Assistive Technology and Equipment
What is Assistive Technology and Equipment?
Assistive technology (often reffered to in short as ‘AT’) is any tool, equipment, software, or system that helps a person do things that might otherwise be difficult, or not possible, due to a functional impairment associated with their disability. Assistive Technology may range from low-tech (such as visual schedules, adapted cutlery) to high-tech (mobility aids, communication systems, and environmental controls).
For children with a disability, this often includes therapy equipment that is prescribed by your Allied Health Team.
Who is Assistive Technology for?
Assistive technology supports children (and adults!) with disability to participate more fully in everyday life by:
- Helping children engage in daily activities at home, school, and in the community, such as play, self-care, and classroom tasks
- Supporting inclusion in play, sport, and recreational activities with peers, promoting social connection and confidence
- Providing ways to communicate effectively with family members, teachers, and friends, including for children who use alternative or augmentative communication (AAC)
- Enhancing access to learning by supporting attention, organisation, reading, writing, and participation in classroom activities
- Enabling children to explore their interests, hobbies, and creative activities in ways that suit their abilities
- Improving safety, independence, and confidence by reducing physical effort, fatigue, and cognitive load during daily routines and school participation
Every child is different. The right assistive technology can make everyday tasks easier, build confidence, and help your child do more of the things they enjoy.
What Does the Service Involve?
Assistive technology can be an essential intervention to support clients and their families to achieve meaningful functional goals. When AT is identified as a support need, your physiotherapist will work with you to:
- Identify whether low, mid or high cost-more complex AT is required to meet this support need.
- Work with your multidisciplinary team to gather feedback from them as to how this AT will benefit you in daily life, as well as any risks that may need to be managed with the use of this AT.
- Research AT options that meet the specifications needed to meet your goal
- Communicate with AT Suppliers to organise trials
It is important to review and compare AT options including how it fits, feels, and functions in different settings. For this reason we may trial equipment at our clinic, in the community, at your home, in the education setting.
Once the AT that best meets your child and families needs is identified, your physiotherapist will request a quote from the supplier, and then complete an NDIS AT Assessment Report- if this is a requirement. Generally, AT that is considered mid-cost ($1500-$15,000) or high-cost (>$15,000) is typically more complex and will require a report to be completed.
When you receive your AT, your physiotherapist will assist you with training and strategies to increase your child’s skills using the AT in their daily life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do I know if my child requires assistive technology?
A: If your child is experiencing difficulty with mobility, communication, or completion of self-cares they may benefit from intervention with AT. Your physiotherapist and other members of your child’s multidisciplinary team will support you with assessment and goal setting to help clarify the need for AT for your child.
Q: Will using assistive technology stop my child from developing new skills?
A: AT is designed to increase independence, not reduce it. For many children, it enables them to do tasks they otherwise couldn’t do or would find very difficult or unsafe, and prepares them for a more independent life as they transition into adulthood. In many cases, the introduction of AT facilitates a child to make broader development gains. For example, for children with significant gross motor delay, early intervention with mobility aids such as walkers or wheelchairs will allow children to explore their environment, which is closely linked to development of cognitive and communication skills, spatial awareness, emotional regulation, and social engagement.
Q: Can assistive technology be customised?
A: Yes! Many AT solutions can be tailored to suit a child’s unique needs, preferences, and developmental level.
Q: Does the prescription and focus on assistive technology mean we are on a different ‘pathway’ to other therapy approaches?
A: No! Assistive technology is used in combination with all other therapy approaches + is most often complimentary. This is because our children can spend more time practicing skills, more independently, when using AT. They don’t always rely on you as parents or us as therapists to be helping deliver the ‘therapy’. They therefore have a higher ‘dose’ of therapy, with more time practicing skills, leading to improved long term outcomes.
Assistive technology also helps our body to be in the right alignment when we are practicing – compared to down time where we may be less supported. Again, in the long term this protects children’s hips and spine as they are growing.
How to make an appointment
Easy!
- Call us on 0422 229 971 or fill in the enquiry form below.
- Our team will arrange an initial chat
- One of our physiotherapists will meet with you and your child to complete initial assessments and start the process of goal setting to determine whether AT is needed to support your child’s goals.
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Our Location
Suite 1/66 Jessica Boulevard
MINYAMA QLD 4575
(In shared rooms with Orthotic Solutions)
Open Hours
Monday 9am – 5pm
Tuesday 9am – 5pm
Wednesday 8am – 5pm
Thursday 8am – 5pm
Friday 8am – 12noon