Assistive Technology For Children Research Articles

Enhancing Digital Accessibility and Learning Outcomes: Key2enable's Assistive Technology for Children with Disabilities

This paper showcases how Key2enable's assistive technology works as a holistic solution comprising hardware and software that can enable people with severe disabilities to communicate, learn, engage, and autonomously use technology. This is an exploratory study and will develop a pathway to new developments in the field of assistive technology and portray how motivation plays a key role. The sample consists of 10 children with motor impairments and on the neurodivergence spectrum. There is insufficient research on this relatively small population and this study aims to address how using the right technology for cognitive stimulation can significantly accelerate progress and bring equal opportunities to all in this constantly changing digital world.

Amplifying Their Voices: Equity and Assistive Technology For Children With Disabilities

Amplifying Their Voices: Equity and Assistive Technology For Children With Disabilities

Framework of Mobile Game Design as an Assistive Technology for Children with Motor Disabilities

Computer games have emerged in the past decade as potential media beyond entertainment. Despite its popularity, game accessibility remains a major concern of various researchers. Children population with motor disabilities is a potential target for developing entertainment or therapeutic support games due to their interest to play. This paper presents: (1) a framework for mobile games for children with motor disability using simple hand postures and (2) Xgboost decision tree as a hand posture recognizer (98.48 percent training accuracy and 96.76 percent testing accuracy) as a prototype of hand posture-based commands as assistive technology to interact with games.

Educational Software as Assistive Technologies for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract Nowadays, some developing countries are experiencing many problems regarding children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, including Indonesia. Autism Spectrum Disorder is a childhood-onset developmental disorder of the immature brain, which impairs social communication and social interactions in addition to persistent restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior or interests. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder need special treatments, such as therapy by professional and certified therapists. However, there are limitations to the number of therapists and the therapists have difficulty using therapeutic tools that require extra preparation time, also there are only a few applications that help therapists to carry out the therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorder children, especially applications that are developed in Indonesian and have complete features. Therefore, in this study, we proposed Squizzy, which is an assistive technology application that specifically designed as educational software for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and developed in a tablet environment. During the development of Squizzy, we implemented Scrum methodology that will be explained in detail later. Based on the evaluation and discussion that conducted, Squizzy received many positive feedbacks from users, such as it helps therapists and parents to ease their therapy sessions by reducing the inconvenience of the therapeutic tool. Moreover, Squizzy successfully covered the cognitive part of children’s therapy.

Assistive technologies for children with cognitive and/or motor disabilities: interviews as a means to diagnose the training needs of informal caregivers

Purpose The present study seeks to survey information and training needs of informal caregivers related to the use of assistive technologies at home, so as to, in the near future, try to meet them. Therefore, the full aim of this study is to contribute to reducing technology abandonment and to enhancing its use in the family setting by children with cognitive and/or motor limitations. Materials and methods Content analysis of a set of ten interviews with informal caregivers of children and youngsters with cognitive and/or motor disabilities. Results Assistive technologies open a wide range of opportunities, mostly to students whose learning skills diverge from standard development. They promote communication, independence as well as inclusion of children with cognitive and/or motor disabilities. Despite the human and material resources available, the implementation of assistive technologies in many family settings is still a struggling task. The results reveal a perspective on (i) the interaction between those caregivers and their children, (ii) children’s skills in using assistive technology, (iii) caregivers’ digital literacy and (iv) their training needs. Conclusions The present paper highlights the fact that carrying out interviews with informal caregivers leads to obtaining significant data for a diagnosis of the use of assistive technologies in the family setting and to assess the needs of informal caregivers. From this study, the need to provide caregivers with further training on assistive technologies emerges as preponderant, and to improve caregivers’ skills in the search for and access to practical information. Implication for Rehabilitation Cognitive and/or motor disabilities impact on communication, independence and also on the full inclusion of children, especially when efforts developed at school do not have any follow up at home. Endowing informal caregivers with the knowledge and skills to use assistive devices with their children is a step forward to their full development. Interviews conducted with informal caregivers are a means to gaining insights into understanding the reasons behind assistive technology abandonment at home.

