Assistive Technology can be defined as “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, A.M., & Hussey, S.M. (2000). Assistive technologies: principles and practice. St Louis: Mosby
In Occupational Therapy practice, assistive technology is used greatly, as Occupational Therapists aim to help individuals recover, or manage or gain as much functional independence as possible.
A useful website for looking into some types of assistive technology, or to just have a browse is http://www.star-educational.co.nz/
We were fortunate enough to have two guest speakers in class this week, who work with assistive technology devices, and were able to educate us on some that they use. We were also able to have a go using a variety of assistive technology devices. There were different styled keyboards, such as one with larger keys (on the keyboard). There were recording devices, and buzzer like devices; which allow for people that don't have fine hand movement.
One that really interested me was the Tracker Pro. Tracker Pro is about $1000, and enables people with little or not hand movement to perform mouse functions. It is a hands free mouse, where the cursor control allows small movements of head (could also be fingers etc) when glancing around the computer screen without use of hands. There is a camera, which is put on top of computer screen, which traces a 0.3” dot reflective sticker. This sticker can be placed on your forehead, finger, hat, glasses etc, where the motion is tracked. If the sticker is on your head when you move it, Tracker Pro converts that into computer mouse movement. This means that someone who cannot move a mouse very well can use a computer with just small movements of their head. Clicking can also be accomplished by using assistive technology switches, or programming it so that you can keep your head (cursor) in the same place for 3 seconds, and it will ‘click’ eg. Open the file for you.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment