Technology and Disability

A new computer program using symbol prediction was developed to speed the rate of communication of children with cerebral palsy. It was evaluated by three children with cerebral palsy using a single case design. The prediction software was found to be faster than no prediction. Further research is needed to evaluate the most effective type of prediction.

Interest in ethical issues has increased after the Second World War. Two events that influenced this were the research that took place in the concentration camps and the Manhattan Project, in which the atomic bomb was developed. Different ethical starting points in connection with different opinions about research work, methods and procedures give, however, a wide perspective of the field. A normative approach is often mixed with a descriptive approach. The main reasons for highlighting ethical issues in research are to protect people who participate in research in different ways, and to avoid negative consequences for the participant. In research on persons with intellectual disability ethical considerations are extremely important as many of these persons have difficulties in communication and in speaking for themselves.

For bilateral amputees, it is especially important to be able to obtain sensory feeling through prosthetic aids. Prostheses usually provide functionality for object handling, but do not recover any of the natural sensory functions of the hand. This paper describes some possible solutions for providing tactile and thermo feedback, in a prosthesis equipped with a microprocessor controller.

In the Dutch decentralised delivery system, choices of technical aids and mobility services as provided by the Service for the Disabled Act are limited and the potential user population is diverse. In this study, the satisfaction with outdoor mobility provisions and the extent to which mobility problems were met were assessed with a retrospective questionnaire. Areas in the delivery process needing special attention were highlighted. Respondents (516 out of 973) received either a device, access to the shared taxi system or both types of provisions. These 3 groups differed significantly both in their respondent characteristics and the degree of satisfaction. In general, overall satisfaction was high but the percentage of users being ‘not fully satisfied’ varied from 0% satisfaction items, combinations of mobility provisions and types of devices. Of the respondents, 23% had not been solved as expected. Service delivery and waiting times for arrival of the taxi were frequent sources of not being fully satisfied.