The Artist

Emily Shifflet was a young woman living with Rett Syndrome.

Art has played an essential part in Emily’s life. She loved music, wheelchair dancing, and watching all forms of creativity. She learned her craft when her therapist installed digital painter software on her communication device. This software released her inner artist, and she was an eye gaze artist with showings at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, The ARC of Pennsylvania. She has been a guest artist at Splat Family Art Studio in Annville and Hershey.

She was a silent partner in a business, a yogini, an ice skater, and a patient educator for medical students at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. She loved to tell jokes, play instruments on her eye gaze device, be with her family, and create her art.

Emily passed away on March 11, 2023, in her mother’s arms and surrounded by her family at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center. We know she is now painting in heaven with the angels.

Click here to read her obituary.

Click here to find out more about Rett Syndrome.

Creating Art with the EyeGaze Device

With the help of Living Unlimited, a music therapy program, and The Cornerstone Agency of Pennsylvania, both in Harrisburg, PA, Emily has learned the use of the Tobii EyeGaze Device. According to the Tobii website, the technology is explained: Eye tracking and eye control is a technology that makes it possible for computers to know exactly where the user is looking. When eye tracking and eye control are combined with speech-generating devices, communication opportunities are enabled for individuals with special needs.

Using the Digital Painters software, Emily used the device to “paint” her designs. It is available for free download. Go here to access it for free.

Acknowledgements

• MarJo-Media

• Splat Family Art Studio

• Living Unlimited

• The Cornerstone Agency