Rehabilitation counselors work with the clients family, friends, and employer to increase employment opportunities by means of their roles as counselor, coordinator, and consultant. Increasing employment opportunities often includes purchasing and learning to use assistive technology devices, equipment modification, improving accessibility, etc. The objective of this research is to examine knowledge and experience of OVR counselors in a common area of assistive technology: wheeled mobility device. A survey, given to public rehabilitation counselors in Pennsylvania, obtained information about counselors caseloads, their knowledge of wheeled mobility and their use of good evaluation and selection strategies. This study shows that counselors with in-depth knowledge of AT devices seem more likely to: (1) support their clients in making informed choices about their technology needs, (2) consider the relationship between wheelchair features and job demands, and (3) listen to their clients opinion. Further study is needed on the relationship between OVR counselors knowledge about AT devices and factors that influence recommending or purchasing wheeled mobility devices.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-05022005-175852 |
| Date | 16 May 2005 |
| Creators | Enyenihi, Akon |
| Contributors | Michael Pramuka, Mary Ellen Buning, Michael McCue |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-05022005-175852/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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