Tutorial Seven - Assistive Technology

This weeks tutorials were all about Assistive Technology and best of all, we had the opportunity to play with all the toys....afterall..... how else are we going to know whats available for our future clients hehe!

Assistive technology is, and will continue, to open up the world for so many persons who live with an illness or disability, allowing them to engage in occupations that are both stimulating and meaningful.

Assistive Technology is "Any item , piece of equipment or product system whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customised that is used to increase or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities" (Cook & Hussey, 2000).

So after playing with all the gadgets and gizmos I found a couple of pieces of equipment that I thought would help a gentleman, whom I met on my recent Fieldwork placement. This gentleman has Motor Neuron disease and has very limited upper limb movements and no movement in his lower extremities. He uses a litewrtier to communicate (a small computer on which he types words and they come up on a screen for you to read), but as his disease progresses, it is getting harder for him to move his arm to operate the litewriter. He also loves to play games but often cannot throw the dice.

The first piece of technology that I thought might appeal to him , is an Ergorest, which simply screws onto his electric wheelchair. He can rest his forearm on it and it swivels around very easily without having to hold his arm up. This way he would be able to move his arm to throw the dice or move his arm to use his litewriter. The Ergorest is very durable and well padded on the arm rest for comfort. It costs $290....so cheap for a bit of independence!

The second piece of technology I thought he might like, was a Smart Nav(igator). This allows a person who has little or no upper limb movement, to operate a computer by moving the curser with the movement of their head. Confused? The user wears a pair of lenless glasses and in the centre of the bridge is a little sensor/pointer. At the back of the computer screen, a little camera sits, which 'watches' the pointer on the glasses frame. The user moves their head using the pointer to move the curser. When the pointer sits on a spot for 3 seconds, it clicks to change the page. Pretty complicated, huh? To cut a long story short, the user can operate emails, internet banking ...in fact the whole internet. No additional software is needed (apparently) as Windows is geared for this system. The size of this gadgetry is as small as a webcam and a pair of sunglasses and is available at a modest $2Gs!

My client with Motor Neuron disease would have the opportunity of continuing his own business affairs, be able to communicate with his family and friends easily and enjoying having the world come to him, even in his own room :)

References:

Cook, A. M., & Hussey, S. M. (2000). Assistive technologies: principals and practice. California: Mosby.