A Continuum of AT Solutions for Confusion and Memory Loss After Traumatic Brain Injury
By Johnson, Anne; Cunningham, Joan; Murphy, Patti; Closing the Gap, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 19-21Publication Date: April/May 2009
Article discusses assistive technology solutions addressing cognitive deficits experienced by individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). These deficits, which can be mild to severe, often compromise the individual’s executive functioning, a term defined as the set of cognitive processes that help us connect past experience with present action. The devices discussed, mostly handheld, include: (1) The DynaVox Co-Pilot, a GPS-enabled personal digital assistant (PDA) providing audio and visual prompting needed to make decisions, follow directions, complete tasks, and managing a schedule with the aid of the four included software programs Discovery Desktop, Schedule Assistant, Pocket Coach, and Pocket Compass; (2) the Pocket Endeavor, which runs on a GPS-enabled SmartPhone PDA, offering a set of tools to support executive functioning, including an enhanced picture/audio scheduling system, voice recorder, verbal to-do lists, voice-based note-taking, and a visual cell phone. The tool is recommended for users with mild to moderate deficits from TBI; (3) the DynaVox V, a portable augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device featuring the Visual Scene Display for Adult (VSD-Adult) interface, designed to ease cognitive demands on the language system with images depicting people, places, objects, and experiences of significance to the end user in relation to each other. A larger version, the Vmax, for people in wheelchairs and the EyeMax, which can be operated by blinking or gazing, are also mentioned. A side bar with product information and a bibliography for further reading are appended.
Assistive Products Discussed: DYNAVOX V
DYNAVOX VMAX
Published by: Closing the Gap, Inc. (Website:http://www.closingthegap.com)
