Children with severe motor impairments such as with disabilities resulting from severe cerebral palsy benefit greatly from assistive technology, but very little guidance is available on how to collaborate with this population as partners in the design of such technology. To explore how to facilitate such collaborations, a field-based participant observation study, as well as structured and unstructured interviews, were conducted at a home for children with severe disabilities. Team-building collaborative design activities were pursued. Guidelines are proposed for how to collaborate with children with severe motor impairments. Author Keywords Accessibility, children, design, participant observation. ACM Classification Keywords H.5.2 User Interfaces – user-centered design. K.4.2 Social Issues – assistive technologies for persons with disabilities.
Anthony J. Hornof