Hijaiyah Letter Interactive Learning for Mild Mental Retardation Children using Gillingham Method and Augmented Reality

Assistive technology for children with special needs is a problem that is interesting to study. Collaboration between methods and latest technology can be used as a learning aid for them. Learning of Hijaiyah letters is the first step to being able to read the Holy Qur'an. Mentally retarded children have IQs below the average normal child, so their learning process is slower and requires special methods. This study aims to develop an application by using the Gillingham and augmented reality methods to help mentally retarded children recognize Hijaiyah letters. The Gillingham method uses a visual, auditory, kinestetic, and tactile (VAKT) approach, that can be used to facilitate mentally retarded children. While augmented reality is used to develop more interesting and interactive applications. Based on the results of research and testing, it can be concluded that the learning application that was built can improve children's memory and understanding of Hijaiyah letters, The results of the pretest and posttest testing, showed an increase of 12% for children who were difficult to receive learning material and 6% for children who are classified as easy to receive learning material.

Will artificial intelligence be a blessing or concern in assistive robots for play?

Os avanços recentes e popularidade da Inteligência Artificial (IA) oferecem possibilidades animadoras para melhorar a tecnologia, mas, também, trazem preocupação. Neste artigo, usamos nossa pesquisa para apresentar os benefícios potenciais do uso da IA em tecnologia assistiva para crianças com deficiências brincarem e examinar possíveis preocupações éticas em torno dos dados exigidos pelos algoritmos de IA. Uma vez que o brincar é um fator chave no bem-estar infantil e no desenvolvimento cognitivo, as incapacidades secundárias podem surgir como consequência de deficiências motoras. Robôs assistivos para manipulação aumentativa podem ser fundamentais para proporcionar às crianças com deficiência física oportunidades de brincar, mas precisamos adotar uma abordagem baseada em princípios e centrada no usuário para inovações técnicas.

Assistive Technology for Children with Multiple Disabilities

C l i n M e d International Library Citation: Stasolla F (2015) Assistive Technology for Children with Multiple Disabilities. Int J Psychol Psychoanal 1:001e Received: January 21, 2015: Accepted: January 22, 2015: Published: January 24, 2015 Copyright: © 2015 Stasolla F. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Stasolla. Int J Psychol Psychoanal 2015, 1:1

Assistive technology for children and young people with low vision.

Recent technological developments, such as the near universal spread of mobile phones and portable computers and improvements in the accessibility features of these devices, give children and young people with low vision greater independent access to information. Some electronic technologies, such as closed circuit TV, are well established low vision aids and newer versions, such as electronic readers or off-the shelf tablet computers, may offer similar functionalities with easier portability and at lower cost. To assess the effect of electronic assistive technologies on reading, educational outcomes and quality of life in children and young people with low vision. We searched CENTRAL (which contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group Trials Register) (2014, Issue 9), Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid MEDLINE In-Process and Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE Daily, Ovid OLDMEDLINE (January 1946 to October 2014), EMBASE (January 1980 to October 2014), the Health Technology Assessment Programme (HTA) (www.hta.ac.uk/), the metaRegister of Controlled Trials (mRCT) (www.controlled-trials.com), ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov) and the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (www.who.int/ictrp/search/en). We did not use any date or language restrictions in the electronic searches for trials. We last searched the electronic databases on 30 October 2014. We intended to include randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs in this review. We planned to include trials involving children between the ages of 5 and 16 years with low vision as defined by, or equivalent to, the WHO 1992 definition of low vision. We planned to include studies that explore the use of assistive technologies (ATs). These could include all types of closed circuit television/electronic vision enhancement systems (CCTV/EVES), computer technology including tablet computers and adaptive technologies such as screen readers, screen magnification and optical character recognition (OCR). We intended to compare the use of ATs with standard optical aids, which include distance refractive correction (with appropriate near addition for aphakic (no lens)/pseudophakic (with lens implant) patients) and monocular/binoculars for distance and brightfield magnifiers for near. We also planned to include studies that compare different types of ATs with each other, without or in addition to conventional optical aids, and those that compare ATs given with or without instructions for use. Independently, two review authors reviewed titles and abstracts for eligibility. They divided studies into categories to 'definitely include', 'definitely exclude' and 'possibly include', and the same two authors made final judgements about inclusion/exclusion by obtaining full-text copies of the studies in the 'possibly include' category. We did not identify any randomised controlled trials in this subject area. High-quality evidence about the usefulness of electronic AT for children and young people with visual impairment is needed to inform the choice healthcare and education providers and family have to make when selecting a technology. Randomised controlled trials are needed to assess the impact of AT. Research protocols should carefully select outcomes relevant not only to the scientific community, but more importantly to families and teachers. Functional outcomes such as reading accuracy, comprehension and speed should be recorded, as well as the impact of AT on independent learning and quality of life.

