An Overview of Recent Technology-Aided Intervention Strategies to Help People with Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities Meet Relevant Rehabilitation Goals

Abstract

The paper presents an overview of recent studies assessing technology-aided strategies aimed at helping people with intellectual and multiple disabilities reach relevant rehabilitation goals. The 16 studies included in the paper addressed four specific rehabilitation goals, that is, (a) performance of functional activities, (b) access to leisure and communication and performance of functional activities, (c) increase of adaptive responses and decrease of problem behavior or inadequate posture, and (d) increase of ambulation responses. For each study, the paper reports the participants involved, the technology and the assessment process used, and the results obtained. Following the presentation of the studies, the paper focuses on three practically relevant issues: the role of technology-aided strategies over time, the relative potential of various technology-aided strategies, and the accessibility and applicability of the strategies.