Assessing Student's Needs for Assistive Technology (ASNAT)

Chapter 6 – Assistive Technology for Recreation …
Assistive Technology
For Activities of Daily Living (ADL)
The ADLs on this continuum are all low technology items designed to increase the independence in selfcare
for the school-aged child. The continuum is not a true continuum in that it is set up in categories
rather than low tech to high tech. The higher tech items are in the continuum of Control of the
Environment, Electronic Aids to Daily Living (EADL’s). This does not include items used by a
caregiver or classroom aide such as patient lifts.
The goal of these products are to increase independence in self-care and should be incorporated as they
occur naturally in activities such as feeding, dressing, and toileting.
Occupational Therapists are trained in the area of adaptive technologies for self-care and should be
consulted for further questions. Here are some resources to get you started.
ABLEDATA is a database of over 19,000 assistive technology devices including thousands of
ADLs.
http://www.abledata.com
ATSTAR is a website for Assistive Technology Strategies, Tools, Accommodations, and
Resources
http://www.atstar.org/at_daily_living.htm
Sammons Preston Rolyan is a catalogue for rehab specialist that includes ADL equipment.
http://www.sammonspreston.com/
Tech Connections is a website for connecting people with assistive technology
http://www.techconnections.org/resources/pubsLev3.cfm?category=3&subcat=1405
Assistive Technology Products: An Illustrated Guide to Terminology (Kratz, 1998)
Another area of assistance worth considering when looking at options for adaptive equipment and
assistive technology in self-care is canine-assisted therapy. According to The Delta Society, Assistance
Dogs of the West and Assistance Dogs International, dogs are available for several categories of
assistance:
♦ Guide dogs: Enhance community mobility by hearing people compensate for visual impairments by
alerting them to obstacles and retrieving items.
♦ Hearing dogs: respond and alert the person to sounds, such as doorbells, phones, crying infants,
smoke detectors and alarm clocks.
♦ Medical alert dogs: Protect people by detecting and alerting them to physiological changes (seizure
activity) or by locating help during medical emergencies.
♦ Service dogs: Assist people with compromised physical abilities by retrieving objects, aiding with
transfers, opening doors, operating lights or door-opening devices, pulling a wheelchair, assisting
with undressing, and similar tasks.
Assessing Students’ Needs for Assistive Technology (2004) 167