Assistive Technology

Cook & Hussey (2000) 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 individual with disabilities” (p.5). This definition is self explanatory in that assistive technology is anything that can aid the function of someone with a disability. Some times obtaining an item that has been made by a manufacturer may be more than adequate for that person, however there are occasions where a persons disability may be unique or have unique characteristics in which an item will need to be modified or designed from scratch for them specifically.

The technology I have chosen is the iPad. The new version, which hasn't long been released, costs about $729 from the Apple iStore and is pretty much the same in stores such as Noel Leeming and Harvey Norman. The dimensions of the iPad are: Height: 241.2 mm (9.50 inches), Width: 185.7 mm (7.31 inches) and Depth: 9.41 mm (0.37 inch). This makes it very easy to transport and use at any time, and any place.
There are many features of the iPad ranging from being used for a camera, video recorder, storage of photos and other files, connecting to the internet and downloading apps such as ones that can help in communication, memory training and so on.
‘occupational engagement encompasses all that we do to become occupied’ (Occupational Therapy, 2012). With the iPad's vast uses and applications, it can allow someone to become more engaged in everyday meaningful occupations.

Occupational transition allows one to be able to engage in occupation that is similar to those that they previously were able to do or engage in new ones. The ipad is a great way of getting stroke patients (and other people living with disabilities) working on regaining lost function and increasing their independence.
I came across this blog that is about someone’s experience of a close family member using the iPad as a form of rehab, after suffering a stroke, working on a range issues from fine motor skills to reasoning skills to being able to communicate with others.

I also found this YouTube clip which shows how the iPads communication applications can improve ones ability to communicate and improve their speech as they try to pronounce the words after the iPad has stated it for them.

(PeninsulaRehabCenter, 2011)

Occupational justice is about recognizing that humans are occupational beings who participate in occupation as a way of life. It is important for quality of life and our wellbeing. It can define who are are (Christiansen & Townsend, 2009). Both of these links are proof that technology can definitely open up a door to endless opportunities to those that are disabled.

References:
Cloninger, J. (2011). Using the iPad 2 in Stroke recovery - my family's experience. Retrieved 17 May, 2012, from http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/09/30/using-the-ipad-2-in-stroke-recovery-%E2%80%93-my-family%E2%80 %99s-experience/
Cook, A. M., & Hussey, S. M. (2000). Assistive technologies: Principles and practice. St Louis: Mosby
Occupational Therapy. (2012). Retrieved 16 May, 2012 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_therapy
PeninsulaRehabCenter. (2011). Using the IPAD for speech therapy at the peninsula rehab center.
Retrieved 17, May, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ17u9PyCgw.
Christiansen, C. H, & Townsend E. A, (Eds). (2009). Introduction to Occupation: The Art and Science of Living. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc

OT Blogs

This tutorial required us to find 5 blogs that relate to occupational therapy. There are a whole range of blogs out that written for OTs by OTs. I chose the following blogs to follow and comment on and they were very interesting. the first is about an OT over in the USA, Karen, and dates right back to when she first started at OT school. She updates pretty much everyday about all sorts of things that has happened and things that she has learned.
The second blog is about how OTs can use different apps with all sorts of people. Carol is an experienced OT who has been working with children and exploring apps on the iPad. It has made me realize that not only can technology do so much, it can do a whole lot more than we actually give it credit for.
The third blog I came across was Kara's. This is another OT who regulary updates her blog about different things she has learned. The post that caught my eye was one about switches. It was of interest to me because we hadn't long had a visit from a guy who works with disabled people and used such devices to get them engaging in different occupations.
The forth blog was Mike's. Different professional can post on this blog as a way to share their experiences, knowledge and in hope to inspire others. The blog that took my interest was one by an Physio about sports rehab. It was interesting to find out that sports can be used as a form of therapy. For us OTs it can be used as a form of meaningful occupation with clients if it appropriate to do so. This could be about getting them back into the community and socializing.
The last blog is from a fellow class mate, Jessamy. We had to chose another students' blog as part of the five blogs. This gives a perspective of an OT that is currently going through the degree program.

Online communities

Community is "A group of interacting people, living in some proximity (i.e., in space, time, or relationship). Community usually refers to a social unit larger than a household that shares common values and has social cohesion. The term can also refer to the national community or international community" (Community, 2012, para. 1). There are several types on communities from Geographical or communities of location (ie. neighbourhood), communities of culture (ie religion, ethic groups, or identified by needs such as disabled persons), and community organizations (ie. informal based on family and kinship or formal business and political organizations).

Virtual or online communities are social networks in which people can interact through specific media. These may include any or a combination of the above communities such as geographical and political so that they can purse mutual interests and goals (Virtual community, 2012).

