Very often, children with disabilities do not develop skills and abilities as well or as easily as their peers despite the substantial efforts of caregivers and clinicians attempts to engage these children in play.
This can happen since caregivers very often lack clinical expertise and clinicians work with children in limited sessions. Therefore, there is a need for increased early intervention with children with neurological and motor impairments to supplement existing therapies.
To help solve the problem, the Social Assistive Robotics (SAR) Lab at the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado Denver www.ucdenver.edu on the Anschutz Medical campus, is working to develop SARs as a clinical tool to provide long term and intense intervention for children with disabilities or developmental delays through play.
During the past decade, a growing body of research has focused on SARs primarily in the area of autism therapy and early education. However, pilot studies suggest that this application of SARs to the neurodevelopmental spectrum appears to be very promising.
The National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) www.acl.gov/programs/NIDILRR, a grants-making agency within the HHS Administration for Community Living (ACL) www.acl.gov program, is working on the problem through Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERC).
The agency’s grant funding is helping RERCs conduct research to apply advanced technology to solve rehabilitation problems and remove environmental barriers. RERCs are developing wearable robots to help people live independently, empowering technology to improve the accessibility, usability, and technology for the deaf or hard of hearing, developing machines to assist with stroke and spinal cord injuries, and researching the use of wireless technology.
In addition, fifty six state research programs are getting involved and conducting State Assistive Technology programs www.acl.gov/Programs/CIP/OCASD/AT/docs/State-AT-Programs.pdf to expand access and the use of technology. Some of the state activities include supporting device demonstration programs on a variety of assistive technology devices and services.