Use of everyday technology to promote ambulation in people with intellectual and multiple disabilities

Abstract

BACKGROUND: People with severe to profound intellectual disabilities and visual or motor impairment tend to be detached and sedentary. OBJECTIVE: The present study assessed a technology-aided intervention to promote ambulation in four people with severe to profound intellectual disability combined with blindness or deafness and spasticity. METHOD: The intervention was introduced according to a non-concurrent multiple baseline design across participants. The participants wore a smartphone fitted with the MacroDroid application at their right or left ankle. This application served to (a) detect and record smartphone’s shake events (i.e., events related to the step responses the participant performed with the leg to which the smartphone was fixed) throughout the study, and (b) automatically deliver stimulation and encouragements/prompts (i.e., in relation to step responses and lack of responding, respectively) during the intervention. RESULTS: Data showed that during the baseline (i.e., prior to the intervention) the participants’ mean frequency of step responses were between 26 and 61 per 5-min session. During the intervention the mean session frequency increased to between 100 and 157. The increase was statistically significant for all participants. CONCLUSION: The aforementioned technology-aided intervention may be a useful tool for promoting ambulation in people like those involved in this study.