University of Wisconsin–Madison

Category: Employee News

Boy with autism funds research with hand-drawn holiday cards

Giizhik Klawiter has never been so much as a visitor to the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Waisman Center, but the 10-year-old boy with autism from Hayward, Wis., is one of the most faithful supporters of the center’s developmental disabilities research. For four years, Giizhik’s mother, Pam Miller, has visited Walmart, the casino, grocery stores and craft fairs to sell Christmas cards designed by Giizhik (whose name means “white cedar” in Ojibwe) and his brother Mino (short for Minode’e, loosely “has a kind heart”).

Virtually healthy: ‘CAVE’ lets researchers experience patients’ behavior

Every day, patients take prescription medications, monitor vital signs or blood glucose levels, and even administer their own preventative care in the form of exercise and diet choices. It’s important for health care providers to understand how their patients actually perform these activities — yet do so without invading patients’ privacy. Virtual reality makes that goal a reality.