Wednesday 16 May 2012

Assistive Technology


Assistive technology- Any item, piece of equipment or product system whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to improve or increase functional capacities of individuals with disabilities (Assistive Technologies: Principles and Practice : Cook, A.M., & Hussey, S.M. (2000). Assistive technologies: principles and practice. St Louis: Mosby).
My understanding of assistive technology is simply that we are using the resources of our modern day and age in order to assist those who are disadvantaged in some way. We have such a wide range of technological advances that are happening all the time and at times its hard to keep up with the changes. In Occupational therapy I think it is essential that the therapist of today are well equipped and have a good idea about what assistive technologies are out there. Although at times it makes our heads hurt when we are trying to figure out how to use a new computer or we don’t know what this and that means, it is well worth knowing how to make the most of the incredible resources that we now have access to.
The iPad is perhaps one of the most exciting pieces of assistive technology at the moment. Not only is it a phenomenon in the work place, schools, or for editing your latest photos, it is being used all over the world for people with special needs. The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, apps and web content. Like iPhone and iPod Touch, the iPad is controlled by a multi touch display as well as a virtual onscreen keyboard in lieu of a physical keyboard. The iPad is sold in Wi-Fi and cellular models. The Wi-Fi connection is used to access local area networks and the Internet. Apple released the first iPad in April 2010, selling 300,000 units on the first day and selling 3 million in 80 days. During 2010, Apple sold 14.8 million iPads worldwide, representing 75% of tablet PC sales at the end of 2010. By the release of the iPad 2 in March 2011, more than 15 million iPads had been sold, selling more than all other tablet PCs combined since the iPad's release. In 2011, it took approximately 73% of the tablet computing market share in the United States. During the fourth quarter of 2011, Apple sold 15.4 million iPads. The iPad's (first two generations) touchscreen display is a 1024 × 768 pixel, (197×148 mm) liquid crystal display (246.4 mm), with fingerprint- and scratch-resistant glass. The display responds to other sensors: an ambient light sensor to adjust screen brightness and a 3-axis accelerometer to sense iPad orientation and switch between portrait and landscape modes. Unlike the iPhone and iPod Touch's built-in applications, which work in three orientations (portrait, landscape-left and landscape-right), the iPad's built-in applications support screen rotation in all four orientations, including upside-down (Wikipedia. (2012). iPad. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipad). The latest iPad has been described as resolutionary. “Pick up the new iPad and suddenly, it’s clear. You’re actually touching your photos, reading a book, playing the piano. Nothing comes between you and what you love. To make that hands-on experience even better, we made the fundamental elements of iPad better — the display, the camera and the wireless connection. All of which makes the new, third-generation iPad capable of so much more than you ever imagined”. (Apple Inc. (2012). Apple store. Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/nz/ipad/). The cost of an iPad can vary depending on the model, but ranges between NZ $579- $1228. There are over 20 000 app’s available for users so it’s safe to say that users have plenty more opportunity to engage themselves.
Here are a couple of videos showing just how the iPad is being used with people who have impairments.






And just for a bit of a laugh....

The iPad has something for everyone, even the cat!

And it has so many great uses! Perhaps a few you hadn't already thought off.

Blogging Part Two







These are a few blogs that I am following at the moment. There's a whole lot of great blogs out there but these are a few that particularly caught my attention as they  look at alternate options for therapy and have a whole lot of good ideas to share. What a great tool for OT's to share information and bounce off each other for ideas and inspiration. 

The Internet and Online Communities


My most recent placement was in an inpatients physical setting at Auckland Hospital. We saw a whole range of patients but I was particularly interested in young adults who had sustained brain injuries. I guess this area caught my attention as it was my peers that had sustained life changing injuries and now that had to piece back together their life and those things that are most meaningful to them. It was challenging because I was dealing with people that so easily could have been my best friend, my classmate or even me. It put in to reality how easily someone’s life could be completely be turned upside down and then how are you meant to get back to life and those things that are so meaningful to you. The concepts of occupational disruption, transition and deprivation are all factors that have to be considered.

http://www.facebook.com/events/361269117250193/


Facebook is a social networking service that most of us will admit we are only daily. Its intended purpose is to connect people! But it is so much more than that, it literally can tell a persons life story. We share, like, comment, connect, show interest in things, follow things, poke things, join groups, follow bands, create events, follow the news, share in formation, the list just goes on! its interactive in a range of ways; we can instant message friends, write on walls, provide links, post information, invite friends, we can do so much! You will find when you follow the link I have provided, it takes you to an event that has been created by Alex. This is a Guy i went to school with. When you read the information on the page you will hear Alex’s story. When Alex first had his accident, no one really knew what had happened and how he was going and we were all really concerned. I had literally been talking to Alex half an hour before his accident. His family used his Facebook as a tool to inform all of Alex’s friends about how he was going and what was happening with him. He has set up this page since then, offering people an opportunity to interact and contribute to this awesome cause and it continues to keep us up to date with how Alex is going.

