This mixed methods study examined assistive technology and its role in the world early writers. It investigated the function of word predictive and speech synthesis software in the early primary, mainstream classroom. A technology based writing intervention with 27 first grade students was carried out to assess how the use of Co:writer software affected the content of student writing. It looked at how the length of the writing sample, word use and sentence complexity was affected by this writing intervention. It also investigated how students interacted with the software and how they felt about its effect on their writing. The hypothesis was that the use of assistive technology while writing would aid students in creating more sophisticated, content rich writing samples and give students a positive feeling about their writing. Using a pre-post design, participant writing samples were analyzed for length, word use and sentence complexity. Targeted interviews and field notes revealed how students interacted with the software and how they felt about its effect on their writing. The data shows that within this study participants improved the length, and sentence complexity in their written samples. Qualitatively participants reported that the software helped to improve their vocabulary, length of writing sample, spelling, reading and editing. This study lays groundwork for more research into the use of assistive writing technology in early mainstream participants. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2011-04-24 02:12:01.196

The number of elderly people around the world is growing rapidly. This has led to an increase in the number of people who are seeking assistance and adequate service either at home or in long-term- care institutions to successfully accomplish their daily activities. Responding to these needs has been a burden to the health care system in terms of labour and associated costs and has motivated research in developing alternative services using new technologies. Various intelligent, and non-intelligent, machines and robots have been developed to meet the needs of elderly and people with upper limb disabilities or dysfunctions in gaining independence in eating, which is one of the most frequent and time-consuming everyday tasks. However, in almost all cases, the proposed systems are designed only for the personal use of one individual and little effort to design a multiple-user feeding robot has been previously made. The feeding requirements of elderly in environments such as senior homes, where many elderly residents dine together at least three times per day, have not been extensively researched before. The aim of this research was to develop a machine to feed multiple elderly people based on their characteristics and feeding needs, as determined through observations at a nursing home. Observations of the elderly during meal times have revealed that almost 40% of the population was totally dependent on nurses or caregivers to be fed. Most of those remaining, suffered from hand tremors, joint pain or lack of hand muscle strength, which made utensil manipulation and coordination very difficult and the eating process both messy and lengthy. In addition, more than 43% of the elderly were very slow in eating because of chewing and swallowing problems and most of the rest were slow in scooping and directing utensils toward their mouths. Consequently, one nurse could only respond to a maximum of two diners simultaneously. In order to manage the needs of all elderly diners, they required the assistance of additional staff members. The limited time allocated for each meal and the daily progression of the seniors??? disabilities also made mealtime very challenging. Based on the caregivers??? opinion, many of the elderly in such environments can benefit from a machine capable of feeding multiple users simultaneously. Since eating is a slow procedure, the idle state of the robot during one user???s chewing and swallowing time can be allotted for feeding another person who is sitting at the same table. The observations and studies have resulted in the design of a food tray, and selection of an appropriate robot and applicable user interface. The proposed system uses a 6-DOF serial articulated robot in the center of a four-seat table along with a specifically designed food tray to feed one to four people. It employs a vision interface for food detection and recognition. Building the dynamic equations of the robotic system and simulation of the system were used to verify its dynamic behaviour before any prototyping and real-time testing.

The manual wheelchair (MWC) and power wheelchair (PWC) each present advantages and disadvantages to participation and occupational performance. Consequently, some individuals choose to use both devices, depending upon the activity. A pushrim-activated, power-assisted wheelchair (PPW) may provide an alternative to the PWC for these users. This study utilized a two-phase, mixed methods design, comparing the performance and satisfaction of wheelchair users carrying out self-selected activities with their current PWC and with a PPW. There was no statistically significant difference in outcome measures between the PWC and PPW; however, many participants reported a preference for the PWC. Less accessible environments, particularly when transporting a wheelchair, were identified as opportunities for PPW use. Rather than replacing the PWC for all of their identified activities, participants indicated the PPW improved upon the MWC. As a result, participants expressed a willingness to try more (and new) activities, including some previously performed with the PWC.

This dissertation addresses issues related to teaching and learning middle-school mathematical graphing concepts and provides an in-depth analysis on the impact of introducing a new assistive technology in a visually impaired classroom. The motivation, design, implementation, and deployment of the Graph and Number line Input and Exploration (GNIE) software, an auditory graphing tool that enables students with visual impairment to navigate and interact with a coordinate plane or number line graph is presented. Results include a discussion about how a computer-based auditory graphing software can be a beneficial supplement to aiding teachers and students with vision impairment with middle-school based graphing principles. This work also demonstrates that auditory graphing software support collaboration between students of different levels of vision loss and that bone-conduction headphones can be used with software to perform concurrent think aloud protocols without degradation of qualitative data.

