A portable computer apparatus for assisting a cognitively impaired person to perform tasks in the person's particular living environment is disclosed. The portable computer apparatus presents a plurality of first level virtual buttons on a display for selection by the person. Each first level virtual button corresponds to a different selectable domain or selection type. The first level virtual buttons are configured to correspond to the abilities and life needs of a particular person. When selected, a first level virtual button causes a category, sub-category, task, task element or content element to be presented. A hierarchical content structure, custom-tailored to the life needs and abilities of the particular cognitively impaired individual is provided. A means is provided, by an authoring facility hosted on a separate PC, to develop the user's content and download it to the portable computer apparatus.