Technology Tuesday

Welcome to “Technology Tuesday.” The SmartHomes team has moved fully into the second phase of our project, where we are taking technology out of the SmartHomes and getting it in other settings and into the hands of other clients beyond just those living in the homes. We want to share those stories with you, hence the new feature. We hope these stories will be short and easy to read insights into how technology is changing the lives of everyone served by Imagine!, not just those living in the SmartHome.

For today’s “Technology Tuesday,” we’d like to share a little about the skills screening tools we have created for clients with significant disabilities who have spent most of their lives reliant on others for support in almost every activity of daily life.

The skills screening tools help Imagine! staff members determine which reinforcing activities would be most effective for individual clients. For example, one client may be motivated by being able to choose his or her favorite music, while another may be more interested in controlling which video he or she would like to watch, or another may find a different sensory input motivating (like being able to turn on a massage chair).

These skills screening tools provide us with the information necessary to develop individualized teaching programs for clients so they can learn how to control equipment themselves, and take the first steps toward making independent choices and establish control over their environment. Knowing which outcomes will be the most motivating for each individual increases the chances of success versus a “one-size-fits-all” approach that may work for some, but not others.

Our hope is that by increasing the odds of success at the early stages of learning how to make independent choices will eventually lead to the acquisition of more advanced communications skills.