Tutorial Eight - Assistive Technology

"Assistive technology is technology used by individuals with disabilities in order to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or impossible. Assistive technology can include mobility devices such as walkers and wheelchairs, as well as hardware, software, and peripherals that assist people with disabilities in accessing computers or other information technologies." (University of Washington, 2002). 

In my own words, assistive technology aids in engaging in occupations for people who are unable to. This definition covers a wide range of technology from computers, so simple play toys that aid in the cause and effect.

In a recent class I had, taken by Trev from Star Mobility, we were introduced to a wide range of products he sells in his stores. It covered a very wide range of disabilities and we were able to play with a see how these aid. 

A particular piece that was introduced was the switches, particularly soft switches. In my first placement I saw a lot of children with disabilities which could benefit from plugging these into their play computers to use instead of struggling with a small mouse.

I was a palm sized red circle which was soft an squeezable, and when squeezed, it was like a mouse clicker. The approximate price of these were around $170. Trev informed us that the prices of his products are high due to the low production of any of the assitive tech. Companies make less of products and therefore have to charger more to cover costs. 

These are great for stimulating occupational engagement because by squeezing it, there is an effect. Trev also introduced the cause and effect idea to us in the tutorial, explaining that if a patient sees the effect they make by squeezing the clicker, it will encourage them to continue to do so. It can then escalate from there by adding clickers and getting a patient to press of squeeze the right one and eventually this could turn into math equations or choosing the right colour/ animal etc. 

It can also be for simple communication such as 'yes' or 'no'.

I couldn't find any examples of using specific soft switch which was in class, but heres another type of switch which is beneficial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27ahjB3UXlg 

This is a baby, it obviously realizes that it gets a reaction from pressing the switch, which could be a big step for her. It could mean that later on in life she will not be as occupationally disrupted by her illness.

This next example is teaching how to adapt a toy, to be switch accessed. It great! but quite long.

References:

 

University of Washington. (2002) What is assistive technology. Retrieved from http://www.washington.edu/accessit/articles?109

Tutorial Seven - Linking of Blogs

I have began a list on the right hand side of my blog where I am linking blogs that I find very interesting relating to occupational therapy practice. There are also a couple of fellow classmates blogs which I have linked there (Tracey James and Vanessa).

Tutorial Six - The internet and online communities.

In my first fieldwork, the OT practice area that interested me was Autism. I previously posted videos about this in my tutorial five, so there should be an understanding of what Autism is. 
In this tutorial I am to find three online communities that relate to Autism. 

These three communities are:

Drive for Rebecca 
 http://www.drive4rebecca.org/?gclid=CJnOy9TU268CFUNMpgodRFSOBQ 

Autism Blog
http://knowledgeforpeople.blogspot.co.nz/

Autism Forum
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/default.asphttp://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/default.asp

 Drive for Rebecca is a website which is devoted to one girl called Rebecca who has Autism. It is Rebecca's father's "Relentless crusade to help his daughter and help change the world" Rebecca's father drove cross-country 2002 to raise money for their daughter and is an ongoing effort to raise funds for education, research and advocacy. And he did it again in 2011. There are links on this site helping others and especially a questions and answers page linked where 400+ families talk about special needs by giving their questions and answering other. There is also a handbook, free to download on this site, useful for parents. 

This site is the fathers seeking to help other parents who also have children with Autism and to make people aware, it is also to help raise money and there is the option to donate money. 

"Drive4Rebecca helps increase awareness of autism and asperger’s syndrome, raises funds for research and education, and helps parents become stronger advocates for their children with special needs"

Rebecca's father is experiencing occupational disruption to his life and by creating this community he has helped out parents who are in the same book, and well as contributing to research for cures and education.

Ethical issues may arise over if this site is authenticated, personally i would be reluctant to donate because I don't know exactly where my money is going. 
 


Autism Blog is a blog which I found called Knowledge for People- World Autism Education. This blog is very informative and updates on all the things this group of people is doing for Autism in underdeveloped countries. They tell of trips they go on to educate people all around the world.
This site relates to occupational deprivation, but in a positive way as it educates people about Autism and therefore allows people to get back into occupations informed of positives and negatives.
The information shared is one way, although there can be comments made on the blog postings, they may not reply?