Making the best use of assistive technology for children in Romania: a case study

Using a case example, this article demonstrates the role of occupational therapy in the field of low assistive technology for children with disabilities in Romania. When making decisions about assistitive devices for a particular person in a particular situation, the occupational therapist needs to be aware of the family’s socioeconomic backgound as well as the sociopolitical and cultural climate for practice. The article describes a client-centred approach with an emphasis on function and wellbeing in the provision of long-term services for children and their families. Future research should be conducted on strategies to improve occupational therapy practice using assistive technologies in relation to the health and wellbeing of children with disabilities.

Medical Music Therapy Based on Baby Science (Baby-Science-Based Music Therapy) and Assistive Technology for Children

Medical Music Therapy Based on Baby Science (Baby-Science-Based Music Therapy) and Assistive Technology for Children

Does appearance matter in the interaction of children with autism with a humanoid robot?

This article studies the impact of a robot’s appearance on interactions involving four children with autism. This work is part of the Aurora project with the overall aim to support interaction skills in children with autism, using robots as ‘interactive toys’ that can encourage and mediate interactions. We follow an approach commonly adopted in assistive robotics and work with a small group of children with autism. This article investigates which robot appearances are suitable to encourage interactions between a robot and children with autism. The children’s levels of interaction with and response to different appearances of two types of robots are compared: a small humanoid doll, and a life-sized ‘Theatrical Robot’ (a mime artist behaving like a robot). The small humanoid robot appeared either as a human-like ‘pretty doll’ or as a ‘robot’ with plain features. The Theatrical Robot was presented either as an ordinary human, or with plain clothing and a featureless, masked face. The results of these trials clearly indicate the children’s preference in their initial response for interaction with a plain, featureless robot over the interaction with a human-like robot. In the case of the life-size Theatrical Robot, the response of children towards the plain/robotic robot was notably more social and pro-active. Implications of these results for our work on using robots as assistive technology for children with autism and their possible use in autism research are discussed.

Assistive technology for children with complex disabilities

<h2>Summary</h2> Assistive technology (AT) can enable children to move around their environment, communicate with others and take part in activities that they would be unable to do without technology. In order for children with complex disabilities to gain access to this technology, a team has to exist around them to offer appropriate and timely advice. This paper considers what aspects of daily living AT can now help with and provides an information resource to those who may be involved with children with disabilities. In particular, it discusses the role that the paediatrician has within the multidisciplinary team.

Assistive Technology for Children with Disabilities

Assistive Technology for Children with Disabilities

Assistive Technology for Children with Disabilities

Through The Rehabilitation Act, the Technology Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act (The Tech Act), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, the federal government broadened the states' roles in increasing awareness and accessibility of assistive technology (AT) devices and services to children with disabilities. As a member of the AT team, the occupational therapy practitioner plays an integral role in selecting the most appropriate device, and working with parents and other professionals to integrate the device into a child's daily routines. This literature review presents a summary of available information on AT materials and strategies that assist infants, toddlers, and school-aged children with disabilities. We begin with a brief look at legislation affecting the provision of AT. Issues concerning the use of Electronic Aides of Daily Living (EADL), and strategies for successful manipulation are presented; followed by a discussion of play and leisure, mobility, and communication devices. Finally, we conclude with a discussion concerning the importance of measuring the effectiveness of AT devices and services.

Empowered to Scribble

This article describes a grant project which provided art and assistive technology for children with disabilities in inclusive settings, primarily schools, and is based on the developmental significance of childhood scribbles. The project provided an opportunity for professionals in the fields of art therapy and occupational therapy to collaborate in a creative way to meet the educational and emotional needs of children, applying Kellogg's (1970) interpretations of scribbles for evaluation. Specific adaptive devices are described, as well as the art activities used.