Introdução: Os sistemas de adequação postural ou as adaptações em cadeiras de rodas proporcionam ao seu usuário o controle postural necessário para a realização de atividades cotidianas, manutenção da independência e interação com o ambiente. Alem disso, evitam complicações respiratórias e o surgimento de deformidades nos indivíduos. A indicação do melhor sistema de adequação postural é uma das tarefas mais desafiadoras aos profissionais de saúde especializados na sua prescrição pois pode ser difícil avaliar quais componentes melhor atendem às necessidades de um indivíduo. Dessa forma, observa-se a preocupação com o desenvolvimento de evidências nessa área, e, portanto, a coleta de informações sobre prescrição de cadeiras de rodas e dos seus componentes de adequação postural são essenciais para a construção de séries históricas, avaliação de seu uso e possibilidade de novas ações e políticas nesse sentido. Objetivo: Caracterizar e quantificar as adaptações em cadeiras de rodas prescritas e dispensadas por um serviço de terapia ocupacional de hospital ortopédico especializado em relação as necessidades oriundas dos diagnósticos atendidos, dos anos 2005 a 2013. Métodos: Estudo observacional descritivo transversal e retrospectivo, realizado no serviço de terapia ocupacional do Instituto de Ortopedia e Traumatologia do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, a partir dos prontuários de todos os indivíduos usuários de cadeiras de rodas, atendidos pelo grupo de prescrição de cadeiras de rodas e sistemas de adequação postural do campo de estudo. Foram coletadas informações sociodemográficas (gênero e idade), diagnóstico, recebimento ou não de cadeira de rodas nova, recebimento ou não de adaptações em cadeiras de rodas e as adaptações prescritas. Resultados: Um total de 1480 prontuários de usuários foram investigados, a maioria do sexo masculino (62,1%) e a idade média da amostra foi de 24,1 anos (DP = 17,2). Destes, (30,9%) apresentava o diagnóstico de paralisia cerebral, seguido pela lesão medular (22,6%), distrofia muscular de Duchenne (13,8%), amputação decorrentes de traumas e outras patologias (8,3%) e mielomeningocele (4,2%). Dos 1480 usuários, 69,3% receberam CR novas e ainda 30,7% já possuíam CR doadas por outros serviços e/ou compradas pelo próprio paciente. Quase todas as cadeiras necessitaram de adaptações em sua estrutura (96,1%). Apenas 57 cadeiras de rodas (3,9%) não necessitaram de um SAP conjunto. A adaptação mais frequente é o cinto pélvico (96,1%), seguida do assento e encosto de base rígida (95,1% e 94,5% respectivamente). Conclusões: Nota-se que a amostra estudada necessitou de muitos itens de adequação postural junto de suas cadeiras de rodas. Apesar da grande demanda por esses recursos de tecnologia assistiva, as investigações nessa área são escassas. Diante disso, a investigação proposta por este estudo produziu importantes evidências para a prática clínica de terapeutas ocupacionais que atuam na prescrição de cadeiras de rodas e de sistemas de adequação postural para pessoas com deficiência, apresentando dados que contribuem para uma melhor indicação desses equipamentos / Introduction: The positioning system or adaptations in wheelchair provide the user with the postural control necessary for daily activities, the maintenance of independence, and interaction with the environment. In addition, they avoid respiratory complications and the appearance of deformities in individuals. Indicating the best positioning system is one of the most challenging tasks for healthcare professionals specializing in its prescription because it can be difficult to assess which components best meet the needs of an individual. Thus, we are concerned with the development of evidence in this area, and therefore the collection of information about wheelchair prescription and its components of postural adequacy are essential for the construction of historical series, evaluation of their use, and the possibility of new actions and policies in this regard. Objective: To characterize and quantify wheelchair adaptations prescribed and dispensed by an occupational therapy service of a specialized orthopedic hospital in relation to the needs arising from the diagnoses attended from 2005 to 2013. Methods: A cross-sectional and retrospective descriptive observational study performed at the Occupational Therapy Service of the Orthopedics and Traumatology Institute of the Clinics Hospital of the Medical School of the University of São Paulo using the patient records of all wheelchair users, attended by the wheelchair prescription group and positioning system of the field of study. Were collected sociodemographic information (gender and age), diagnosis, whether a new wheelchair was received, whether wheelchair adaptations were received, and