There are many online communities now-a-days. Youtube, Wikipedia and Facebook, just to name a few!

YouTube is all about ‘broadcasting youself’. This is an online community in which people upload videos (personal videos, tv/movie clips, music videos) so that others can view, comment, like/dislike, use, and share with others. This is a very interactive web community that is available in 54 different languages and just about any where in the world. (YouTube, 2012).

Wikipedia is an online enclycopedia in which people can research almost any topic imaginable. This site allows for the contribution of others by allowing them to edit just about any page as they see fit. Wikipedia has over 21 million articles and available in 283 languages with 2.7 billion page views per month just from the U.S alone (Wikipedia, 2012).

Facebook is an online social networking site allowing for members all over the world to interact with others, share thoughts via posts, photos, video, play games and so much more. The site has over 845 million active profiles. Not only is it used by individuals but by companies, groups, tv programs and so on. (Facebook, 2012). At the beginning of 2011, over 250 million people sign in on a daily basis (Hepbrun 2011).

There are four main reasons people choose to join up, contribute etc to an online community. Peter Kollock (1999) state that people join online communities for Anticipate Reciprocity, Increased Recognition, and Self Efficacy. Anticipated reciprocity is the expectation in that if one contributes to a service, they will get information in return. Increase Recognition is the user seeking recognition for their contribution to the site. Self efficacy refers to the sense that one has had an impact on this environment and that they are a ‘helper’. Sense of Community can be created by making someone feel welcomed to the site, informality and to not be judged by others that share the same community. Also by being created by an actual person and allowing them to communicate or share thoughts/posts with other community users. (Creating a sense of community around a website, 2012)

There are several issues that may arise from using such online communities.
Social injustice - a persons’ human rights may be breached in many ways. Posting comments about someone, tagging them in photos, invasion of privacy and identity all without having asked for their permission before doing so. This is can be related to any online community in which someone has a profile, allows for comments to be posted etc. For example Facebook.
Lack of informed consent: this is not asking for permission to tag people in photos, name them in posts, sending requests (ie for gaming purposes).

Lack of identity accountability - people can upload and edit internet sites anonymously thus not taking responsibility of their actions.

Lack of privacy - once some one had used an online community is can open all sorts of doors. One can type in someones’ name and no doubt at least one thing will turn up in the search of them. This could be a facebook page, an article etc.

With anything there are always the benefits and the limitations. For online communities these are:
Benefits:
connect with others with whom they have lost contact with and interact with others around the world who they may have never met before.
Allows people to view someone’ s personality
connect with people who have similar interests/needs/concerns
foster understanding and unity
provide a large amount of information available at our finger tips
allows for silent observation prior to participation
usually doesn’t cost to use an online community basic services
great equality of voice
speed of information sharing
ability to monitor and regulate users

Limitations: these are only available to those that use and have internet access.
Technology compatibility
Misuse
Delusional reliance on virtual communities
rapid growth may result in unwanted or unperceived changes
limitied communication tools
validity of the information being shared
who sustains and manages the community

References:
Community. 2012. Retrieved April 22, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community

Creating a sense of community around a website. 2012. Retrieved April 22, 2012, from http://www.internetevangelismday.com
/build-community.php

Facebook. (2012). Retrieved March 30, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook

Hepburn, A. (2011). Facebook statistics, stats and facts for 2011. Retrieved 22/03/12 from http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com
/facebook-statistics-stats-facts-2011/

Kollock, P. (1999). The Economies of Online Cooperation:Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace. Retrieved April 1, 2012, from
http://www.connectedaction.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/2001-peter-kollock-economies-of-online-cooperation.htm

Virtual community. (2012). Retrieved April 1, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_community

Wikipedia. (2012). Retrieved March 30, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia

Youtube. (2012). Retrieved March 30, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtube

Online Videos

One of the main things taken from my second placement was the emphasis on crafts and craft making. These crafts can be anything at all, from cards, making collages and so on. They can also range from simple to complex, depending on the persons' ability.
No matter the level of involvement, one always contribute to the creation of a craft. The following videos are examples of crafts and how they can be linked to occupational therapy practice:


(EHowArtsandCrafts,2010)
This video shows the process of making a paper gift box


(CreativeChoices, 2008)
This video talks about making craft a business. People craft for different reasons one could be to make some money from doing something they love.


(Fetlgd57, 2008)
Although this clip is about leather craft, it can be applied to any craft that people may participate in. Making a gift for someone can be very rewarding in itself. Seeing their face light up when they open it and see it’s been made by hand. Taking notice of all the time and effort one has put into choosing, making and presenting the gift.


(Babaraannsmith, 2011)
This video is by an OT demonstrating a craft can can enhance the pincer grip strength of the hand and fingers.


