AN INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM APPROACH TO PROMOTING INDEPENDENCE USING ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY: A VIDEO CASE STUDY

Lisa Loving, OTR/L, Children's Care Hospital and School, Sioux Falls, SD
Troy Van Orman, MS PT, Children's Care Hospital and School, Sioux Falls, SD
Lori Dahlquist, MA SLP CCC-A, Children's Care Hospital and School, Sioux Falls, SD

Web Posted on: December 12, 1997

Independence can be gained by children with disabilities when appropriate assistive technology has been introduced to them in a timely fashion. Technology for children can impact their lives in many ways such as play/leisure, mobility, communication, education, activities of daily living and employment.

Assistive technology is any device that a person with a disability can use to make daily activities easier to accomplish. This can include something as simple as a spoon with an adapted handle, or as sophisticated as a power wheelchair an individual can control with a slight tip of his head. Assistive technology has greatly expanded opportunities for people with disabilities in recent years. By using adapted computers, power wheelchairs, communication devices with synthesized speech, and many other kinds of devices, children and adults with a variety of disabilities can be more independent than ever before. Access to assistive technology can be the key to being able to live on one's own, work at a paying job, direct one's own medical care, participate in school, or be involved in family activities.

However, for many people, receiving a needed piece of assistive technology depends on the recommendation of their physician-or for a child, that of his or her school district. A national survey in 1992 found that the lack of a physician's recommendation may be responsible for 35% of people with disabilities or serious illnesses failing to receive rehabilitation treatment, which often includes assistive technology. And in the same survey, two-thirds of primary care physicians admit they need to know more about this technology (Medical Rehabilitation Education Foundation, National Quorum Survey Results, 1992). In South Dakota, Children's Care Hospital and School staff regularly field requests for information on assistive technology from school professionals, health care providers, and parents. In general, there is an apparent need for information on the entire process for successfully using assistive technology: how to evaluate a person's needs, what equipment is available, how to find it, and especially how to fund its purchase for an individual child or adult.

At Children's Care Hospital and School in Sioux Falls, SD, we attempt to incorporate an interdisciplinary team approach when evaluating and implementing the individual assistive technology needs of the child in the educational, home, and community settings. From physician referral to the successful implementation of assistive technology in these settings, team members work together to provide therapeutic opportunities to encourage generalization of these functional skills in order to maximize independence in all areas of their life.

This presentation includes video highlights and discussion of how assistive technology combined with an interdisciplinary team approach helped a child, age 8, with multiple disabilities incorporate functional skills needed in a less restrictive environment.