Everyday Technology to Help People with Intellectual and Other Disabilities Access Stimulation via Functional Motor Responses and Improved Body Posture

ABSTRACT

Purpose

This study assessed everyday technology to help eight participants with intellectual and sensory-motor disabilities access stimulation via functional arm/hand responses and improved body posture.

Methods

An ABABB¹BB¹ design was used for each participant, with A representing baseline phases, B intervention phases in which arm/hand responses led to a 12-s stimulation, and B¹ intervention phases in which the stimulation for arm/hand responses was conditional on an improved/correct torso and head posture. The technology involved a Samsung Galaxy A10 smartphone fitted with Google Assistant and MacroDroid, a mini voice-recording device, and a portable mini voice amplifier.

Results

All participants had a large increase in arm/hand responses from the baseline periods to the B and B¹ phases. They also had a large increase in correct posture from the B phases to the B¹ phases.

Conclusion

This technology-aided approach may be a helpful resource for people similar to the participants of this study.

KEYWORDS:

• Arm/hand responses
• correct body posture
• technology
• intellectual disabilities
• visual impairment
• motor impairment

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical Approval

The study was approved by an institutional Ethics Committee. All procedures performed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

The participants’ legal representatives provided written informed consent for the participants’ involvement in the study.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.