Persons with Multiple Disabilities Exercise Adaptive Head and Hand-Eye Responses Using Technology-Aided Programs: Two Single-Case Studies

The present single-case studies assessed the effectiveness of technology-aided programs to help two persons with multiple disabilities exercise adaptive response schemes independently. In Study I, exercise concerned head movements (i.e., head and neck posture/muscle control) by a 12-year-old girl who tended to keep her head turned/bent to her left. In Study II, exercise concerned touching one or two object cues on a computer monitor (i.e., a preliminary form of hand-eye coordination) by a 15-year-old boy. The technology involved microswitches to detect the occurrence of the target responses and a computer/control system to record their occurrences and activate preferred stimuli contingent on them. Results showed large increases in the responses targeted for each of the two participants during the intervention phases of the studies. The importance of using technology-aided programs as tools for enabling persons with profound and multiple disabilities to practice relevant responses independently was discussed.