title: Case Studies of Technology-aided Interventions to Promote Hand Reaching and Standing or Basic Ambulation in Persons with Multiple Disabilities.
abstract: Motor impairments such as lack of standing and/or independent ambulation are common among persons with multiple disabilities. These two studies assessed technology-aided programs for persons with those impairments. Specifically, Study I assessed a program to teach two non-ambulatory adults to hand reach a stimulation-linked object by standing up. Study II assessed a program to teach a child and a man to ambulate while holding a rail or following a corridor wall. Standing increased from below 15% to about or over 80% of the session duration in Study I. The participants of Study II managed to complete brief ambulation trials independent of guidance. These performance achievements were discussed in relation to the technology-aided programs employed in the studies and the programs' applicability in daily contexts.
authors.affiliation: University of Bari, Italy giulio.lancioni@uniba.it.
authors.forename: Giulio E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Lancioni
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Nirbhay N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Mark F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: O'Reilly
authors.affiliation: Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sigafoos
authors.affiliation: Lega F. D'Oro Research Center, Osimo, Italy.
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alberti
authors.affiliation: Lega F. D'Oro Research Center, Osimo, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Campodonico
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D012656:Self-Help Devices; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: ambulation; hand reaching; multiple disabilities; standing; technology