Powered Mobility for People with Cognitive Disabilities

Learning Objectives:

Introduction
Cognitive disabilities – causes and definitions
Powered mobility – safety, technology, learning tool use

The research project Driving to Learn
Short about method, participants, practice, outcomes, findings

Infants with typical development making tests in a joystick-operated powered wheelchair

People with cognitive disabilities and possible benefits of practice in a joystick-operated powered wheelchair

Development of a powered wheelchair for people with cognitive disabilities
C300TIRO- the learning tool; a powered wheelchair designed for the method

  • Good seating and learning properties
  • Practical demonstration of TIRO and testing

Lunch

Tool use learning
Signs of growing consciousness of tool use (joystick, powered wheelchair) illustrated by video clips from clinical practice

  • the eight-phase learning process
  • the ALP tool (Assessment of Learning Powered mobility use
  • testing to use the ALP with video clips from practice in powered wheelchair

The Driving to Learn™ method
Presentation of the methodological approach (illustrated by video clips)

  • pedagogy
  • mutual interaction
  • facilitating strategies

Implementation in clinical practice in Sweden and England

The grounded theory of de-plateauing – what makes it possible to exceed preconceived expectations of development, growth and learning

Discussion

Bio

Lisbeth Nilsson, PhD, Reg. Occupational Therapist
Specialist in the field of cognitive disabilities Affiliated to Lund University, Sweden
Home address: Box 158, S-960 33 Murjek, Sweden Phone: +46 705838596 Email: lisbeth.nilsson@med.lu.se or lisbeth.nilsson@kiruna.nu Home page: www.lisbethnilsson.se

Lisbeth Nilsson,PhD, is a specialist in occupational therapy and an associated researcher of the Department of Occupational Therapy and Gerontology at Lund University, Sweden. During her research education she developed the method Driving to Learn™ in parallel with designing a special powered wheelchair concept for people with cognitive disabilities. She has published her work in international journals and presented workshops worldwide. Today she focuses on implementation of the method in clinical practice and further development of the method. Her special interests are tool use and learning processes. She is also collaborating on refining the ALP (Assessment of Learning Powered mobility use) together with Josephine Durkin, PhD and head occupational therapist, Chailey Heritage, England.