Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
the child's potentials and/or limitations in various domains (motor, cognitive, language,
etc.), in addition to developmental needs, special interests, social setting, and context of
daily life (e.g., family, school).
The main focus of interdisciplinary intervention is to foster the child's development
and social participation through activities geared toward acquiring as much autonomy as
possible, often with the aid of AT resources.
The functional use of AT tools conjoins the interaction of motor, cognitive, emotional,
and somatosensitive aspects. Thus, assistance in development and rehabilitation can
be qualified by the joint action of rehabilitation, which favors the establishment of
developmental priorities and permits a focus on contextualized activities that involve
more than one area of development (Braga and Campos da Paz Jr 2006). In many instances,
this joint action can be optimized through integrated sessions, in which more than one
professional participates, contributing to the observation of the child's potential through
the simultaneous perspective of different areas of specialization and the discussion of
what they observed, thereby informing the decision-making process.
At times, difficulty performing a task, such as using an adaptation for drawing a design
or using a walker to get around, can initially appear to stem from a motor disorder, but it
may actually be caused by an attention deficit. In other words, a poorly designed drawing
or problems getting around obstacles with a walker could be caused by attention or
visuoconstructive disorders rather than actual coordination or balance impairments. In
these cases, a team working in an integrated manner can program activities that ally motor
and neuropsychological components on the basis of joint evaluations and discussions. In
these cases, the rehabilitation professionals, working in an integrated manner, can design
activities that associate motor and neuropsychological components, chosen after the team
has jointly assessed and discussed the case. For example, the team can unite gait training
with the demarcation of obstacles that need to be circumnavigated, establishing signs and
techniques for the child to use and orienting the parents about verbal strategies that can
be applied when the child's focus wanders from the task at hand.
The teamwork in the sphere of AT improves not only the approach to the child, but
also enhances the team's effectiveness as a joint force and as individual practitioners:
Interdisciplinary knowledge is constructed throughout the group discussions and course
of treatment. Shared knowledge transforms and broadens the experience of each team
member, making the evaluation and intervention processes more efficient. The team-
based process has benefits for the teams, including the development of more specific and
achievable technology goals, confidence of team members, and more effective teamwork
to assist decision-making (Copley and Ziviani 2007).
As a result, the family also become part of the team. They bring knowledge about the child
and daily life at home, routines, interests, likes, and dislikes, which enrich the clinically
obtained information and constitute essential elements for the decision-making process
(Braga 2000; King et al. 2004). A joint approach optimizes and enhances rehabilitation and
how to proceed with the selection and implementation of AT tools. It also enables better
coordination of technology use between home and school.
Some researchers in the field focus on studies about refining the assessment process and
how to best select and implement resources; the goal is to help match technologies to the
child on the basis of his/her needs, interests, characteristics, and the way each tool works
(Scherer and Craddock 2002; Scherer 2004; Scherer et al. 2005). It is important to evaluate
how well the child is able to understand the manner in which these tools function and
what their purpose is and to assess the efficacy of the AT tools in day-to-day life. In other
words, during the evaluation, the team should focus not only on observing the skills of the