'We are very excited to announce that we will be heading to the Maldives this summer to provide autism training and education to teachers, parents, doctors, and other professionals in Malé, Maldives. We will be hosted by the Maldives Autism Association (MAA) and are working closely with the teachers and staff. The MAA was founded by Madam Ilham Hussain in 2011 and they are working very hard to improve the quality of life for children with autism in the Maldives.'

I cannot see any ethical issues that arise with this blog, it is purely for people to see how people are contributing greatly to the education of Autism.

Autism Forum is a forum with many different sub headings to enter into, which discuss in depth the topics.A few key topics are : Autism and the Law, Autism Education Issues, Autism Diets, Studies and Surveys and many more. 
The intended purpose for the forum in education, to help people with someone who has Autism. The forums are specific and to the point. Any one can contribute, but I believe they have to register and there is also professionals who join the conversations to give professional opinions. 

People contribute to this community to help each other out and to know that they are not alone. 

This site seeks nothing in return but for the sharing of education.

There are very few ethical issues I could think of for this community, but possibly the fact that anyone CAN post, this means things could be said that offend others quite easily. There may be administrators to scan this though.  


This is obviously a very popular site judged on how many posts and topics there are (recorded on page). And with a forum section titled 'Alternative Autism treatments' I can also see how ethical issues may arise with this also.


I enjoyed reading some of the forums on this and if I was parent with an Autistic child, this would be my go-to to help me.

 

Tutorial Five - Video Production Session.

In my first fieldwork experience for Occupational Therapy I was introduced properly to the developmental disorder called Autism. I never really knew much about Autism before I went on placement other than it effecting behaviours. I knew that it was completely varied in each individual and I leanrt this is what they call the Autistic Spectrum Disorder, to suggest that there is a large spectrum to which a child can behave. I visited a young boy of 12 with this disorder and the next week was involved in a 3 day course revolving around this client, probelm sloving and discussing new interventions for him.

After this placement Autism became very interested in Autism.

The next five videos have been taken from Youtube to demonstrate the disorder and provide personal experiences.

This first video is a brief introduction to what Autism is and the 3 main areas that are affected:

Video two is the signs and syptoms of Autism.



I liked this third video because it lets you see that Autistic children can still participate fully in life and without being told, I would not have guessed the autistic child identified was any different from the rest. 

 

This forth video in an early detection test for autism.

My last video was one of the first videos I viewed when researching videos for this post. I had to put this on because its from the parents point of view, gives good stats... and I shead a small tear.



I hope you leanrt something from these videos and are more aware of Autism, especially from the last video about how it can affect someone.

When I become qualified I would love to work with Autistic children. 



Tutorial Four - Video Production, "Occupational Deprivation"

OCUUPATIONAL DEPRIVATION

In class we were set a task in groups to produce a short film of approximately 1 minute in length. My group consisted of Sally, Tracey, Abby and I. We chose one of three concepts to base the film around which was occupational deprivation.

Occupational deprivation is the 'influence of external circumstances that prevents a person from acquiring, using or enjoying an occupation" (Townsed, E., & Wilcock, A. 2004)

This is why we chose to do our film on the deprivation of a vertically challenged person (Myself) trying to use the facilities in our WINTEC student hub. We decided to also use someone on the other end of the scale (Ben) who was very tall. This was to compare the difficulties of a verticallilly challenged person to someone who can easily reach the cupboards in the kitchen facilities to make a cup of tea.

We began our film by story- boarding our ideas. We tested out different areas of WINTEC to see the places I could not reach. The film was not allowed any dialogue so in the story boarding we had to make sure in each scene go the overall message across. This was compensated by common facial expressions and gestures to identify what the actors were doing. For example Ben helps me I am greatful, therefore give him a handshake to symbolise a thank you. Tracey was on filming and during the story-boarding we made sure to map out each shot. We included close ups, zooming, panning, full shots and mid shots. Full shots were a good way to grasp the large height difference between Ben and myself and zooming was beneficial to see what the actors were doing in each shot.

Enjoy watching :)

References:

Townsend, E.,& Wilcock, A. (2004). Occupational justice and client centred prectoce: A dialogue in progress. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71(2), 75-87.