Technology-based intervention to help persons with minimally conscious state and pervasive motor disabilities perform environmentally relevant adaptive behavior.
Persons with a diagnosis of minimally conscious state and pervasive motor disabilities tend to be passive and isolated. A way to help them improve their adaptive behavior (relate to their environment) involves the use of intervention packages combining assistive technology with motivational strategies. The types of assistive technology included in those packages may consist of (a) microswitches allowing direct access to environmental stimuli, (b) combinations of microswitches and voice output communication devices (VOCAs) allowing stimulus access and calls for caregivers' attention, respectively, and (c) computer presentations of stimulus options and microswitches allowing choice among those options and access to them.
Department of Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari, Via Quintino Sella 268, 70100, Bari, Italy. giulio.lancioni@uniba.it
Giulio E
GE
Lancioni
Nirbhay N
NN
Singh
Mark F
MF
O'Reilly
Jeff
J
Sigafoos
Marta
M
Olivetti Belardinelli
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D003143:Communication Devices for People with Disabilities; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D018458:Persistent Vegetative State / Q000150:complications / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D012656:Self-Help Devices