The blind have seeing-eye dogs, and soon, the quadriplegic and similarly impaired may be assisted by
helping hand monkeys:
Monkeys learn how to help people with simple everyday activities such as opening and setting up a drink of water, providing food, picking up a dropped or out-of-reach object, or turning the pages of a book. Monkeys use their small, dexterous hands to do many kinds of specialized tasks.
A laser pointer directed by mouth control enables a quadriplegic or movement-impaired person to communicate his or her specific needs.
The Helping Hands programme is currently running on a small scale in Boston, though if it takes off, perhaps we will see monkeys helping the disabled everywhere.