Keywords

assistive technology, cognition disorders, handheld computers, Internet, rehabilitation, traumatic brain injury

 

Authors

  1. Kirsch, Ned L. PhD, ABPP(RP)
  2. Shenton, Michelle MEd, CCC/SLP
  3. Spirl, Erin OTR
  4. Simpson, Rich PhD
  5. LoPresti, Edmund PhD
  6. Schreckenghost, Debra MS

Abstract

Objective: To assess an assistive-technology intervention for neurobehavioral change, coordinated with a Web-based data recording system.

 

Participant: Male, mid-thirties, with a complex history, having verbose speech subsequent to traumatic brain injury.

 

Design: BAB' single-case.

 

Intervention and Measures: The intervention (B and B' trials) was a digital recording of the participant's voice, stating "be brief," delivered at fixed intervals by a personal digital assistant. Utterance start and stop times were monitored with a wireless, Web-enabled device and were recorded in a server-side database.

 

Results: Utterance frequency did not change. However, the total utterance time was reduced during B trials, attributable to the reduced frequency of lengthier utterances.

 

Conclusions: The target behavior was modified successfully. The participant adopted a specific cue-appropriate strategy. Since a variety of alternative response strategies may be required of a person, given a range of context-specific social practices and community settings, the importance of context-sensitive assistive technology cue repertoires is discussed.