The impact of gaze-based assistive technology on daily activities in children with severe physical impairments

............................................................................................................... 1 LIST OF PAPERS ....................................................................................................... 3 ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................... 4 DEFINITIONS ............................................................................................................ 5 PREFACE ................................................................................................................... 6 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 7 CHILDREN WITH SEVERE PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENTS WITHOUT SPEECH ............................................................................................................... 9 Communication methods ............................................................................... 10 PARTICIPATION .............................................................................................. 11 Participation in children with severe physical impairments ........................... 13 ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY ............................................................................. 13 AT usability .................................................................................................. 15 GAZE-BASED ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY ................................................... 16 Eye gaze control ............................................................................................ 18 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ....................................................................... 19 Human Activity Assistive Technology model (HAAT) ................................. 19 RATIONALE OF THE THESIS ......................................................................... 20 AIMS OF THE THESIS ............................................................................................ 23 METHODS................................................................................................................ 25 STUDY DESIGN ............................................................................................... 25 STUDY CONTEXT............................................................................................ 26 PARTICIPANTS ................................................................................................ 27 DEVELOPMENT OF THE GAT INTERVENTION .......................................... 29 The AT intervention – the pilot study (Study I) ............................................. 30 Adapting the intervention .............................................................................. 31 The GAT intervention (Study II) ................................................................... 32 OUTCOME MEASUREMENT .......................................................................... 38 Study I the pilot study ................................................................................. 38