Tutorial Seven: Assistive technology

Assistive Technology refers to a broad range of devices, services, strategies and practices that are conceived and applied to problems faced by individuals who have disabilities (Cook and Hussey, 2000).
A piece of adaptive technology that we looked at within our tutorials was the use of adaptive switches. The basic switch know as the "Standard switch" will connect to a range of electronic devices such as blenders, sewing machines, and drills and by simply pressing the switch the device works. For example the blender blends, the sewing machine sews and the drill drills.
The average cost for a basic adaptive switch is $101.25c including gst.
The use of adaptive switches increases the functionally capacity for the user by allowing the user to be able to functionally use a machine by simply pressing the the switch. Obviously someone will need to set up the machine and the switch. Using a switch like this gives someone with a disability a sense of achievementas they can functionally use the tool to create something.