the adaptations prescribed. Results: A total of 1480 patient records were investigated, the majority of which were male (62.1%); the mean age of the sample was 24.1 years (SD = 17.2). Of these, 30.9% had a diagnosis of cerebral palsy, followed by spinal cord injury (22.6%), Duchenne muscular dystrophy (13.8%), amputation due to trauma and other pathologies (8.3%). and myelomeningocele (4.2%). Of the 1480 users, 69.3% received a new wheelchair and 30.7% already had one donated by other services and / or purchased by the patient. Almost all the chairs needed adaptations in their structure (96.1%), and only 57 wheelchairs (3.9%) did not require any. The most frequent adaptation was the pelvic belt (96.1%), followed by the rigid base seat, and backrest (95.1% and 94.5%, respectively). Conclusions: It is noted that the sample studied required many positioning items for their wheelchairs. Despite the high demand for these assistive technological resources, research in this area is scarce. Therefore, the research proposed by this study has produced important evidences for the clinical practice of occupational therapists that act on the prescription of wheelchairs and systems of postural adequacy for people with disabilities, presenting data that contribute to a better indication of these equipment\'s

A pesquisa coloca em questão a utilização de recursos tecnológicos, também denominados Tecnologia Assistiva ou Tecnologia de Assistência, no trabalho do terapeuta ocupacional com crianças com deficiência. Tem como objetivo compreender o cotidiano dessas crianças, caracterizando as atividades por elas realizadas no contexto sociocultural em que estão inseridas, e investigar como utilizam os recursos tecnológicos. Apresenta o conceito de cotidiano, entendido como o lugar de confronto entre a natureza e a cultura, o individual e o genérico, o panorama social da deficiência na infância e seu impacto na estruturação das atividades cotidianas. Relaciona os conceitos e as concepções de recursos tecnológicos e as práticas do terapeuta ocupacional, partindo do pressuposto de que o processo de utilização destes recursos é multidimensional e envolve fatores biomecânicos, funcionais, afetivos, subjetivos, éticos e políticos. A pesquisa foi realizada com crianças atendidas em uma Unidade Básica de Saúde localizada na periferia da zona oeste do Município de São Paulo. Fundamentada na metodologia de pesquisa qualitativa, analisou dois principais temas -- atividades cotidianas e recursos tecnológicos --, investigados em duas etapas. Na primeira etapa, 22 crianças, com idade entre 0 a 14 anos, cadastradas no serviço de saúde, foram caracterizadas mediante estudo de seus prontuários e visita domiciliar para aplicação de um formulário respondido pelos cuidadores. O formulário continha questões sobre histórico da deficiência, composição e renda familiar, tratamentos de reabilitação realizados, escolas frequentadas e atividades que compõem o cotidiano da criança. Além disso, foram escolhidas algumas atividades (posicionamento em casa, transferências, locomoção, alimentação, higiene bucal, higiene, banho, uso do banheiro, vestuário, brincar e comunicação) a serem investigadas quanto à utilização de recursos tecnológicos, a frequência de uso e a fonte de obtenção desses recursos e o tipo de ajuda recebida pela criança na execução da atividade. Na segunda etapa, foram escolhidas cinco crianças do grupo inicialmente caracterizado para observação das atividades cotidianas e realização de entrevista semiestruturada com os cuidadores principais. O roteiro de entrevista considerou a percepção dos cuidadores sobre as atividades da criança, as dificuldades e a necessidade de auxílio em função da deficiência, além da função dos recursos tecnológicos. Foi feito um registro fotográfico dos recursos utilizados pelas crianças. Verificou-se que as atividades realizadas se organizam em função do tempo, dos espaços, dos modos de agir da criança e de seus cuidadores, das relações familiares e sociais estabelecidas, bem como da possibilidade de acesso a serviços nas áreas de Saúde, Educação e Cultura. As crianças utilizavam recursos tecnológicos em atividades executadas em seus domicílios, escolas e outros ambientes, o que em alguns casos favoreceu a vivência nos domínios típicos do cotidiano. A existência do recurso não garantiu sua utilização e a falta de recursos para algumas atividades interferiram no desenvolvimento, na aprendizagem e na participação das crianças. Muitas características do cotidiano descritas na literatura puderam ser identificadas como fatores que influenciam no modo como os recursos são ou não utilizados, como a espontaneidade, o pragmatismo e o economicismo. Os recursos para locomoção são os mais especializados e mais frequentemente usados e foram