Assistive Technology for Children Who Have Cerebral Palsy: Augmentation Communication Devices

Children enjoy technology as a source of education and entertainment. However, technology is not strictly for the regular education student. For children with special needs, the world of technology offers hope and possibilities – a way to communicate and learn.

Cerebral palsy is the term used to describe the lack of control of the muscles or joints due to an injury during brain development, which results in disrupted coordinated movement. Depending on the location and extent of the damage, cerebral palsy can be mild, displaying itself as awkwardness, or severe, incapacitating a child from infancy. Seizures, mental disabilities, auditory problems, visual problems, communication problems, and possible impairments of other senses are sometime parallel with this disability. Children who have cerebral palsy may need support walking, talking, and eating.

Assistive technology devices are tools, equipment, or services that are designed to compensate for, or enhance the function of some physical or mental ability that is impaired. Children and adults who have a broad range of disabilities or limitations use assistive technology devices.

Augmentative communication devices are methods that help individuals communicate more easily and effectively. These devices can range from a board with pictures representing a student's daily needs to electronic speech synthesizers. This technology can help a child with disabilities feel more independent and take part in activities with other children.

Manual communication boards are an inexpensive and practical mode by which an individual can communicate. The term "manual" refers to the fact that the system does not involve any mechanical parts. An object i.e. toothbrush, a photograph, a symbol, and/or printed words can represent the user's message. For example, Boardmaker is a program that can be used to create a communication board. Using Boardmaker, communication boards can be personalized to coincide with the child's daily routine.

BIGmack: The BIGmack is a lightweight, easily transportable device that allows a message or a series of messages to be prerecorded. When the child touches the device the message is played back. When the prerecorded message corresponds to the classroom activities, the child is able to participate.

Dynavox: The Dynavox is an augmentative communication device that assists the user in output communication. To create a message, the child selects a menu with a specific category by touching the screen. The categories on the screen are similar to folders on a computer. When you open a folder, or category, subcategories are listed. Categories for a 10-year-old-boy might be school, home, and sports. The category "school" might be broken down into school subjects, school routine, people at school, etc. Those subcategories are broken down even further. The neat thing about the Dynavox is that the categories can be personalized to correspond with the child's life and every day activities. For children who are learning how to communicate using the Dynavox, categories can be broken down into broad categories. Some children with cerebral palsy may not able to use their hands well enough to use a device such as this to talk. Therefore a switch may be hooked up to the machine with which they can use their hands, feet, head, or chin to push. If child has a visual disability, they can activate the device with a switch when the desired word or phrase is heard.

One of my former students was a little girl who had cerebral palsy and was legally blind. She was learning how to use the Dynavox, and when the teachers asked her a question she would respond with the first word she heard, which was usually not an appropriate answer. One day during lunch, I was feeding her and by the look on her face I could tell that she did not like what she was eating. I put another spoonful to her lips, and she responded by saying, "No thank you. I do not like that." Needless to say, I was bewildered, and by the look on her face she was full of pride. In my experience the Dynavox is an effective tool for communication.

Delta Talker: Like the Dynavox, initial or more advanced communicators can use the Delta Talker. This device resembles a computer keyboard, but instead of writing words and sentences, different pictures and words are put together to make a sentence. The Delta Talker has picture and word keys in addition to the letters of the alphabet that allow it to produce over 4,000 sounds, words, and phrases. For children that are not able to target a specific area, a switch can be hooked up to the Delta Talker. Even with the assistance of a switch, this device is more complicated than the Dynavox.

Augmentative Communication Devices are making enormous strides, as computer technology allows more powerful and easier to use designs. It is gratifying that everyone can reap the rewards of technology.

Boardmaker: http://www.mayer-johnson.com/main/index.html
BIGmac: http://www.ablenetinc.com
Dynavox: http://www.dynavoxsys.com/
Delta Talker: http://www.prentrom.com

Alisa is pursuing a master's degree in Instructional Systems at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Special Education, specializing in mental retardation, and has experience working with children who are mentally handicapped, learning disabled, and/or physically impaired. She can be reached, via email at: alisabk@Hotmail.com

This article is in the public domain and can be freely copied and used in trainings as handouts at parent and community meetings, and in creating your school or district programs. (Please cite all sources of materials you use.)