Rethinking device abandonment: a capability approach focused model

Figures & data

Table 1. Illustrating the capability approach using a physical example and a communicative example.

Resource	Physical example	AAC
	A bicycle	Low-tech symbols
Conversion factor	A person who was taught to ride a bike as a child has a high conversion factor to turn the bike into something useful.	A person who has symbolic understanding, good vision and motor skills has a high conversion factor to use the symbols to allow them to communicate
	Someone with a disability who has never ridden a bike has a low conversion factor to convert it to functioning	A person with poor vision, no awareness of symbols or language, poor fine motor skills to point to the symbols has a low conversion factor
	An environment where there are no bike lanes, limits the person’s ability to convert the resource to functioning	An environment where no-one else is using AAC limits the person’s ability to convert the symbols to communication functioning
Capability	The freedom a person has to choose how to travel to valued places or valued journeys	The freedom the individual has to choose how to communicate to support valued activities or relationships
Possible functionings	Possible functioning includes riding a bike, getting the bus or walking.	Possible functioning includes communicating using low tech symbols, communicating using speech even if partially unintelligible or communicating using gesture and pointing
Choice/Agency	If the person chooses to do so. Choice is impacted by environmental factors, social pressures and societal expectations	If the person chooses to do so – according to the setting, people present, situation, time of day
Achieved functioning	Whichever of the functionings the person chooses on that day	Whichever of the functionings the person chooses on that day

Figure 1. A schematic representation of the capability approach.

Figure 2. The communication capability approach.