adquiridos com subsídios públicos. A maioria dos recursos usados em outras atividades, como alimentação, vestuário e uso do banheiro, não são especializados, tendo sido implementados a partir de soluções encontradas pelas próprias famílias, que adaptaram seus modos de agir e os utensílios disponíveis no ambiente. Os dados obtidos confirmaram os pressupostos da pesquisa e servem de base para fundamentar a prática do terapeuta ocupacional, valorizando uma abordagem que considera as diferentes dimensões envolvidas na utilização dos recursos, vividas no cotidiano da criança, para que possam ser reais instrumentos de aquisição de autonomia e independência, e também facilitadores de sua inclusão social. / The research calls into question the use of technological resources, also known as Assistive Technology or Technology Service, in the work of the occupational therapist with children with disabilities. The study also aims to understand the daily lives of these children, describing the activities performed on the sociocultural context in which they operate, and investigate how to utilize technological resources. It introduces the concept of everyday life, understood as the place of confrontation between nature and culture, individual and generic, the social landscape of childhood disability and its impact on the structuring of daily activities. It also relates the concepts and principles of technological resources and practices of occupational therapists, on the assumption that the process of use of that resources is multidimensional, involving biomechanical, functional, emotional, subjective, political and ethical factors. The survey was conducted with children attended by a primary care unit located on the western outskirts of São Paulo. Grounded in qualitative research methodology, it examined two main themes -- daily activities and technological resources --, investigated in two stages. In the first stage, 22 children, aged 0-14 years, enrolled in the health service, were characterized by the study of their medical records and home visits for the application of a form completed by the caregivers. The form contained questions about history of disability, family composition and income, rehabilitation treatments performed, schools attended and activities that comprise the everyday life of the child. In addition, some activities were chosen (placement at home, transfers, locomotion, feeding, oral hygiene, hygiene, bathing, using the bathroom, dressing, playing and communication) to be investigated in terms of the use of technological resources, the frequency of use and the source for obtaining the resource and the type of aid received by the child in the execution of the activity. In the second stage, five children were chosen from the group formerly described for observation of their daily activities and conduction of semi-structured interviews with primary care providers. The interview considered the caregivers perception about the child\'s activities, the difficulties and the need of assistance due to the disability, as well as the role of the technological resources. A photographic record of the resources used by children has been provided. It was found that the activities are organized according to time, space, modes of action adopted by children and by their caregivers, established family and social relationships and the possibility of accessing services in the areas of Health, Education and Culture. Children used technology resources in activities performed at their homes, schools and other surroundings, which in some cases favored the typical experience in the scope of daily life. The existence of the resource did not ensure its usage and the lack of resources for some activities affected the development, the learning and the participation of the children. Many features of daily life described in the literature could be identified as factors that influence on the way the resources are used or not, such as spontaneity, pragmatism and economicism. Technological resources for transportation are the most specialized and most frequently used ones and were acquired by means of public funds. Most of the resources used in other activities, such as feeding, dressing, using the bathroom, are not specialized and were provided out of solutions designed by the families themselves, who adapted their modes of action and the tools available at their domain. The obtained data confirm the assumptions of the research and serve as a basis to justify the practice of occupational therapists, emphasizing an approach that considers the different dimensions involved in the use of resources, experienced on the daily living of the child so that they can be real instruments that foster autonomy and independence, and also facilitators of their social inclusion.

