Higher education institutions require innovative work integrated learning models to deliver sufficient and appropriate practice opportunities for students. This study describes the experience of an interprofessional placement course by students enrolled in a prosthetic and orthotic degree at a regional university in Australia. Twelve…

Audio description (AD), narrative description of key visual elements for visually impaired or blind audiences, is provided in English in the United States; however, Spanish-language AD is almost nonexistent. Because Spanish is the most spoken and fastest growing non-English language in this country, training translation students to provide AD in…

In the field of low vision rehabilitation, there exists a plethora of devices to assist with visual reading that are critical to reading success and customization for persons with low vision (along with other education and rehabilitation considerations). In addition, visual efficiency skills and ergonomics are oftentimes prerequisite or…

Purpose: The aims of this study were (a) to longitudinally assess environmental sound recognition (ESR) before and after cochlear implantation in a sample of postlingually deafened adults and (b) to assess the extent to which spectro-temporal processing abilities influence ESR with cochlear implants (CIs). Method: In a longitudinal cohort study,…

Research has shown that training diagonal targets in a matrix may result in correct responses to the nondiagonal targets within the same matrix and novel targets from a separate matrix. This study replicated prior research using matrix training to teach tact noun-verb combinations to 3 male participants with autism who use a speech generating…

Voice assistants (VAs) (e.g., Apple Siri, Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, etc.) offer considerable potential to users. The hands-free nature of these technologies, enables users to perform tasks which would otherwise be difficult to accomplish. As individuals who are blind are already familiar with spoken output through the use of screen readers,…

In view of the emerging technologies in the virtual reality industry, VR provides a practical platform to train people in a safe and time-saving manner through serious virtual training tasks. Recent researches validate the effectiveness of virtual training, especially, it has been proved that personalized training in virtual reality is efficient…

Introduction: Various retinal implants are being developed and appear to be a promising option for improving the visual capacities of individuals with retinal dystrophy. A multidisciplinary approach to both assessment of a candidate's factors and rehabilitation could contribute to improved activity and participation. The purpose of this study was…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate vocabulary development in Mandarin-speaking children with bilateral cochlear implants (CIs), bimodal stimulation (CI plus hearing aids [HAs]), or unilateral CIs during the first year after CI activation. Method: Participants included 23 children with simultaneous bilateral CIs, 23 children with…

Symbolic, spatial, and visual information, which is important for comprehending and learning physical and natural sciences, is not readily accessible to blind and low-vision (BLV) students in the undergraduate chemistry classroom, laboratory, and virtual environment via conventional means (through print and images), thus, creating a…

Parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing have long attracted interest from researchers, though, since the 1990s, published research about this population has increasingly gravitated toward issues surrounding pediatric cochlear implantation. This scoping review was undertaken to map the nature, extent, and range of three decades of…

Assistive technologies have the potential to provide accessible support to people with varying needs and abilities, including older autistic adults. However, there is currently limited knowledge about how older autistic adults use technology in their daily lives, whether it is sufficient to meet their needs and whether they experience any barriers…

The aim of this scoping review was to systematically map and summarise recent peer-reviewed research on children with dysgraphia between 2015 and May 2021. The research included the perspectives of children, carers, and educators. Dysgraphia is a largely unrecognised specific learning disorder (SLD) in writing that manifests as a disability in…

Purpose: Tracheostomy patients face many adversities including loss of phonation and essential airway functions including air filtering, warming, and humidification. Heat and moisture exchangers (HMEs) facilitate humidification and filtering of inspired air. The Shikani HME (S-HME) is a novel turbulent airflow HME that may be used in-line with the…

Purpose: This study aimed to obtain a comprehensive understanding about how Mandarin-speaking children with cochlear implants (CIs) performed speech prosody in a connected discourse and to what extent their prosodic scenario differed from those normal-hearing (NH) peers. Method: Fifteen prelingually deaf Mandarin-speaking children with unilateral…