Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
TABLe 7.1
Stages of AT Service Delivery: Zoey, Age 36 Months to 5 Years, Novice User
Stages of the AT
Service Delivery Model
Zoey, Age 36 months to 5 Years
Novice User
Zoey, Age 10 years
Power User of AT
Outreach
The educational team (SE Teacher,
OT, PT, and SLP) attend regional
meeting to stay abreast on
current AT available, they are
part of the school's AT team.
Information on possible solutions
is shared at Zoey's IEP meeting.
Seven years later, Zoey is in the fourth grade
inclusion classroom. Zoey has taken
ownership of her AAC device. She has asked
her parents to make sure they program in her
weekend activities and pictures of her new
dog so she can share with her friends. As she
has grown, it is more difficult to illicit arm
movement using the ATNR reflex patterns
because she tires easily because of increased
exertion. She told her SE teacher and parents
that she thinks that the head mouse or
eye-gaze system could be more beneficial
because she is not able to communicate as
fast as with her wobble switch. She would
also like her device to access the computer so
she can E-mail and type.
Initiative
The educational team discusses
with ECI team and parent the
need to do an AT assessment to
help identify Zoey's need for AT
aligned to her current goals/
objectives and to identify best
solution for communication.
Zoey, the SE teacher, and Zoey's parents
attend the regional AT center to look at the
current technology available. The SE teacher
meets with the AT team to discuss issues
that have arisen with Zoey's access (because
physical demand is decreasing her output)
and interest in a new device (her current
device is 6 years old).
Preassessment and
assessment
The AT team (SE teacher, OT/PT/
SLP) observe Zoey in the PPCD
classroom and have identified
the area of need related to Zoey's
IEP. They have identified key
predisposition factors of AT use
in Zoey: high motivation,
flexibility, comfort of AT, and
support in the home/school
setting.
The AT team (including the SE teacher)
observes Zoey in her classroom. They meet
at her reassessment planning meeting and
discuss her current skill level and progress
on the IEP with use of AT. At the meeting,
her parents discuss an interest in using a
grant to purchase a newer device that has
the capability for head/eye tracking because
she has improved greatly with head control
and eye gaze. They also ask about the need
for connecting her device to a computer for
her writing because this is a high-focus area
for next year. The team identifies Zoey's
current success with AT and feels that she is
capable of achieving more; an AT
reassessment is recommended.
Typology of the solution
AT assessment team assess Zoey
using the MATCH-ACES (a child
version of the MPT process). A
number of devices are tried using
both switch access and head
control.
The AT team uses the previous MATCH-
ACES assessment to update Zoey's current
area of need related to the IEP and her
overall performance. They discuss possible
solutions. The OT/PT provide
recommendations for supporting head
control so the head tracker and eye-gaze
systems would be effective. Two device
systems are tried.
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