Tutorial eight - Assistive technology

Cook and Hussey (1995) have defined assistive technology as being "any item or piece of equipment or product system whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized that is used to increase functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities". To me, this definition means that assistive technology is any piece of equipment that will help someone return to function in terms of day to day tasks. An example of this, is speech recognition.

(Image one)

Speech recognition is a software that allows people to communicate with technology through speaking to it, and it generates the words for them. This is useful for someone has trouble texting, writing & typing etc. It is easy to use, as it comes with manuals, and it is compactible and small which makes it prime to carry around to have for use when needed. It is compatible with all types of technology, such as computers or cellphones. The costs range from $40-$150, which won't break the bank.

(You tube, 2011)

The above video from you Tube, is an example of somebody who is wheelchair bound and uses assistive technology to be able to use a computer, and this is speech recognition. With this video, we can see how much speech recognition can help a person get back to doing a task they enjoy, such as using a computer. 

References:

Cook, A. M. & Hussey, S. M. (1996). Assistive technologies: Principles and practice. USA: Mosby

You Tube

Google Images

Tutorial Seven - Linking to blogs of interest and exchanging comments

For this tutorial, we were taught how to add links to pages of interest to our blogs, in this case, we are linking to other blogs related to occupational therapy, so I linked my fellow classmates how have blogged this year. These links can be shown to the right of the page on my blog. I also commented on Amanda's blog to show my interest in her written blog to show my understanding of exchanging comments when interest is supplied.

I have a picture example of this exchanging of comments, but the blogger server is rejecting it as an image.

I have also linked to Google, Facebook and YouTube, as they are useful sites to cater for all kinds of things, such as finding information, socialising and viewing examples of all kinds of things. These sites are defintely of interest

Tutorial Six - The internet and online communities

In this entry I am going to talk about a few online communities in relation to  topic from my placement at Child and adolescent mental health services. I spent four weeks assisting an occupational therapist in a child and adolescent mental health care unit at Tauranga Hospital. The tpoic I will talk about is the social interaction between children. These are three online communities that would relate to my time spent there and help me understand the tasks I was undergoing much better.

• Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/
• Equine Therapy: riding for the disabled - http://www.rda.org.nz/
• Blogspot - http://www.blogspot.com/

Facebook

Facebook is a large online social network that is worldwide. As of January 2011, it has over 600 million active nusers. This online community allows you to create your own profile, add other users as friends and excahnge messages including automatic messages when their profiles are updated. It is extremely interactive, allowing people to make their profiles and contribute ideas and interests. Additionally, the users can join common interest groups and connect with others with similar interests. I found this an interesting site in respect to CAMHS, as a lot, if not all, the clients used this site to connect with their friends, family etc. Being a facebook user myself, it helped me to understand the social standing of the kids I was working with. The ethical issue that can arise from facebook, is that anyone can send mssages or post on anyones pages, which can mean that some people may get messages or have comments posted on their public page that they dont want there.

Equine therapy: Riding for the Disabled

 Riding for the disabled (RDA), is a therapeutic nteraction with horses in order to develop increased ability and self esteem for children with physucal and inteleectual difficulties. This website goes over how equine therapy helps to work with the children and how it can beneift them. Its not very interactive, as its mainly an informational site for people to refer to. I found this a useful website to refer to, as on my placement at CAMHS, I attended an RDA with a few of my clients, and understanding how it helps is a useful tool in this situation. This was one of many therapeutic activities that were used in this setting.

Blogspot

Blogger is a website where you can create your own blog and write about whatever you desire. People create blogs to write demonstrations and tutorials, write about their own lives, or create stories and explore their own imaginations. Blogger is very interactive, where people can make their own blogs, contribute ideas and information and interact with other peoples blogs. I found blogger and interesting website in terms of CAMHS as they are encouraged to explore their own lives, and I think Blogger wold be a good place to do so, as it allows you to create insight and understand things better when great thought is put into it.

Tutorial Five - Video Production

http://www.youtube.com/
This is a website call youtube, which is a video sharing website on which users can upload, share and view videos posted by other users of this online source. This site includes all kinds of videos, such as; movie clips, TV clips and music videos.
Youtube can be super useful to find information and learn more about a specific topic, or how to do something. My second fieldwork I was in a retirement village, and there I learned a lot about adaptive devices to help people carry out their ADL's (Activities of Daily Living). So, I am going to show you 5 video clips taken from youtube, which will help you understand a bit more about adaptive devices, which is useful in a retirement setting.

This video goes over the understanding of adaptive devices for ADL's

This video helps a person to understand a little bit about using adaptive equipment in the bathroom, such as helping a person use the toilet or get into the shower.

This video helps a person to understand a little bit about the use to adaptive equipment in the bedroom, such as helping a person get dressed.

This next video goes over how to use adaptive equipment in the kitchen, such as using an object to help you pour water from a jug, or something that aids you in taking lids off containers.

This last video I found on youtube goes over a specific adaptive device to help someone who is deaf.

With these youtube videos we can see how we can go onto this site and learn about something specific so that we can understand it better and be better equipped in some situations, such as working in a retirement village where a general knowledge of adaptive equipment would be necessary as it can improve sometimes ability to function independently with their day to day tasks.

References:
http://www.youtube.com/

Tutorial Three & Four - Movie Making

We were asked to create a video to show our understanding of using technology, such as a camera, and to create this video around a specific letter. The chosen letter for my video was "c", and I went around the house as I was away at school the day these were done, and I filmed things that begun with "c" to show my understanding of using a camera and a tripod. The use of scripting was integrated into my video making, as I added special effects such as fade in and fade out.

(Personal video, 2011)