Tutorial Eight: Assistive Technology.

Assistive or Adaptive Technology- commonly refers to "...products, devices or equipment, whether acquired commercially, modified or customized, that are used to maintain, increase or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities...", according to the definition proposed in the Assistive Technology Act of 1998. (Rehab tool. 2012).  Assistive or adaptive technology is anything that can aid and help someone with a disability to improve their functional capabilities. Whether it be communicating, participating, learning and education.

One piece of assistive technology that was introduced to me within the tutorial was a ‘talking photo album.’ This piece of equipment was used for those with physical and cognitive impairments. It could record 100minuets of talking and had a removable SD card that could easily transfer the recordings to a PC. The ‘talking photo album’ had a built in speaker, used 3x AAA batteries and was an A5 size. There were 20 double sided pages and places for 5x7 sized photographs. You are able to record a separate voice message on each page. This device was used to document the day and everything in it that was to be kept memorable. This piece of assistive technology allows the user to remember things they might not be able to and share them with others; it also helps those with perhaps sight impairments and cognitive problems. It can be purchased from Jay car for $50 and allows a great way to interact and share their memories with others and remind themselves. 

 Rehab tool. (2012). What is assistive technology. Retreived from http://www.rehabtool.com/forum/discussions/1.html

Here are two links showing this piece of assistive technology. These links show the concept of disruption being stopped. “Occupational Disruption: A transient or temporary condition of being restricted from participation in necessary or meaningful occupations, such as that caused by illness, temporary relocation, or temporary unemployment.” (Person education. 2006). This piece of equipment allows the user to be a part of the occupations that are meaningful to them and share it with others. Without this piece of assistive technology occupational disruption could occur.

 Person education. (2006). Received from wps.prenhall.com/chet_christiansen_introoccup_1/7/2018/5167…

Youtube. (2012). Talking Photo Album Records Your Voice On Each Picture. Received from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMLV409Sbdw

Youtube. (2012). Talking Albums for Education by Talking Products. Reveiced from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9iyPFY7DIc

Tutorial Seven: Blogging part two.

This blog is where I will find other peoples blogs and comment on them and explain what they are about and link them here. I will also provide evidence of one comment/question to someone’s blog here.

Jen Hooker a fellow class mate’s blog focuses on the same things as my blog, however instead of music and movement Jen focuses on Cooking. Her website communities are all about depression. I found them very informative and interesting to watch. Her layout is clear and easy to read because of the white back ground and black text. To see Jens Blog click here.

Road to Ren, this blog is about this person’s journey to adopt their Chinese baby Ren. The posts are mostly pictures and some writing about what the pictures mean. The pictures are very interesting and it’s lovely to watch  as the family grow throughout the pictures. To see this blog click here.

Nicolae Naumof’s blog  is a lot about opinion based blogs. One in particular is about Pro-abortion and the opinions around this. It is set out well but the grey words against the bright green back ground makes it hard to read. To see this blog click here.

Goia Bogdan’s blog is a collection of amazing close up photos. They are stunning photos they show a lot of detail. To see this blog click here.

The dancers blog, is a collection of photos and videos of dance. With quotes such as "Dance is your pulse, your heartbeat, your breathing. It's the rhythm of your life. It's the expression in time and movement, in happiness, joy, sadness and envy." ~Jaques. This blog is bright pink and quite girly. Very arty pictures. To see this blog click here.

Here is an example of  some communication I have had  since commenting on a blog

Madison16 May 2012 23:29

This is so interesting, I didn't realise there were so many things that could help you when looking at online comminites. Just a question, you mentioned about not knowing if a site is reliable or not. How would you know if it was realiable? Thanks Madison.

Rachel Morton17 May 2012 00:22

you can check who it was written/ authorised by at the bottom of the page is one example =]

Madison17 May 2012 00:26

Oh that's a good idea, thank you :)

Tutorial Six: The internet and on-line communities.

The chosen area of interest that I have picked from fieldwork to search for online communities is strokes. The online communities I have chosen help support, offer information and help those who have suffered from strokes or had close ones experiences them to network and find help from these sites.

Stoke Foundation 

The Stroke Network  

Stroke Community

The stroke Foundation website can be found by clickinghere.