http://www.braintrust.org/


The Healing Exchange (T.H.E) BRAIN TRUST has built up a global online community for people whose lives have been affected by brain tumors, injuries and related issues. When you go onto the website it gives you a good run down about what they are about and the service they are providing.  They have set up email support groups that are operating globally 24hrs a day; they currently have over 2000 subscribers made up of patients, parents, carers, friends, medical workers and many others. This online community provides a service were people could ask questions, make connections, get answers and discuss topics. People have the opportunity to contribute to the cause through donations. On the site, they have a tab that goes in to how you can donate and contribute to helping these people!

http://stupidcancer.com/


This website is not related to brain injuries in particular but it’s an online community for young adults who have or have had cancer. It’s one of the largest support communities for those that fall under this population. The website is great so have a look around and read all about the awesome things these guys are doing. The site is interactive in that it speaks directly to whoever is reading it, it’s as if someone is there talking to you face to face! It has a whole lot of links that you simply click on and it will direct you to where you will find what you’re looking for. This place pretty much has everything you could need. People can contribute financially to this organisation and there is a link provided for this on the site.

For each of these sites, it seems individuals have recognised a need, and saw an opportunity to fill that need. Through their own experiences or through the voice of others they have realised that there are certain needs that aren’t being meet for our young adults that are facing or have faced life-threatening experiences yet are so often over looked. These online communities provide a service were people can interact with each other and exchange information, support or simply make connections. They are also a place where the rest of the public can hear young adults share their traumatic experiences and in return provide financial support or donate to organisations. 
Occupational disruption refers to the temporary transient disruption resulting from factors that are internal or individual such as ones illness. (Townsend, E.A. & Wilcock, H.J. (2007). Enabling occupation II: Advancing an occupational therapy vision for health, well-being, & justice through occupation. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists.)
These sites are directed toward young adults who have experienced illness or injury that has had significant impact on their life. These websites recognise the disruption that young adults experience and provide support or a voice for this population. These websites are connecting young adults and providing a service that helps support people and offers advice or directs them to where they can find what they need in order to fulfil occupations that are meaningful to them.
Occupational transition is certainly something that these communities can relate to as many of them have had to make life changing adjustments due to their illness or injury. Many of them will talk about where they have come from compared to where they are now, these sites provide a place for these young adults to share similar experiences and support each other as they transition to perhaps a very different life style that they never could have anticipated.
As with anything online, these online communities have ethical issues that need to be considered. How reliable is the content that is being provided, copyrights, were is the money really going and how can they guarantee this. In most cases anyone can post and make comments on the pages so is there a system in place to monitor these things and who deciphers what is appropriate or not? Some content posted on these sites could be offensive to others.
Each of these sites are very beneficial to those within the population that they are directed at but also for the public. They have the ability to connect individuals who share similar challenges and interests. These online communities break down geographical barriers and make it possible to interact with people all over the globe. 

Video Production (Part 2)

These are a few videos I found on YouTube about the use of ipads and ipods that are being used for therapy with a wide range of clients. It's amazing to see how dramatically this piece of assisstive technology has transformed clients lives. It seems to have a significant influence in the area of communication which is such an essential aspect of a persons life. Being able to communicate and express to others is so important to individuals. Everyone has a voice that needs to be heard! 





Video Production (Part 1)

Occupational Transition...

When we were set the task of producing a short film, the concept of occupational transition was a very appropriate choice for a group. Being all around the same age, occupational transition was something we had all recently experienced and could personally relate to. Each of us had our own account of occupational transitions that we had when moving from a familiar environment into a new one when we decided to pursue our studies in Occupational Therapy. This task offered an opportunity for each of us to share information about ourselves with the rest of the group and actually get to know each other better. For me especially being from another year level, I got some insight in to were these girls were from and what transitions that have made in order to be were they are today. I could then personally relate to them as i shared my account of what i had to leave behind and what changes happened in my life. These discussions of our personal life came about as we were trying to plan our short film and share ideas about how best we could convey Occupational Transition in a short film that would be relevant to other viewers. We put together a story board of how we would sequence the slides so that it was easy for viewers to follow. We initially started off with some pretty big ideas about having back drops and before and after shots and all different kinds of locations. As great as these sounded we had to keep in mind our limited film time, what resources we had and how much time we had to do it. After this reality check we were able to come up with something much more achievable.
Each of us had two pieces of paper, on the first piece of paper we wrote down a few key words that described were we had transitioned from and on the second piece of paper; were we had transitioned to. It was interesting that each of us had very different words on our pieces of paper despite all having the same occupational transition, it identified what each of us valued and perhaps what aspects we found most challenging or significant.
We shot each person holding their before and after pieces of paper. Our concept was fairly simple and we didn't use lots of fancy editing but we achieved what we wanted to.