What is it about?
The study was conducted to find out what two pre-school children with multiple and complex disabilities including profound cognitive disabilities could learn from the experience of using a joystick to set the powered wheelchair in motion and achieving some control of the movement of the chair. The children's tool use and movement experience developed their use of hands, they learned about simple cause-effect relationships and showed more interest in their close environment.
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Why is it important?
The findings are early evidence that Driving to Learn is a useful therapeutic intervention for children at an early developmental level. Safe practice in a powered wheelchair showed to be a powerful and fun way to provide the two children with opportunities to develop and learn about tool use, relationships and how to influence on their close environment.
Perspectives
This group of children have low expectations for development and learning and few existing interventions fits for explorative and intuitive learning. A joystick-operated powered wheelchair showed to be a powerful tool as when its movement was caused at random by the childrens' reaching out, touching and grabbing of the joystick, the movement excited the childrens' curiosity and they initiated further exploration and experimentation with the joystick.
Dr Lisbeth Nilsson
Lund University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Driving to Learn: A New Concept for Training Children With Profound Cognitive Disabilities in a Powered Wheelchair, American Journal of Occupational Therapy, March 2003, AOTA Press,
DOI: 10.5014/ajot.57.2.229.
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