Web Posted on: August 24, 1998
Development and Adaptions in Industrial Work
for People with Intellectual Disabilities
Susanne Barkvik and Pia Mårtensson
Vallbostrand Industri och Hantverk AB
Vargmötesvägen 3, S-186 30 Vallentuna, Sweden
Tel: 46-8-51170543, Fax: 46-8-51176196
Abstract:
A method to increase the opportunities for people with intellectual handicaps to be active in the total chain of production in industrial work, with help of new thechnology. An adapted stock/storage computer program and a special command panel make it possible to handle stock, orders and inventory in a new visual way.
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1. Introduction
Today there is a great need to develop competence in assistive technology for people with intellectual handicaps ,especially when considering devices which support the intellect. It is also important that this knowledge is disseminated to those who best need it.
This project is one of many that has received financial support from the Swedish Handicap Institute, Stockholm, Sweden in order to develop special competence within the field of new technology.
The model describes a method to introduce new technology to people with intellectual handicaps. An adapted stock/storage program and a special command panel make it possible to handle stock, orders and inventory for products in industrial work in a new visual way.
The method can also be used in other fields of activities that have a need for stock/storage functions.
The aim is to give intellectually handicapped people with other disabilities a larger choise of opportunities for work and also to develop and raise the quality of their work experience which in turn raises their level of independence, and provides a grasp on life.
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2. Background
The method has been developed at an Activity Center for intellectually handicapped people, where the focus is on work within the industrial field. Although the aim for the Center is, that all people involved should be able to participate in the total chain of production, some tasks were only performed by the supervising staff.
Those tasks were mainly connected with the stock and storage functions, which occur frequently as part of the daily work routine, and were handled manually.
To enable the intellectually handicapped people to handle these complex tasks as well, a visual stock/storage method was needed. Research showed that such a method did not exist.
Financial support from the Swedish Handicap Institute (Stockholm, Sweden) has made a two year project possible, (Sept. 96- Aug.98), in which two occupational therapists have developed such a method.
To be able to handle the stock/storage operations independently and with high levels of accuracy, new technology such as computers and faxes were chosen. It was also clear that the method had to be a visual one, and that pictures were a part of each step of the stock/storage operations so that the method would be usable for everybody. The command panel, Flexiboard, was chosen because it is easy to program and handle, and pictures and symbols can be used as command buttons, and the traditional keyboard with short commands, can be used in parallel.
A thorough analysis of all the steps in the production line has been made in order to obtain a clear picture of what skill levels are required (both comprehension and motor) to be able to perform the necessary work tasks. The analytical model being used for this, is taken from the material A Grasp on Life, (The Swedish Handicap Institute).
Twenty intellectually handicapped people work in the department where the new method has first been tried. None of them had any previous computer experience.
Evaluation material, also from A Grasp on Life, has been used for asking these people
Questions about their work tasks. All the compiled information, showed a great need for a new method and new working tools, such as computers, faxes, scanners, but also for adaptations in the working environment itself, with clearifying pictures in certain places and colour coded systems.
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3.The method
Flexilager is both a specially designed computer program and a method that enables intellectually handicapped people to handle stock and storage functions in a new visual way.
In connection with the command panel Flexiboard, complex stock/storage functions can be handled in a simplified and concrete way.
Picture, is the keyword in Flexilager. The program is based on pictures.
The method is meant to be visual and simple to follow for those who can not read or write.
The stock/storage status is represented on the computer screen both numerically and visually.
On the screen, stacks of numbered rectangles can be seen, each rectangle representing a carton of a product of some kind. One can clearly see when one performs an operation on the screen, if a numbered rectangle is added to the stack, or if it is deleted from the stack, i.e. if stock has been added to, or taken out from the actual storage room.
To increase the understandability even more, a color coded system is used to represent different phases of the stock/storage status operations.
One color, yellow, represents the goods (cartons) that are actually in stock at present, which means that. those rectangles in the stack are colored yellow.
When cartons are taken out from the storage room, and that operation is performed on the computer, those rectangles in the stack change their color to gray, which means that those cartons are no longer in stock.
An additional confirmation, that one has performed an operation, is that the black line around the rectangle, changes color to white, and stays white until the next operation is performed.
When it is time to order new stock, the computer will indicate that. When the reorder point is reached - different for different articles - an indication will be shown on the computer screen that it is time to print out an order form. From that moment, the remaining rectangles are colored red, to indicate that you are now low in stock.
