The impact of time aids on independence and autonomy in adults with developmental disabilities

Evaluating intervention using time aids in children with disabilities

“…This indicates that education might play an important role in timeprocessing intervention. It underlines the recommendation to include education when prescribing assistive devices (5,15,16). It is also in line with increasing evidence that parent training may have an effect not only on parental stress but also on the child's behaviourbut a lesser effect on cognitive functions (41) in the form used thus far.…”

“…In school, assistive devices need to be integrated into educational practice, and support should help the child to experience immediate benefits from the device and to remove or minimize barriers to social participation (14). Positive attitudes and a desire to provide increased control and independence should always accompany the prescription of assistive devices (5,15). Negative attitudes towards the use of cognitive assistive devices from the person or the social context are related to non-use and participation restrictions (16).…”

“…Time aids used to compensate lacking time perception are devices making the passage of time visible and understandable. One example is the Time rule with a row of light diodes, where many lit diodes indicate a long time and few indicate a short time (5). Intervention to support time orientation includes schedules, the quarter-hour watch, adapted calendars, and other visual aids to promote orientation in the time of day, week, or year.…”

“…Children and adolescents with ASD were found to have difficulties in sequencing events (3). Persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) have demonstrated problems in time orientation (4,5). Impaired executive planning functions, including time management, were found in young people with autism (6) and have been reported in children with ADHD (7,8).…”

Choice and control for people ageing with intellectual disability in group homes

“…One example of this is the lack of cognitive assistive devices in semi-private spaces, and how the staff talked about its absence. It is well documented that the use of cognitive assistive devices, such as time aids or communication tools, among people with ID, can be decisive for their participation in everyday life (56)(57), and also for people ageing with this disability (28)(29)(30)58). Keeping older people with ID from getting access to cognitive assistive devices due to their chronological age could be an example of discriminative attitudes among the staff providing or giving access to these devices, often occupational therapists.…”