Introdução: A osteoartrite é uma doença incapacitante que pode afetar de 6% a 12% da população adulta e mais de um terço das pessoas com mais de 65 anos de idade. Objetivo: Verificar o efeito funcional e analgésico de técnicas como orientações de proteção articular e conservação de energia, tecnologia assistiva (órteses e adaptações) e exercícios no tratamento de pacientes com osteoartrite das mãos, quando comparados a um grupo que recebeu apenas as orientações de proteção articular e conservação de energia. Métodos: Estudo retrospectivo e experimental de caso controle não randomizado. Orientações de proteção articular e conservação de energia foram organizadas em 8 grupos diferentes, com aulas teóricas e práticas. Os participantes foram acompanhados por dois anos, avaliados com os questionários Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH), Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), força de preensão palmar mensurada com dinamômetro Jamar, força de pinça chave, força de pinça trípode e força de pinça da polpa a polpa mensurada com o dinamômetro B & L Pinch-gauge. Os grupos foram divididos entre 1 e 2, o grupo 1 foi composto por pacientes que realizaram apenas as orientações das aulas teóricas e práticas, enquanto o grupo 2, além das orientações, recebeu órteses com modelos órtese de posicionamento de punho e dedos volar, abdutores curtos de polegar e dedeiras de apoio volar para uso noturno, visando o alívio da dor, a estabilização das articulações afetadas e a prevenção do surgimento/agravamento de deformidades. Este estudo foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética da Faculdade de Medicina sob o número 1.816.207 e foi submetido ao Clinical Trials com o número de identificação NTC03173989. Resultados: Após a aplicação dos questionários observamos que os pacientes apresentaram os seguintes valores, em média, respectivamente nos três momentos de avaliação (inicial/ 1 ano/ 2 anos): HAQ, DASH (sem diferenças entre os momentos de avaliação em ambos os grupos), força preensão manual direita/esquerda (22,4/ 22,0/ 22,8 kg) / (22,3/ 17,/ 20,6 kg), força de pinça bipolpar direita/esquerda (4,2/ 4,0/ 4,5 kg) / (3,9/ 3,6/ 4,2 kg), força de pinça chave direita/ esquerda(6,5/ 5,7/ 6,5 kg) / (6,0/ 5,6/ 6,4 kg) e força de pinça trípode direita/ esquerda (5,5/4,2/ 5,1 kg) / (5,2/ 3,9/ 5,0). Nota-se uma diminuição da força do primeiro para o segundo momento que coincide com o uso das órteses e uma melhora do segundo para o terceiro momento que coincide com a realização dos exercícios, com discreto aumento em relação a algumas avaliações iniciais. Não houve diferença entre momentos no grupo em que a intervenção foi apenas a proteção articular e em ambos os grupos para os questionários de avaliação funcional. Conclusão: Na comparação entre os momentos de avaliação em cada grupo isoladamente, há uma diminuição na força do primeiro para o segundo momento, que coincide com o uso das órteses, do segundo para o terceiro momento há uma melhora da força que coincide com a realização de exercícios. O uso de órteses juntamente com a realização de exercícios aparenta ser um tratamento mais efetivo, ao menos para manutenção da força (manter) sem dor, sem diminuição da capacidade funcional. A proteção articular aparenta ser mais efetiva como tratamento preventivo / Introduction: Osteoarthritis is a disabling disease that can affect 6% to 12% of the adult population and more than a third of people over 65 years of age. Objective: To verify the functional and analgesic effect of joint protection and fatigue management techniques, assistive technology (orthoses and adaptations) and exercises in the treatment of patients with osteoarthritis of the hands, when compared to the group that received only the joint protection and fatigue management guidelines. Methods: Retrospective and experimental study of a non-randomized control case. The guideline classes were organized in 8 different groups with theoretical and practical classes. Participants will be followed up for two years, evaluated with the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand questionnaire (DASH), Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), palmar grip strength measured with Jamar dynamometer, key pinch strength, three-point pinch strength and pulp pinch strength measured with B & L Pinch-gauge dynamometer. The groups will be divided between 1 and 2, the group 1 will be composed of patients who will only perform the orientations informed in the theoretical and practical classes, while the group 2, besides the orientations will receive orthoses with models such as volar hand rest splints, short thumb stabilization splints, and volar finger splints with nocturnal support, aiming at the relief of the pain, stabilization of the affected joints and the prevention of the appearance/aggravation of deformities. