This week we had two speakers come in to teach us about assistive technology. These workshops were VERY interesting and will be helpful for the future when I am a working Occupational Therapist.
Cook & Hussey (1995) define assistive technology as "any item, piece of equipment or product system whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified or customized that is used to increase or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities" (pg 5).
I interpreted this as a device whether it be changed to suit an individual or straight off the shelf, which assists people to do things they may not be able to do otherwise.
One device that i found really interesting out of these sessions were the "talking tins." They are round pieces of equipment (about the size of the circumference of a H2g0 bottle) which sit on top of tins that talk. People talk into them and state what is being stored in that can/ jar. This increases occupational capacity for a user who may be blind and cannot read the label on the can/jar. They can simple press a button which will then play back to them the content of that jar. The client can either record this message themselves, or have someone else do it for them. It increases independance when cooking simple food.
This website goes more in depth about what talking tins exactly do for those who are interested :)
http://www.talkingproducts.co.uk/talking_tins_education.htm
Well this comes to the end of my blog postings. Hope you have enjoyed them, see ya round
:)
Gemma
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