(Babaraannsmith, 2008)
Although these videos are aimed at making crafts with children, the task of craft making can be modified to suit the inidivuals’ needs whether it be for someone who has a mental, cognitive or physical disability. This is a great way to teach or re-teach a range of skills from co-odination, excutive functions (planning), fine and gross movements, pincer strength and so on.

References:

Babaraannsmith. (2008). Retrieved April 20, 2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpnnLMDlFIw

Babaraannsmith. (2011). Retrieved April 20, 2010, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dyz89py5j0

CreativeChoices. (2008). Retrieved April 5, 2010, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nAtaUofQY4

EHowArtsandCrafts. (2010). Retrieved April 2, 2010, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op15rZhsK8g

Fetlgd57. (2008). Retrieved April 20, 2010, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiSxcOuXo34

Making a movie :D

Occupational deprivation a video by whitetiger172 on Flickr.

One of our missions was to plan, shoot, produce and then edit a piece of material using a video camera and using movie editing programs.
Occupational deprivation is the ‘influence of external circumstances that prevents a person from acquiring, using or enjoying occupation over an extended period of time’ (Towsend and Wilcock, 2004).
Occupational deprivation was chosen to depict how one with a disability, ie in the movie someone in a wheelchair, can be excluded and deprived from doing what it is they need/want to do.
Firstly as a group we chose which sub topic we would like to depict (occupational justice, deprivation, transition and disruption). Once we had chosen which one, we then proceeded to come up with ideas for how we could express occupation deprivation in a movie. We chose a few ideas and then chose the location/s within the polytechnic in which we recorded several small sections. These sections were then edited using the iMovie program enabling us to cut out segments of the sections, rearrange segments and add special effects such as speeding up, slowing down, old fashion look, titles, deleting any sound then adding music in the background. Once the editing was finished, we then posted the movie on to this blog for our fellow students to view.

Making a blog

In order to create a blogger account you must first set up a google account if you do not already have one. Go to blogger.com, sign up and follow the instructions to setting up you own account. Once signed up you can then choose a blog template, design the blog how you like, create titles, change colours of the background and fonts and so on. Using the new version, you can change the design of your blog, from font, backround and so on, by clicking on the template link on the left hand side on the main page. Click customize to change the fonts etc. To create a blog title, click layout and ‘header’ or one of the first bars at the top of the layout page. This allows you to create a title and give a brief description about your blog. You can also add what is called ‘gadgets’ (if you prefer) to your blog page by clicking on the ‘add gadget’ link on the right hand side. This can be a range of things, such as the wolf on mine. Most are just quirky little things that express who you are. To ensure that the correct time is displayed when posting a segment, click on the setting - language and settings. Once all these basics are set up, you are now ready for your first post! Click ‘ new post’ on the left on the main screen and away you go. To edit or delete any posts simply click ‘posts’, then choose from the options displayed under the title when the mouse is placed over it. Explaining how to ‘embed’ clips etc is a little hard to explain, Youtube is probably one the easiest, in that you click ‘share’ underneath the video and then embed. This will give you a code which you copy and then paste into your blog. Most things that have the ability to be embedded, will happen in a similar way. Happy blogging :D

Occupational Engagement and SlideShare

Occupational engagement means to involve oneself, become occupied and to participate in an occupation. To participate requires the involvement of being, becoming and belonging, which includes performing or doing occupations.

Doing: includes purposeful and goal orientated activities striving for a sense of purpose and fulfillment (Hammel, 2004).

Being: is a very important aspect of living. it is taking the time to reflect, discover oneself, appreciating the self and others as well as being able to savour life's moments and to learn from experience (Hammel, 2004).

Belonging: the necessary contribution of social interaction, mutual support, and friendship. This takes into account that one able to perceive that one's life has value not only for themselves but for others around them (Hammel, 2004).

Becoming:is about being able to envision their future selves, and possible lives, exploring new opportunities and ideas (Hammel, 2004).

Slideshare is one of the many ways in which we can connect information from one website to another. This is known as embedding. In computing, embedding media into a text document, forming a compound document (Embedded, 2012). Embedding is great for video, music clips and powerpoints. One of our class objectives was to create a powerpoint using a variety of photos both original and from the internet. The next step was to upload the powerpoint to the Slideshare website then selecting the embed button, a code was revealed. This was then copied and placed into a blog posting. The end result (if all goes well) is this:

Baking

View more PowerPoint from whitetiger172

This slide was based on baking as it is something I love doing when I have the time and it was part of a range of activities that allowed staff and clients to interact with on a placement that I have done previously.

Doing: Baking tends to have purpose and an outcome, whether it be for children's lunches/snacks, special occasions or for the pure fact of being involved in something meaningful.