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine under the number 1,816,207 and was submitted to Clinical Trials with the identification number NTC03173989. Results: After the application of the questionnaires, we observed that the patients presented the following values, in average, at the three evaluation moments (initial / 1 year / 2 years): HAQ, DASH (no difference between the moments of evaluation in both groups), right / left hand grip strength (22.4 / 22.0 / 22.8 kg) / (22.3 / 17, / 20.6 kg), right / left bipolar pinch (4.2 / 4.0 / 4.5 kg) / (3.9 / 3.6 / 4.2 kg), right / left key pinch (6.5 / 5.7 / 6.5 kg) / (6.0 / 5 , 6 / 6.4 kg) and right / left tripod pinch (5.5 / 4.2 / 5.1 kg) / (5.2 / 3.9 / 5.0). A decrease in the strength of the first to the second moment coincides with the use of the orthoses and an improvement from the second to the third moment that coincides with the performance of the exercises, with a slight increase in relation to some initial evaluations. There was no difference between moments in the group where the intervention was only the joint protection and in both groups for the functional evaluation questionnaires. Conclusion: In the comparison between the moments of evaluation in each group alone, there is a decrease in the force from the first to the second moment, which coincides with the use of the orthoses, from the second to the third moment there is an improvement of the force which coincides with the performance of exercises. The use of orthotics along with performing exercises appears to be a more effective treatment, at least for maintenance of strength (maintain) without pain, without decrease in functional capacity, in addition, joint protection appears to be more effective as preventive treatment

Cette contribution, qui s’inscrit dans le cadre d’une recherche-action menée sur différents terrains d’enquête, se propose, dans une perspective comparative, d’examiner les caractéristiques et l’apport de dispositifs ou de programmes de soutien et d’entraide mis en œuvre par des communautés locales africaines afin de prendre en charge de jeunes enfants victimes de sévices graves, livrés à eux-mêmes et en proie à la vulnérabilité ou à la maltraitance. Trois pays, en développement ou émergents, servent ici de support à l’argumentation : le Botswana, confronté au sida, à la famine et à la sècheresse ; le Liberia, meurtri par la guerre civile et son cortège de violences ; le Maroc, enfin, avec – en arrière-plan – la problématique de la pauvreté et l’évolution du statut de la femme. L’approche privilégiée, de type qualitatif, se situe au carrefour de la psychologie sociale et de la sociologie des représentations et des identités, la méthodologie retenue reposant sur une analyse classique en termes de forces et de faiblesses, d’opportunités et de blocages. Les relations de partenariat sont également à l’honneur, ainsi que le processus de mobilisation des ressources et les mécanismes de résilience. / This contribution, which is part of a research-action carried out on different fields of investigation, proposes, in a comparative perspective, to examine the characteristics and the contribution of devices or programs of support and self-help implemented by African local communities to care for children who are victims of severe trauma, including orphaned, abuse and poverty, who are left to their own capabilities or who are vulnerable to maltreatment.Three countries, developing or emerging, serve as support for this argument: Botswana, facing deaths from AIDS and famine and drought; Liberia, bruised by civil war and its continued violence; Morocco, finally, with - in the background - the problem of precarity and the evolution of the status of women.Our approach, both quantitative and qualitative, is at the crossroads of social psychology and the sociology of representations and identities. The chosen methodology is based on a classical analysis in terms of strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and blockages. Partnership relationships are also honored, as is the resource mobilization process, and resilience mechanisms.

