Sensory substitution devices (SSDs) facilitate the detection of environmental information through enhancement of touch and/or hearing capabilities. Research has demonstrated that several tasks can be successfully completed using acoustic, vibrotactile, and multimodal devices. The suitability of a substituting modality is also mediated by the type…

The scope of this paper is to examine the potential capabilities of embossed printers under the lens of Information Technology (IT). One of the main principles of IT is to manage and deliver information into accessible formats to all users with and without disabilities. The present study investigates the discriminability of lines and squares by…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who are also minimally verbal may require specialized interventions to promote the development of vocalizations. Preliminary research supports an innovative procedure called response contingent stimulus-stimulus pairing (SSP) as a potentially effective procedure to promote vocalizations. The primary aim…

Purpose: The primary purpose of this study was to derive spatial release from masking (SRM) performance-azimuth functions for bilateral cochlear implant (CI) users to provide a thorough description of SRM as a function of target/distracter spatial configuration. The secondary purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the microphone…

While assistive technology is often suggested as a way to increase, maintain, or improve functional ability for individuals with disabilities within physical activity (PA) settings, cost and availability of such items are often noted as barriers. In recent years, 3D printing has become available to the general public through the adoption of 3D…

Purpose: Feeding challenges in children are common, at times reaching a severity that requires the placement and long-term use of enteral feedings. A significant barrier to advancing the oral eating of some tube-dependent children is the presence of oral aversion. Although some research exists regarding the treatment of tube-dependent children who…

Background: New technologies could broaden activities for people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). This study compared watching television with a newly-developed interactive ball. Method: The ball responded with sounds, lights, and wiggling to the player's voice and movements. Five control sessions (watching television)…

Purpose: Effects of categorical phonotactic knowledge on pre-attentive speech processing were investigated by presenting illegal speech input that violated a phonotactic constraint in German called "g-deletion." The present study aimed to extend previous findings of automatic processing of phonotactic violations and to investigate the…

Background: This study aimed to assess a microswitch-aided program for helping 2 persons with multiple disabilities, who presented with head and shoulder posture problems, to exercise a combination of appropriate head and arm movements. Method: The program involved microswitches for monitoring participants' head and arm movements. A computer…

In some cochlear implant users, success is not achieved in spite of optimal clinical factors (including age at implantation, duration of rehabilitation and post-implant hearing level), which may be attributed to disorders at higher levels of the auditory pathway. We used cortical auditory evoked potentials to investigate the ability to perceive…

A variety of technology-aided programs have been developed to help persons with congenital or acquired multiple disabilities access preferred stimuli or choose among stimulus options. The application of those programs may pose problems when the participants have very limited behavior repertoires and are unable to use conventional responses and…

Previous research on the use of voice output communication aids (VOCAs) has found a number of positive effects on the behavior of both the VOCA user and their communicative partners. Among these outcomes, studies have found that incorporating speech output into language learning tasks may result in faster and more efficient learning for adults…

The increasing use of visual diagrams in educational and work environments, and even our daily lives, has created obstacles for individuals who are blind or visually impaired to "independently" access the information they represent. Although physical tactile pictures can be created to convey the visual information, it is typically a slow,…

Navigational and reaching spaces are known to involve different cognitive strategies and brain networks, whose development in humans is still debated. In fact, high-level spatial processing, including allocentric location encoding, is already available to very young children, but navigational strategies are not mature until late childhood. The…

These two studies extended the evidence on the use of technology-based intervention packages to promote adaptive behavior in persons with acquired brain injury and multiple disabilities. Study I involved five participants in a minimally conscious state who were provided with intervention packages based on specific arrangements of optic, tilt, or…