honey since high school.

She's about to begin work on "Lost Boys" with Corey Halm and Keefer Sutherland. "I'VE LOOKED AROUND, AND I'M CONFIDENT THAT LIBERTY GIVES ME Th BEST PROTECTION FOR THE RIGHT PRICE" David King Robert Palmer isn't picky about eating A 'Natural' Rock 'n Roller Robert Palmer, whose "Addicted to Love" single has been on the charts for nearly five months, still hasn't taken off on a star trip. Unlike some rockers whose demands include things like with all the brown candies removed as Van Halen did Palmer's needs are simple and natural. The contract for his appearance at the benefit opening on June 27 of Chicago's Hard Rock Cafe calls for a vegetable tray for 12, with at least two types of dip, a European-style non-processed cheese tray for six, nuts, Perrier, fresh orange juice, still mineral water and no alcohol in the dressing room before the end of the show. No The opening also will feature Chicago Bears QB Jim McMahon.

Sports Shorts It'e full speed ahead and damn the meltdown for Ted Turner's Goodwill Games, still scheduled for July 5-20 in and near Moscow. A spokesman for Turner said that although qualifying rounds were still taking place, none of the amateur athletes involved had canceled because of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. More than 120 hours of the games will be broadcast via WTBS in Atlanta. Foreign Affairs Try not to be too disappointed, but there won't be a Miss Libya when the Miss Universe pageant is broadcast July 26 from Panama City. Libya just happens to be one of the Middle Eastern countries that doesn't have a pageant organization.

Others include Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Oh yeah, and Iran. Sally Hay Burton, the widow of Richard Burton, is going to work in Lausanne, Switzerland, as a liaison officer for the International Olympic Committee. She insisted on being paid minimum journalist union rates for her new job, to which she'll commute from the home that she shared with Burton during their 13 months of marriage. Celebrity Update After leaving ABC-TV and "2020," Geraldo Rivera made overtures albeit unproductive ones to "60 Minutes" and "West 57th." It cost ABC-TV $4.5 million not to renew "Love Boat" for a 10th season, and that represents a special discount.

Producer Aaron Spelling's contract with the network called for a $9 million payment for canceling the series before its 10th year, but the millions it cost to buy three two-hour "LB" specials brought the price down. Jim Wet and daughter Allison Auto, Home and Life Policyholder. "Choosing the right insurance company wasn't easy. I compared, and found that Liberty Mutual offers the best protection at the right price for my auto, home and life insurance. And because Liberty Mutual is located nearby, I'm sure to get the individual attention I need.

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