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.

Today’s “Technology Tuesday” is about “Barney.” Barney is an adult who is non verbal, and was a very early adopter of technology. He used an early version of an electronic communication device in a vocational setting.

Unfortunately, the device wasn’t capable of meeting his needs. He was limited to 15 choices of words and phrases he could choose to communicate, and rather than help him with his employment, he instead tended to use it to get out of doing tasks he didn’t want to do. And because it was set up specifically for vocational purposes, it didn’t work well in other settings.

Eventually, Barney gave up on the device altogether.

Because we knew Barney had already been exposed to using technology to communicate, we thought he’d be a good candidate to introduce him to the latest generation of technology. Before we could do that, however, we had to determine if the technology would work for him.

So recently, we tested Barney using a iPad to create an “environmental overlay,” a series of pictures of rooms and items to see if Barney was able to identify and differentiate between the rooms and items. If so, that would mean that Barney would probably be able to use a picture based system on his iPad to communicate his needs and desires. Barney tested at 90%, proving he is able to identify different photos of rooms and items.

So in the next month we will begin training Barney on using this iPad picture based communication program so he can take the next step toward becoming more independent and in control of his own environment.

One way to ensure success in moving Barney towards independence is the support of all of his providers. Barney’s Host Home provider has worked closely with Imagine! staff members to create a foundation for success.