The Purpose of this site is to inform people about news updates, allow people to network and find comfort and support in others, it has links to information that can be easily accessed and also has campaigns running that people can be a part of. People seek to contribute to this community to bring a sense of unity and to be informed. The community allows the page users to not feel ‘alone’ and can comment and talk to others.The information on the page can be posted onto to give feedback and other can write back. The site is very active and has many links to clink on and things to look at. People can contribute to this site by commenting on things, being a volunteer and contributing to fundraising events.The site allows the user to contact them through email and has numerous locations in which they can be found throughout NZ.

The Stroke Network is a page that can be found by clicking here.

The Stoke Network page is a network of sites, woven together to provide you with stroke support and information.  This is where people can blog their feelings, comment on what others have written, read information about strokes and what they entail and link too many other supporting sites about strokes. The site is very interactive because there are many ways the user can contribute to this site such as the things I mentioned before about the blogs ect. The intended purpose for this site is to inform and help those in need of information about stroke and needing support.  People can contribute to the page by registering and receiving emails watch and upload videos and participate in polls.

Stoke Community can be found by clicking here.

Is a site where you can post questions and read what others have written. There is plenty of links to research and find out about a lot of health information. There’s links to find a doctor near you and even a link to talk to an expert. You can register to the site and keep track of the things you have looked at, a profile that others can see and a way to look and others profiles and interact with them.

These sites relate to occupational deprivation there are links that explain how a stroke can be life altering and can hinder occupations you might once have done easily that perhaps now you can’t do at all. They also relate to occupational transition where they have information about the life changes that will have to be made, and things might change in your day to day living. There are links to how these changes can affect you and how best to deal with them.

The benefits of these sites are that people can come to these sites and get support from others, from information through links, photographs, videos, newsletters and much more. There are limitations to these communities also, such as someone could post false information over the posts and someone could rely on this source of information as being totally true. This could lead them astray. People using these sites could begin to get so absorbed in finding new information and talking to others like them that they get sucked into the virtual world and forget to go out in the real world.

There are many ethical issues that can arise when using online community websites such as lack of client confidentiality people could use people’s names without consent. There also could be a bit of identity misuse where people could post pretending to be other people.

References:
Med Help. (1993). Stroke community. Retrieved from http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Stroke/show/62

The Stoke Network. (2008). The Stroke Network. Retrieved from http://www.strokenetwork.org/

Stroke Foundation. (n.d.). The Stroke Foundation New Zealand. Retrieved from http://www.stroke.org.nz/

Tutorial Five: Video production part two.

Tutorial 5: Video production part two.

The following videos show the theme music and movement, I chose this theme as it was one of the focal points at my fieldwork experience.  They used music and movement to encourage belonging, encouragement, positive reinforcement, learning, education and much more.

This video is showing those with physical impairments dancing, they get so much enjoyment, feeling of purpose and inclusion from dancing in a group together.

This video is all about a group trying to remove the stigma around people who have disabilities; they show us that if you put your mind to something you can achieve it. They are very inspiring.

This video is about the benefits of dance and how it can help the mind body and soul. Movement is so therapeutic and this video emphasises this.

This video is breaking down what dance typically is, how it helps with therapy, how movement can focus on what is happening to their body.

This video is a documentary on the benefits of music in relation to music, and how it helps the brain, mind body and soul.

References:

YouTube. (2012). Dancers with disabilities inspire. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKwaxtnYZbo

YouTube. (2012). Dancing through disabilities. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCdVxICvEGg

YouTube. (2012). Dance Movement Therapy and Counseling Program at Antioch University New England. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FbyysYbNwM&feature=related

YouTube. (2012). Dance Movement Therapy (1 of 5). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMJeoJQCOug&feature=related

YouTube. (2012). A Music Therapy Documentary: Thank You For The Music. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfbAjSGc03g&feature=related

Tutorial Four: video production part one

In this blog I will introduce the one minute film that was created in class; this film was themed around life transitions centred on the different life stages throughout a person’s life. These life stages include kindergarten, primary school, high school, university and retirement.

In a group of 6 we planned together what we were going to put in the video we also assigned roles such as director, camera man, actors, props person, actors and story board planner. We were given two hours to complete both filming and editing the film.

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Tutorial Three: Blogging part one

This is where we focused on setting up this blog page, including the blog design, profile information filled out, providing titles and decriptions for blogs and setting up privacy boundaries linking to the course blog.

Tutorial Two: Occupational Engagement, Doing, Being, Becoming and belonging.

