A Technology System to Help People With Intellectual Disability and Blindness Find Room Destinations During Indoor Traveling: Case Series Study

BackgroundPeople with severe or profound intellectual disability and visual impairment tend to have serious problems in orientation and mobility and need assistance for their indoor traveling. The use of technology solutions may be critically important to help them curb those...

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Main Authors: Giulio E Lancioni, Gloria Alberti, Chiara Filippini, Nirbhay N Singh, Mark F O’Reilly, Jeff Sigafoos, Isabella Orlando, Lorenzo Desideri
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JMIR Publications 2024-11-01
Series:JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies
Online Access:https://rehab.jmir.org/2024/1/e65680
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author Giulio E Lancioni
Gloria Alberti
Chiara Filippini
Nirbhay N Singh
Mark F O’Reilly
Jeff Sigafoos
Isabella Orlando
Lorenzo Desideri
author_facet Giulio E Lancioni
Gloria Alberti
Chiara Filippini
Nirbhay N Singh
Mark F O’Reilly
Jeff Sigafoos
Isabella Orlando
Lorenzo Desideri
author_sort Giulio E Lancioni
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundPeople with severe or profound intellectual disability and visual impairment tend to have serious problems in orientation and mobility and need assistance for their indoor traveling. The use of technology solutions may be critically important to help them curb those problems and achieve a level of independence. ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess a new technology system to help people with severe to profound intellectual disability and blindness find room destinations during indoor traveling. MethodsA total of 7 adults were included in the study. The technology system entailed a barcode reader, a series of barcodes marking the room entrances, a smartphone, and a special app that controlled the presentation of different messages (instructions) for the participants. The messages varied depending on whether the participants were (1) in an area between room entrances, (2) in correspondence with a room entrance to bypass, or (3) in correspondence with a room entrance representing the destination to enter. The intervention with the technology system was implemented according to a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design across participants. Sessions included 7 traveling trials, in each of which the participants were to reach and enter a specific room (1 of the 7 or 9 available) to deliver an object they had carried (transported) during their traveling. ResultsThe participants’ mean frequency of traveling trials completed correctly was between zero and 2 per session during the baseline (without the system). Their mean frequency increased to between about 6 and nearly 7 per session during the intervention (with the system). ConclusionsThe findings suggest that the new technology system might be a useful support tool for people with severe to profound intellectual disability and blindness.
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spelling doaj-art-db2b93a7c9114f46ba8f0156275e683f2024-11-27T18:15:31ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies2369-25292024-11-0111e6568010.2196/65680A Technology System to Help People With Intellectual Disability and Blindness Find Room Destinations During Indoor Traveling: Case Series StudyGiulio E Lancionihttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9986-2345Gloria Albertihttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6355-2003Chiara Filippinihttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2282-3537Nirbhay N Singhhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4418-4847Mark F O’Reillyhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6433-3475Jeff Sigafooshttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1239-759XIsabella Orlandohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2134-6081Lorenzo Desiderihttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2091-2907 BackgroundPeople with severe or profound intellectual disability and visual impairment tend to have serious problems in orientation and mobility and need assistance for their indoor traveling. The use of technology solutions may be critically important to help them curb those problems and achieve a level of independence. ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess a new technology system to help people with severe to profound intellectual disability and blindness find room destinations during indoor traveling. MethodsA total of 7 adults were included in the study. The technology system entailed a barcode reader, a series of barcodes marking the room entrances, a smartphone, and a special app that controlled the presentation of different messages (instructions) for the participants. The messages varied depending on whether the participants were (1) in an area between room entrances, (2) in correspondence with a room entrance to bypass, or (3) in correspondence with a room entrance representing the destination to enter. The intervention with the technology system was implemented according to a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design across participants. Sessions included 7 traveling trials, in each of which the participants were to reach and enter a specific room (1 of the 7 or 9 available) to deliver an object they had carried (transported) during their traveling. ResultsThe participants’ mean frequency of traveling trials completed correctly was between zero and 2 per session during the baseline (without the system). Their mean frequency increased to between about 6 and nearly 7 per session during the intervention (with the system). ConclusionsThe findings suggest that the new technology system might be a useful support tool for people with severe to profound intellectual disability and blindness.https://rehab.jmir.org/2024/1/e65680
spellingShingle Giulio E Lancioni
Gloria Alberti
Chiara Filippini
Nirbhay N Singh
Mark F O’Reilly
Jeff Sigafoos
Isabella Orlando
Lorenzo Desideri
A Technology System to Help People With Intellectual Disability and Blindness Find Room Destinations During Indoor Traveling: Case Series Study
JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies
title A Technology System to Help People With Intellectual Disability and Blindness Find Room Destinations During Indoor Traveling: Case Series Study
title_full A Technology System to Help People With Intellectual Disability and Blindness Find Room Destinations During Indoor Traveling: Case Series Study
title_fullStr A Technology System to Help People With Intellectual Disability and Blindness Find Room Destinations During Indoor Traveling: Case Series Study
title_full_unstemmed A Technology System to Help People With Intellectual Disability and Blindness Find Room Destinations During Indoor Traveling: Case Series Study
title_short A Technology System to Help People With Intellectual Disability and Blindness Find Room Destinations During Indoor Traveling: Case Series Study
title_sort technology system to help people with intellectual disability and blindness find room destinations during indoor traveling case series study
url https://rehab.jmir.org/2024/1/e65680
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