Youth with cerebral palsy with differing upper limb abilities: how do they access computers?

Abstract

Objective: To identify the current level of awareness of different computer access technologies and the choices made regarding mode of access by youth with cerebral palsy (CP) and their families.

Design: Survey.

Setting: Two tertiary-level rehabilitation centers in New Zealand and Canada.

Participants: Youth (N=60) with CP, Manual Ability Classification Scale (MACS) levels I to V, age 13 to 25 years.

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main outcome measure: Questionnaire.

Results: Fifty (83%) of the 60 youth were aware of at least 1 available assistive technology (AT), such as touch screens and joysticks. However, only 34 youth (57%) were familiar with the accessibility options currently available in the most common operating systems. Thirty-three (94%) of 35 youth who were MACS I and II used a standard mouse and keyboard, while few chose to use assistive technology or accessibility options. In contrast, 10 (40%) of 25 youth who were MACS III to V used a variety of assistive technologies such as touch screens, joysticks, trackballs, and scanning technologies. This group also had the highest use of accessibility options, although only 15 (60%) of the 25 were aware of them.

Conclusion: Most youth with CP were aware of, and used, assistive technologies to enhance their computer access but were less knowledgeable about accessibility options. Accessibility options allow users to modify their own computer interface and can thus enhance computer access for youth with CP. Clinicians should be knowledgeable enough to give informed advice in this area of computer access, thus ensuring that all youth with CP can benefit from both AT and accessibility options, as required.