All the above operations are performed with the help of the command panel Flexiboard - an alternative, individualized keyboard. The Flexiboard has a rectangular, flat shape,
European size A3. On its surface, one places overlays, i.e. paper prints which function as personalized keyboards. Each overlay has its own optical code. The Flexiboard has a built-in optical sensor which automatically recognizes which overlay is in place. Each overlay is marked with the functions and commands that are suitable for that particular person and/or situation. When you then press on that function or command, the operation will be performed and displayed on the computer screen.The overlays used for the Flexilager operations are equipped with four command buttons: in, out, print and cancel.
With these four commands you can perform all the operations necessary to handle all the stock/storage functions. Then, each overlay has symbols or pictures of the articles they represent. On one overlay there can be one or many product-pictures, depending on how the products are categorized.
In the actual stock/storage room where the goods are stored, all the cartons are labeled for content with a clear and understandable picture. The same picture will follow through the whole stock/storage operation. It can be seen first on the actual carton, then on the overlay and subsequently on the screen (when you press on the picture on the overlay it will come up on the screen as well) and finally on the order form that is printed out.
Along with the picture on the order form, the rest of the necessary information will appear, i.e. the quantity to order, the id.number of the article, time and date etc.
The order form will then be faxed to the supplier.
With this adapted stock/storage program, you can clearly see the stock/storage status displayed on the computer screen, and also receive an indication of when it is time to place reorders. Then, the order form, with pictures of the items required, is faxed to the supplier.
When the order arrives, each carton is labeled for content with a clear and understandable picture, and then placed on the assigned shelf which is also labeled with a matching picture.
Then the appropriate information is fed into the computer with the help of Flexiboard command panel.
It is advisable that only one or two supervised workers have responsibility for the stock function, and take care of ordering, unpacking, labeling and updating the computer, regarding newly received stock.
When individual, supervised workers take a new carton from the supply room, they also update the computer so that the stock function manager can always see the current status on the display screen. In this way the intellectually handicapped people involved can handle the stock function independently.
Fig.1 A product symbol is pressed on the Fig.2 Flexilager clearly shows the actual
overlay on the Flexiboard and the operation stock status of a product.
is displayed on the screen
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4. Result
The two components: Flexilager, the computer program and Flexiboard, the command panel, have made it possible for the twenty intellectually handicapped people in the project department to independently handle stock, orders and inventory for the articles within their field of production.
Flexilager and Flexiboard have led to many changes for both the supervised workers and for the supervisors. The working roles have changed:
the intellectually handicapped people have taken over new tasks, which has given them more responsibility and raised the quality of their work, and with that, raised their self esteem. They have also learned to handle new tools such as the computer and fax. This is new knowledge that they also can use in their leisure time as well, i.e. new experience that expands their world and personal development.
The supervisor´s work role has changed from that of being active doers to being resource support people when it comes to handling stock/storage functions. Most of them had no previous computer experience, but due to the Flexilager computer program, they now do.
The supplier has increased their knowledge about intellectual handicaps and awarness that adaptations for the handicapped are also a good help for normal people, for example the pictured order forms are easy for anybody to understand.
The model: Flexilager + Flexiboard has functioned as planned from the very beginning, probably thanks to the close cooperation with both supervisors and the intellectually handicapped.The analysis of all the steps of the production line has been essential for the success of the method.
The model has created a great interest from many other fields of activities that
have a need for stock/storage functions. (More work situations than one might
first think have stock/storage functions involved) The model is already being used and tried in a few places, for example at a training school for intellectually handicapped people. At a restaurant and at a supply center for handicap technical aids, both being run by intellectually handicapped people and their supervisors.
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5. Discussion
Flexilager, a platform to new possibilities.
Today, new advanced technology is a part of everyday life. It is necessary to adapt the technology to make it usable and understandable for everybody. When advanced operations
can be performed through simplifying methods new opportunities are created for disabled people who then get a chance to take greater control of their own lives.
Flexilager could be one of those methods to create new work possibilities. The method is flexable and can be adjusted to different handicaps and to different levels of complexity.
It may also be adapted further with other accessories, such as bar code reader and intergrated with other, more complex stock handling systems.
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Literature:
E.Lindström B.Wennberg, Grepp om livet en väg till begåvningsstöd, The Swedish Handicap Institute, 1996. (Grasp on Life)
U. Keijer, Arbetsliv, teknik och handikapp lägesbild och framtida forsknings strategier, Swedish Council for Work Life Research, 1996 (Work, techniques and handicap)
G.Björklund M.Wilhelm, Datorer anpassade till personer med måttlig utvecklingsstörning,
Report and Documentation Nr 63, The Swedish Handicap Institute, 1995.
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