The 'Music and Movement' slideshow i have created is to show Occupational engagement through the use of doing, being, becoming and belonging.

Music and movement slideshow

View more PowerPoint from Otago Polytechnic

Tutorial one: Information Technology and Ethical Issues

The focus for my first blog post is to introduce the concept information technology and some ethical considerations and issues that coincide with technology.

A definition from (Tech Terms. 2012). “I.T. It refers to anything related to computing technology, such as networking, hardware, software, the Internet, or the people that work with these technologies.” Information technology is a way of storing information, managing and processing it through technology. It is a way to communicate and information and store it.
Information technology is here to stay, it is all around us and used on a day to day basis. we use our cell phones as alarms to wake us up in the morning, we check our emails on our computers, iPhones for our daily schedules, cameras to capture moments, television to update on the news and happenings of the world and do so many other technologies that are used every day just to keep us informed, connected and communicating. Through this video from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fugNmKtKV0M you can see how technology has changed the way we can educate future generations.

Devices that I am comfortable using on a day to day basis are my cell phone as it wakes me up in the morning keeps me communicating with others and tells me the time. I use my computer every day to check emails, load songs, pay bills, go on Moodle and blogs to complete my homework and studies; it educates me and helps me connect with family and friends all over the world through social networking sites. I use my iPod when I go running to listen to music and keep an eye on the time and I use my camera a lot to document memories and fun times that I have each day. I feel that I am comfortable using these technologies as I have grown up around them and they have always been there. I pick up on how to use new technologies quickly and this enables me to want to use new and improved technologies to help me learn, communicate and enhance daily living. Sometimes technologies don’t always work and this limits the way we can use them. We really rely on technology to the point if the internet is down I cannot complete my homework. Many of my meaningful occupations involve using technology. I love seeing my friends and I can keep in contact with the use of email, cell phone and networking sites. I also am studying so the internet and computer is used on a daily basis and without it, it would be very difficult to complete tasks, assignments and research.

Within my fieldwork experiences I have seen information technology used in a number of ways such as music and movement to encourage involvement and participation from those with physical and mental disabilities; it gives them a sense of belonging and purpose. Wii games and PlayStation was used as a reward system to play and engage in meaningful activities. The use of computers allows the support workers and parents and staff to keep a record of how the clients are doing the parents and caregivers can go on and see how the client was that day, what they achieved any other notes of interest.

IT can have its implications on Occupational therapists such as the OT needs to know how to use the technology and be able to decipher the possible implications and benefits. Technologies can stop working and can be very complex to figure out why they have done something when you wanted it to do something else.

I envision OT’s using IT in the future in the form of an I Pad, these would be able to help clients in many different ways such as someone who is suffering from fatigue could set up a prioritised schedule with the OT on the I Pad to remind themselves to do the most important tasks of the day first, it could also set off alarms reminding them to have a rest or other important things to remember like education, to take medication and OT appointments. This video shows how to effectively use the I Pad for important dates, notes and scheduling http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NZUU2kOalA
I feel it is important for OTs to have an understanding of IT and how it can help our clients to enhance their daily lives and to enable occupation. For example the internet can help a person to become more independent, they may not have been able to leave the house but through the internet they can pay bills online, order groceries to be delivered and communicate with others. The internet can also provide online games, crafts and many more to further help the client to participate in meaningful occupations.
It is really important to consider the ethical considerations when using IT. When using pictures it is important to have consent from the persons in the picture to have the photo taken and put up onto the internet, also that it is reference if it is not an original. It is important to reference any information that you have taken and used that is not yours. It is vital to note that once it is posted onto the internet it is often difficult to take off and security can be hard to control what happens to that information. Confidentiality is something that must be considered, names, addresses and the like are not noted unless consent is approved.  

References:


YouTube. (2012). iPad Calendar, Contacts and Notes (MacMost Now 382). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NZUU2kOalA
 YouTube. (2012). We Like Using Technology Everyday! Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fugNmKtKV0M

Tech Terms. (2012). Techterms.com. Retrieved from http://www.techterms.com/definition/it

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to my blog.

This blog page is based around the course paper Participation in Occupation. It was created as a requirement for the stage two students in the Bachelor of Occupational Therapy course at Otago Polytechnic. Participation in occupation looks at human occupations and how technology can be used as an Occupational Therapy tool.