Page 100 - Handbook of Electronic Assistive Technology

Chapter 4 • Assessment and Outcomes 87

While as part of a statutory service it may not be your remit to provide all parts of the
package required to support a client in the use of their AT, it is important to be aware of
what should be in place and where this might be sourced. This will ensure that all stake-
holders are engaged and support the process and ongoing use of AT. In the foregoing
example, engagement with the family and child’s therapy team and school to determine
if a wheelchair driving programme could be part of the school day might be required and
initial training might take place in the school environment. A changing set of games and
activities might be devised to develop specific skills. For the adult with a spinal injury, dis-
cussion with the community rehabilitation team or a local support group might be appro-
priate to support training and confidence building.
There are several texts which cover the assessment process of AT (e.g., Federici and Scherer,
2017; Cook and Miller Polgar, 2007). The first step is to gather the information you need to
start the assessment process. An internet search can generate many results offering options
on how to gather information to recommend equipment to meet a range of needs. At the time
of writing the majority were in relation to education and providing support to students with
disabilities, e.g., SETT framework, unifying functional model and Lifespace Access Profile.
7
A key assessment process was published in the 1980s by Scherer matching person to
technology (MPT). The MTP model is a framework to assess and recommend a variety of
ATs to promote successful usage of the device and reduce the possibility of abandonment.
The tools cover a range of technologies and are used in a variety of settings. They can be
used to identify where AT might be used and the predisposition to using technology. Much
of the information can be gathered from the user before the first meeting.
Cook and Hussey (2002) developed the Human Activity Assistive Technology model, which
although not an assessment process is a useful starting point when considering the process
of providing equipment. This proposes that the Human Performance Model constructed
by Bailey (1989) consisting of Human, Activity and Context can be adapted to describe the
use of AT if it includes Human, Activity and Assistive technology within a Context. This was
described by Cook and Hussey and developed further in 2007 (Cook and Miller Polgar, 2007).
This model allows us to consider the different and perhaps changing role of AT in differ-
ent contexts (e.g., settings, social groups, physical constraints for a given activity) or in dif-
ferent activities (e.g., leisure and play or work/school in a single setting). All of this needs to
be considered with respect to a person’s physical, cognitive and sensory abilities and skills.
The role that a technology might play in these different situations may vary. For exam-
ple, in a home setting a person with a communication aid may use it differently or less
frequently because the family are practised at understanding dysarthric speech, and so
the user engages in other communication strategies such as eye pointing, vocalising,
gestures/signing, etc. However, communication in a social setting such as a family gather-
ing or at school requires greater use of the aid because of the need to participate indepen-
dently and respond to people who do not know the person so well.

7 http://matchingpersonandtechnology.com/.