The manual wheelchair (MWC) and power wheelchair (PWC) each present advantages and disadvantages to participation and occupational performance. Consequently, some individuals choose to use both devices, depending upon the activity. A pushrim-activated, power-assisted wheelchair (PPW) may provide an alternative to the PWC for these users. This study utilized a two-phase, mixed methods design, comparing the performance and satisfaction of wheelchair users carrying out self-selected activities with their current PWC and with a PPW. There was no statistically significant difference in outcome measures between the PWC and PPW; however, many participants reported a preference for the PWC. Less accessible environments, particularly when transporting a wheelchair, were identified as opportunities for PPW use. Rather than replacing the PWC for all of their identified activities, participants indicated the PPW improved upon the MWC. As a result, participants expressed a willingness to try more (and new) activities, including some previously performed with the PWC.

Body cleansing is an integral part of people's everyday life. Between five and seven percent of people over the age of 65 experience problems when using the bathroom. Some investigators have postulated that disability in older persons can further occur when there is a gap, mismatch, or poor fit between personal capabilities and environmental demands. Current bathing fixtures do not support people with limited ability, and so the current bathing environment perpetuates bathing disability. Furthermore, because assistive bathing technology is meant for one particular user, it can impede other users when they need to bathe. A consequence of this is that the assistive bathing technology could be abandoned. The purpose of this study is to design and evaluate a bathtub for body cleansing regardless of an individual's physical ability and allow for all stakeholders to use the tub within the same space.

Although benefits of assistive technology (AT) to people with disabilities are widely apparent, barriers, primarily funding, still inhibit access to needed AT. All agencies receiving federal funding are required to show no discrimination with regard to age, race, disability, and gender. This case study of a state run agency providing funding for AT to enable independent living among people with disabilities involved analyzing spending data from 2003 2008 to determine who used the fund, what was purchased, and whether it was equitably distributed according to age, ethnicity, gender, and population density. Additionally variables predictive of amount spent per person were also sought. Results indicated the fund was equitably distributed according to ethnicity and gender, but not age and population density. Age, gender, population density, and device type were found to have main effects with an interaction between device type and primary cause of disability in predicting the amount spent per person. (210 pages)

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For persons with disabilities, their impairments lead to many inconveniences in their daily life. Luckily, assistive technology devices can help compensate functional limitations and enable them to participate in the activities of daily life. In 2010, there were 126,693 disabilities in the Kaohsiung area. Subsidies provided by Kaohsiung city government and Kaohsiung county government reach respectively NT$39,145,000 and NT$ 25,489,000 in 2010. Nevertheless, such great amount of money invested does not work as it has been expected. There appear to remain a number of barriers. One such example would be that persons with disabilities lack the knowledge about assistive technology, so they do not know where to ask for help in the first place. On the other hand, lack of consideration for the needs of a person with disability result in them getting inappropriate assistive technology devices. These problems deserve the attention of government and related associations. This research aims to solve the problems between the supply and demand of assistive technology devices or services. It reviews and studies papers concerning the same issue in an attempt to create a new service platform. This platform is created according to information and suggestion gathered from experts of this field and voice from users of assistive devices. Their voices and assessments provide valuable direction to shape this new platform. This research assesses the possibility of this new assistive technology service platform from several aspects, including its political, legislative, supplying, and demanding dimensions. The purpose of this study is to reorganize diverse resources to provide a more convenient information-gathering method and to offer a complete service for disabilities people.

The purpose of this research was to develop a theoretical understanding of the influences on participation for individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) from a self-perceived perspective, with particular focus on the role of assistive technology (AT) in self-perceived participation. The theoretical underpinning, symbolic interactionism, was used to gain an understanding of the ways that adults with SCI ascribe meaning to the interaction between themselves and their unique environments in a process of participation. A grounded theory study of 19 adults with SCI was conducted. Participants engaged in individual in-depth interviews, used photovoice as a framework for taking photographs of aspects of their environment that promoted and restricted participation, and engaged in focus groups. The constructed grounded theory is summarized as follows: Negotiating the Body-environment Interface is a continuous process for those living with a SCI. Despite the relative stability of their changed body, they Live in a Changed World, one perceived differently after SCI. Four sets of strategies are used by individuals to interact within their unique environments: creating an accessible proximal environment; using AT and adaptations; advocating and educating; and gaining information and knowledge. Strategies were selected to engage in a Process of Participation, a process that consisted of a sense of inclusion, autonomy, accomplishment, and reciprocity. Intervening conditions were the physical (architectural, natural), socio-cultural (social supports, societal attitudes), and institutional (services, policies) environmental aspects that served as barriers or facilitators to the process of participation. The study has added to the growing body of literature on self-perceived participation that forefronts the sense of connectivity and engagement people feel within their environment. The findings highlighted how AT holds unique meaning, and how decisions around use of technology for participation is influenced by personal factors, and physical, socio-cultural, and institutional environments. A new definition of AT was constructed that acknowledges the environmental influences and importance of self-perceived participation as an outcome of AT use. This research highlights the instrumental role of the environment in supporting self-perceived participation of adults with SCI. Further research on developing ways to create inclusive and supportive environments for assistive technology users is warranted.