Being: Baking is something that one tends to learn through experimentation, trial and error as well as then evaluating how they thought the process went and whether the outcome was achieved to one's personal standards.

Belonging: some of the slides show the sense of belonging in which a few people are working together to create some baking.

Becoming: Before baking something, most people tend to have a 'plan' or envision the outcome they wish to create as a final product. There are a few slides in which the baking has been completed.


References:
'Embedded'. (2012). Retrieved March 9, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embedding_%28disambiguation%29

Whitetiger172. (2012, March 8). Baking. Retrieved March 8, 2012, from http://www.slideshare.net/whitetiger172/baking-11929680

Technology! Technology! Technology!

There are soo many definitions of technology as what it means to one person may not mean the same thing to another. The one that defines it the best for me is: “ information technology n. the production, storage and communication using computers and other microelectronics”. (Hanks, 1989). To me it’s all about being about to communicate with others, especially those in another area, someone you lost contact with after college and so on.

Technology has well and truly advanced over the years and will no doubt continue to do so. Today there is such a need for technology that society has become largely dependent on it. Cellphones for staying in constant contact, internet communication sites to connect with others around the world, a way of watching movies either on a DVD or online, photo sharing and so much more. Technology may help or be a hindrance for people. For example a decent chunk of my courses’ content is online.
This YouTube clip depicts how technology has advanced and how common place it is:


(Mwesch, 2007)

I feel quite confident in using a variety of technology devices. Computers, cell phones, USB, external hard drives, iPod, digital cameras, Television, DVD players, Stereo systems,
I’m not keen on using small instrumental devise such as an Electric can opener, or web cams.
If I don’t know how some works I will usually spend a while trying to figure it out before asking for help or finding out how to use it/reading phamplets. Some times spending a good couple hours trying to work something out!
Limits/expand IT use? It would all depend on what I required the technology for as to if I believed there was a use or a point in learning a new technology.
Technology can be used in many ways for purposeful occupation.
Computers can be used to play online games, interact with others/talk to friends that are not living in the same town/country. Televisions to watch programs and movies.

Technology has it’s place in just about any aspect of life. Occupational Therapists are able to use such devices to enhance quality of both clients and their own practice.

When on a placement, we could use the computer to look up YouTube music clips for clients that loved particular songs that the placement didn’t have on a CD, using a digital camera for taking photos of clients in action while in a craft group, an electric wheelchair ramp so clients can go out and about for drives.

Some implications of using technology in practice are the ease in which client notes can be accessed, some may hinder a clients treatment, high costs of technology,

I believe it is essential to have an understanding and be able to use or find out how to use technology in practice as some technology may help some clients to reach their potentials ie a non verbal person may be able to use a device or program that will speak for them.

One of the many uses of technology in Occupational Therapy Practice:


(TechnologynOT, 2009)

Ethical considerations:

There are several ethical aspects that need to be considered when it comes using technology. It’s all very well in having cameras, video recorders, phones, and so on at our fingertips, but we need to know what the limits are when capturing, sharing and/or transferring information and documents through the use of technology. When posting things on the internet, whether it be blogs, Facebook, Twitter, we need to make sure were are doing so ethically. Asking for permission from a friends to take a photo, acknowledging authors,

Social justice, informed consent, intellectual property are just some of these ethical considerations.

Informed Consent: ‘Informed consent is a phrase often used in law to indicate that the consent a person gives meets certain minimum standards. An informed consent can be said to have been given based upon a clear appreciation and understanding of the facts, implications, and future consequences of an action’ (Informed consent, 2012). People must be given all the information, options, and have the chance deciding what is best for them. No matter what we are doing, capturing, sharing, linking we need to make sure we have permission to use information either from directly from a person themselves or indirectly via a website by referencing sources used.


Intellectual property: ‘is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized under the corresponding fields of law’ (Intellectual property, 2012). This pertains to anything that is created by anyone such as a blog posting, a status update on Facebook, videos, documents and so on. It’s important when using or referring to another persons’ work that it is acknowledged in some way to let others know that it wasn’t actually your idea.

Social Justice:
‘Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being’ (Social justice, 2012). This means that everyone has the right to the same choices and resources and anyone else. Asking for permission and acknowledging authors of a clip, posting, photo etc are just a few principles

References:
Hanks, P. (Ed). (1989). Collins concise dictionary. Glasgow: bath press

‘Informed consent’. (2012). Retrieved March 9 , 2012, from http://en.wikipedia/wiki/Informed_consent

‘Intellectual property’. (2012). Retrieved march 9, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property

Mwesch. (2007, January 31). Retrieved March 9, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE

‘Social Justice’. (2012). Retrieved March 9, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_justice

TechnologynOT. (2009, November 9). Retrieved March 9, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4Bf9Sv8JdE