Changes in the gait characteristics, such as walking speed and stride length, of a person living at home can be used to presage cognitive decline, predict fall potential, monitor long-term changes in cognitive impairment, test drug regimens, and more. This thesis presents a novel approach to gait analysis in a smart-home environment by leveraging new advances in inexpensive sensors and embedded systems to create novel solutions for in-home gait analysis. Using a simple, non-invasive hardware system consisting entirely of wall-mounted infrared and radio frequency sensor arrays, data is collected on the gait of subjects as they pass by. This data is then analyzed and sent to a clinician for further study. The system is non-invasive in that it does not use cameras and could be built into the molding of a home so that it would be nearly invisible. In a finished prototype version, the system presented in this thesis could be used to analyze the gait characteristics of one or more subjects living in a home environment while ignoring the data of visitors and other non-subject cohabitants. The ability to constantly collect data from a home environment could provide thousands of observations per year for clinical analysis. Providing such a robust data set may allow people with gait impairment to live at home longer and more safely before transitioning to a care facility, have a reduced fall risk due to better prediction, and live a healthier life in old age.

O presente estudo objetivou caracterizar e analisar o acesso às Órteses, Próteses e Meios Auxiliares de Locomoção (OPM) no Sistema Único de Saúde de uma microrregião de saúde do município de São Paulo - SP. Trata-se de um estudo de abordagem quantitativa e qualitativa, acontecendo em duas etapas. Uma primeira de desenho metodológico transversal, retrospectivo e exploratório com dados de prontuários de usuários que tiveram OPM prescrita para um Centro Especializado em Reabilitação (CER) no período de janeiro de 2015 a dezembro de 2017. Uma segunda de abordagem qualitativa por meio de grupos de discussão com profissionais e gestores de serviços da atenção básica e especializada do território para a constituição de um Fluxograma Analisador para a concessão de OPM e por meio de entrevistas não diretivas com usuários de OPM indicados por profissionais da atenção básica para a constituição de Itinerários Terapêuticos. Com distribuição não normal dos quantitativos, foi utilizado o teste Kruskal-Wallis para análise da diferença entre as medianas, sendo considerado estatisticamente significativo um p <= 0,05. Técnicas de Fluxograma Analisador e de Análise de Conteúdo foram utilizadas para análises dos dados qualitativos. Na análise de 729 prontuários, houve uma predominância da filantropia no processo para concessão de OPM, sendo que 51,9% dos dispositivos foram dispensados pela instituição filantrópica conveniada. Porém, isto vem diminuindo, sendo que em 2017, 74,9% dos dispositivos solicitados foram dispensados pelo próprio CER. Não se observou um incremento no número de dispositivos dispensados no período, mas redução do tempo de dispensação com significância estatística e o CER levou em média 4,3 para dispensar dispositivos. Observa-se um fluxo pactuado entre os profissionais e serviços para concessão de OPM com algumas lacunas apontadas por profissionais e usuários na comunicação entre CER e atenção básica sobre recebimento do dispositivo pelos usuários e a respeito dos fluxos de reparos e manutenção. Conclui-se que há ainda predominância da filantropia no processo para fornecimento de OPM. Observou-se redução do tempo de dispensação de dispositivos, mas não acompanhado de aumento no acesso a eles no período e região estudados. Nota-se também um fluxo pactuado entre profissionais e serviços, porém com ausência de um fluxo de reparo e manutenção de OPM no território / The present study aimed to characterize and to analyze the access to Orthosis, Prosthesis and other Mobility Aids (OPM) in the Unified Health System of a micro region of health of São Paulo city. It is a study with quantitative and qualitative approach, which happened in two steps. The first cross-sectional, retrospective and exploratory with data of medical records of OPM users who had OPM prescribed to a Specialized Center in Rehabilitation (CER) in the period from January 2015 until December 2017. A second of qualitative approach by means of discussion groups with professionals and managers of primary care and secondary specialized care services of territory to the constitution of Analyzer Flowchart to the OPM grant and by means of non-directive interviews with OPM users who were indicated by primary care professionals to the constitution of Therapeutic Itineraries. With a non-normal distribution of quantitative data, the Kruskal-Wallis test to analyze of difference between the medians was used, being considered statistically significant p <= 0.05. Techniques of Analyzer Flowchart and Content Analyze were used to qualitative data analysis. In the analyze of 729 medical records, there was predominance of philanthropy in the process to OPM grant, being that 51.9% of devices were dispensed by agreed philanthropic institution. However, this has decreasing, being that in 2017, 74.9% of requested were dispensed by CER itself. It was not observed an increase in the number of dispensed devices in the period, but decrease of dispensation time with statistical significance, and the CER took in average 4.3 months to dispense devices. It is observed a flow agreed between the professionals and users to OPM grant with some gaps pointed by professional and users in the communication between CER and primary care about receipt of device by users and with respect the flows of repair and maintenance. It is conclude that there was decrease in the dispensation time of devices, but not accompanied of increase in the access to them in the period and region studied. It is also noted a flow agreed between professional and services, but with no a flow of repair and maintenance of OPM in the territory

