TOPIC 3. Innovative Technologies to Enhance Self-Determination Job Development, Job Modification and Job Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities

• Applications of Voice Controlled Computing for Training Individuals Receiving Public Assistance for Training Individuals Receiving Public Assistance for Transition to Work
• Analog Devices to Teach Deaf Adolescents Decision Skills and to Aid Their Career Planning
• Virtual Job Environments to Facilitate Vocational Exploration and Rehabilitation
• Determining Feasibility of Voice Controlled Work Holder Tools for People with Disabilities Doing Benchwork Occupations

ABSTRACT:
This proposal describes a research activity on the applications of voice controlled computing to training and job preparation for individuals with disabilities and others on public assistance for transition to work. The objective is to train clients with diverse educational and ability levels to use a series of standard computer software packages using voice (audible language) as the only input device. After rigorous screening, twelve clients will be selected for initial training. Formal training will be conducted in a computer laboratory. One-on-one training will be conducted in three phases, each four weeks in duration. Subsequently, clients equipped with their own notebook computers will continue individualized training. Continuous evaluation and assessment (clinical and educational) will guide modifications in training techniques and medical rehabilitation protocols where appropriate. Assessments will also be made of the enhanced job preparation level for individuals entering or returning to the workplace. Technical training and expertise will be provided by the offered; the rehabilitation facility will provide access to the patient/clients and the facilities for training.

SUMMARY OF ANTICIPATED RESULTS AND IMPLICATIONS:
A successful Phase I pilot research project which will be extended in Phase II to include a larger class of clients and variations in education and training delivery. The expanded research database will lead to refinements in training protocols and optimized delivery strategies. The potential client base is substantial. The proposer will enlist state departments of human resources and city housing authorities to join in planning implementation details to service clients in their charge. Another commercial application is the development of training tools (e.g., videotapes, compact disks, user guides, manuals, Internet courses) for use by other commercial entities, private individuals or government agencies.

ABSTRACT:
The proposed work tests the feasibility of developing a computerized device to teach decision making skills to deaf adolescents and to improve their career and other decisions. The device corresponds to a decision analysis procedure which evaluates multiattribute options as a sum of attribute scores, weighted by importance. To avoid well-known cognitive difficulties in working with numbers and complex verbal rationalizations, an exact graphic analogy is provided by a "sum-of-boxes" picture which represents the desirability of each option as the combined area of a set of rectangles. A computer prototype decision aid will be developed and its impact on adolescent career and education decisions assessed by pilot experiments. The project builds on previous experience by the research team: a cognitive psychologist (PI), a decision analyst, and an expert in education of the Deaf.

SUMMARY OF ANTICIPATED RESULTS AND IMPLICATIONS:
Anticipated results include the demonstrated feasibility and effectiveness of a computer-assisted instructional aid to teach and assist with deaf adolescent decision making. Other anticipated results include insights into the design of such aids. A potential market exists with both schools and parents with deaf children. What is learned should be transferable in part to the design of aids to teach and assist decision making for persons with other communication-related disabilities.

ABSTRACT:
This Phase I research examines the feasibility of creating virtual reality based simulations of job situations and tasks to allow individuals with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) to explore career options. Feedback will be provided to the users to highlight strengths and areas of potential difficulty in order to help them prepare themselves for coping with the challenges of the job itself. Phase I research will also seek to determine which jobs offer the most potential for individuals with varying patterns of cognitive abilities, possibly in combination with physical disabilities, following ABI. Task analyses performed for each job-studied will determine cognitive abilities required for individual job tasks. Three jobs each with several tasks will be simulated using the virtual reality modeling language (VRML) with Java object behaviors. These Web-ready simulations will then be distributed over the Internet, or provided on CD-ROM, to therapists in rehabilitative settings to perform trials with patients, thus enabling feedback regarding the strengths and limitations of the model. Successful completion of this project will result in increased opportunities for a great number of individuals with ABI to receive guided assistance in job exploration, selection, and preparation in clinical, home, and school settings.

SUMMARY OF ANTICIPATED RESULTS AND IMPLICATIONS:
Each year in the United States alone there are more than seven million head injuries. Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) can result from blunt force trauma, intracranial anomalies, or from anoxia. Research studies point to the need for developing an economical way to address vocational issues as part of rehabilitation for individuals with ABI. With current reductions in the length of stay for rehabilitation following ABI, patients are frequently discharged without receiving vocational services. The proposed software would help therapists and vocational counselors assist them in returning to work or discovering viable job options given their cognitive impairments. The program would provide individuals an opportunity to attempt job tasks in a realistic setting but without the financial or emotional cost involved in obtaining jobs which are not good matches for their ability and interest levels. This program would also help strengthen the relationship between cognitive activities which are performed during the rehabilitation process and real-life tasks that persons with ABI will encounter on the job. As a product, it would be provided through a Web-browser-based virtual reality player, both through Internet subscription and on CR-ROM. Insurance companies and other shareholders would be invited to help sponsor it in an effort to allow a wide selection of job simulations to be distributed at low or no cost for widespread benefit to individuals with ABI.

ABSTRACT:
Arlyn Toolworks will design, build and test the feasibility of three types of Voice Operated Work Holder Tools and a mobile base and a Z axis for them. These tools can be used by people who have lost the use of one hand due to illness, accident or amputation in the performance of benchwork occupations.

SUMMARY OF ANTICIPATED RESULTS AND IMPLICATIONS:
Millions of sufferers of arthritis, stroke, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, amputation and spinal cord injury in the United States have lost the functional use of one hand. Many, perhaps hundreds of thousands, within this group worked with their hands before the onset of disability. They are faced with the choice of learning to use a computer or not working. For those who cannot or do not wish to use a computer as their primary work tool, these Voice Controlled Work Holder Tools will allow them to continue to work with their hands in benchwork occupations.

[Topic 2]

[Topic 4]