My literal interpretation of the two words for AT is anything technological or mechanical that assists anyone. I give myself a mild slap-of-the-face to remind me that definition is too literal - it could be applied to a vegetable peeler!
As in any item or services somehow related to therapy or medical care, the definition that counts is from whoever pays for the AT. My experiences, including those in special education, cause me to think of AT as primarily devices used for communication. Here, I'm hoping Lon, my AT specialist friend and host of the AT Blog Carnival, will give me some reassurance that AT can also mean technology that assists mobility.
I use communication AT to empower children. When I meet a child who uses AT to communicate, I learn to use the AT tool to give the child choices and an opportunity to express themselves.
Can you imagine being able to hear and think and not express yourself? I applaud all the professionals like Lon for giving special children the chance to speak for themselves. AT specialists must know every nuance of expressing a concept or thought in order to apply the technology to meet each child's individual needs.
Every single instance of effective communication via AT gives the child a neuronal burst in their brain. That burst is strengthened with repetition and allows the child to learn more and more communication. All cognitive and intellectual tests are dependent on the child's ability to communicate.
AT serves as a window to the minds of children who cannot speak like most of us.
Turning to my other cheek for another mild slap, I am reminded to write about the kind of AT about which I know more - power wheelchairs.
You can never so much be like other children as when you are moving among them under your own control.
The effects of not moving can also impede a child's social, emotional and intellectual development. Children learn so much through movement and sensory experience. For example, symbol cards would be insufficient for understanding words for directions (up, down, forward, backward).
Typically-developing children learn to walk at about 1-year of age. Charlene Butler's work 20 years ago included giving toddlers power mobility. Giving some toddlers power mobility makes perfect sense to me.
Dozens of diagnoses are predictable for mobility impairments - why not give them the experience of power mobility early to spur their cognitive and emotional development? A child can learn to be helpless if for the first years of his life he moves only by someone else's power.
I use mobility AT to empower children, too.
Unfortunately, power wheelchairs belong to the insurance-industry-defined category called durable medical equipment (DME). DME as controlled by the medical insurance business is getting more expensive and difficult to acquire. I have already subtly bashed the medical insurance industry, so I'll save a more explicit criticism for including DME under medicine in another post.
Sometimes as an OT I have taught a patient to peel a potato with one hand. In the 1970's the primary adaptation used was to stabilize the potato on two long nails driven up through the cutting board. A regular vegetable peeler was then used with the person's useable hand. But commercial engineering incorporated some technology, and vegetable peelers have been improved. Some of the adapted designs are now sold publicly. On second thought, I do think vegetable peelers are assistive technology!
Do you have some rare use of technology that assists you or your child? Please enter the Carnival and share!
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