The promise of generic technology for young people with cognitive disabilities.

http://www.closingthegap.com/lib/pdf/2005/June-July05/Generic_Tech.pdf

The article above shared information regarding a five year study that was being done by the Assistive Technology Research and Development Collaborative (the AT Collaborative). At the time the article was written, the study was not yet completed, but the researchers wanted to report some of their preliminary findings. Additionally, the article mentioned other work that is currently being done by the AT Collaborative. According to the article, the AT collaborative addresses the needs of those with intellectual disabilities or traumatic brain injury and their purpose is to assist AT practitioners by providing the research evidence they need so that the practitioners can best serve their clients’ AT needs.

I chose the article because the research was done with a type of AT device that is used by people of all ages, in any setting, and by those with and without disabilities, an electronic organizer. This particular study was with young people from 8-22 years of age. The premise of the study was that young people are uncomfortable using devices that make them stand out in a crowd and that they would be more comfortable using generic AT devices. Electronic organizers became the focus of the study since they are considered “cool” by the general population and because they are relatively inexpensive due to the fact that they are used by all people, not just those with disabilities.

The subjects, who had intellectual disabilities or traumatic brain injury, used memory and organization techniques employing both paper-based appointment books and hand-held PDA’s. One of the preliminary findings shows an interesting trend in the data. It appears that the success of the technology used is somewhat dependent upon the skillfulness of the support person who is working with the person who has the disability. This finding has direct implications for those of us who work with people who have disabilities. Our knowledge of the people we work with and the AT devices we introduce to them and the skills we have developed as practitioners can make the difference between a client successfully being able to use the AT they have been given or them failing and giving up on the AT.

We discussed the problem of AT that has been abandoned at great length in our 6701 class. The preliminary data of this study presents one of the reasons this abandonment occurs. As future AT practitioners, we need to be aware of the need to train those people who support our clients.