A systematic review investigating outcome measures and uptake barriers when children and youth with complex disabilities use eye gaze assistive technology

ABSTRACT

Children with complex disabilities sometimes have difficulty communicating with their parents, caregivers, and teachers. For these children, eye gaze assistive technology can be used to facilitate communication. Eye gaze assistive technology outcomes for children and youth were analyzed in this systematic review. Database and hand-searches yielded 4412 unduplicated results, of which 11 articles were eligible for this review. Outcome measures, as well as environmental and personal factors, were mapped to the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework. Communication outcomes were most prevalent and co-occurred with outcomes in all reported activities and participation domains. Environmental and personal factors were classified as either facilitators or as barriers in relation to device uptake and success. Although comprehensive professional and caregiver support was the primary facilitator for success, barriers could lead to rejection of the technology even when children were successful using the system.

KEYWORDS:

• Assistive technology
• augmentative and alternative communication
• children
• eye gaze
• eye tracking

Acknowledgments

Elizabeth Hoskin would like to acknowledge NSERC CGSM. Samantha Noyek and Erin Perfect would like to acknowledge OGS for supporting their Doctoral and Masters research.

Disclosure Statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [NSERC CREATE READi]; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [NSERC RGPIN 2016-04669].