The Vocational Training FacilityAn Interactive Learning Program to Return Persons With Physical Disabilities to Employment.
This paper describes the results of the program-development phase of the Vocational Training Facility (VTF) taking place at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center Rehabilitation Research and Development Center. The VTF staff has developed a self-paced, multimedia curriculum comprised of adapted training packages, interactive videos, and additional training and testing materials designed to teach entry-level desktop publishing and reasonable accommodation skills to individuals with spinal cord injuries. The curriculum is taught via the Macintosh™ computer to allow independent, "hands-off" access to training materials. Each student is given an integrated workstation that is equipped with the Desktop Vocational Assistant Robot (De VAR); a set of low-and high-technology assistive hardware, software, and devices; and ergonomic furniture and adaptations customized to fit individual learning and access needs. Each student completes a 12-week, full-time training program followed by a 3-month internship with a local corporate sponsor. This paper summarizes the evaluation results of the VTF program by the first nine students, with spinal cord injuries ranging paraplegia to high-level quadriplegia, who have completed the program.
Rehabilitation Research and Development Center, Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Palo Alto, California.
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Hammel
Rehabilitation Research and Development Center, Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Palo Alto, California.
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Van Der Loos
Rehabilitation Research and Development Center, Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Palo Alto, California.
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Lepage
Rehabilitation Research and Development Center, Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Palo Alto, California.
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Burgar
Rehabilitation Research and Development Center, Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Palo Alto, California.
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Perkash
Rehabilitation Research and Development Center, Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Palo Alto, California.
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Shafer
Rehabilitation Research and Development Center, Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Palo Alto, California.
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Topp
Rehabilitation Research and Development Center, Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Palo Alto, California.
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Lees
Assistive technology; Competitive employment; Multimedia; Reasonable accommodation; Spinal cord injury; Vocational training