In a home environment, there are many tasks that a human may need to accomplish. These activities, which range from picking up a telephone to clearing rooms in the house, all have the common trend of fetching. These tasks can only be completed correctly with the consideration of many things including an understanding of what the human wants, recognition of the correct item from the environment, and manipulation and grasping of the object of interest. The focus of this work is on addressing one aspect of this problem, decomposing an image scene such that a task-specific object of interest can be identified. In this work, communication between human and robot is represented using a feedback formalism. This involves the back-and-forth transfer of textual information between the human and the robot such that the robot receives all information necessary to recognize the task-specific object of interest. We name this new communication mechanism Interactive Text Response (ITR), which we believe will provide a novel contribution to the field of Human Robot Interaction. The methodology employed involves capturing a view of the scene that contains an object of interest. Then, the robot makes inquiries based on its current understanding of the scene to disambiguate between objects in the scene. In this work, we discuss development of ITR in human-robot interaction, and understanding of variability, ease of recognition, clutter, and workload needed to develop an interactive robot system.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, 2009. / Title from screen (viewed on January 13, 2010). School of Nursing, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Marsha L. Ellet, Rebecca S. Sloan, Lynne A. Sturm, Melinda M. Swenson. Includes vitae. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-123).

Across grade levels, students with learning disabilities (LD) experience challenges with aspects of their academic learning in terms of reading and writing. In many cases, these challenges can be addressed by utilizing assistive technology (AT) applications as a potential solution. According to the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 2004, AT should be "considered" in the development of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) to meet the requirement of providing a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) and to assist students in accessing the general education curriculum. The law requires IEP teams to consider AT to determine whether AT devices and services are necessary; therefore, IEP team members play an important role for considering AT and how AT should be specified in the IEP (Golden, 1998). The IEP team members include school administrators, teachers, and professionals who are responsible for developing, reviewing, and revising the IEP for students with disabilities. Thus, the IEP team members should have essential knowledge to inform AT decisionmaking (Bowser, 2003). The Technology and Media Division (TAM) of the Council of Exceptional Children (CEC) lists standards and teacher competencies regarding knowledge and skills of AT for practitioners and related professionals to follow. The standards include obtaining knowledge about AT legal foundations, students' characteristics, instructional content, technology applications, and related services for providing technology. In order to know whether IEP team members possess knowledge for considering AT for students with LD, the purpose of this study was to examine IEP team members' knowledge regarding characteristics of students with LD, AT legislation, AT devices, and AT services for considering assistive technology in the IEP development for 3rd grade to 5th grade students who have been identified as having learning disabilities in reading and writing. Participants (N=1050) including school administrators, general education teachers, special education teachers, diagnosticians, and speech/language pathologists from three school districts in a southern state were surveyed. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to analyze the data. The results showed that participants were somewhat knowledgeable about the characteristics of students with LD, AT legislation, AT devices, and AT services when considering AT in the IEP development. Training in terms of quality and quantity was suggested by researchers to provide IEP team members who are serving students with LD better preparing for considering AT in the IEP team meetings. Future research should focus on conducting a similar study with different IEP team members and with different disability groups rather than just learning disability.

M. Tech. Professional practice in Information Technology / Students with disabilities in South African higher institutions are facing debilitating quandaries, including physical, emotional and physiological degradation. As a result, empowering students with disabilities in South Africa to realize their self-esteem, as well as to enhance their skills and employability, represents an interesting and challenging task to South African government, industry, interest groups and individuals worldwide. The purpose of this research was to determine the impact of Assistive Technology on disabilities students studying at South African Higher Institutions, from a student's perspective.