Putting Youth in Charge: Exploring a Multi-Year Interagency Community Engagement Experiential Programme for Youth with Disabilities and Their Families.

This paper outlines a qualitative exploration of the experiences of Youth in Charge (YiC), a 3-year pilot programme. YiC was designed to promote early, immersive community participation for students with physical disabilities, and was co-developed/co-hosted by three agencies (hospital, community rehabilitation, school board). To better understand the experiences of the youth, parents, and staff involved in this broad intervention, observation of 10 programme sessions and annual semi-structured interviews with youth (n = 5), parents (n = 4) and staff (n = 6) were undertaken. Qualitative results comprise six themes based in the two major thematic areas of participation-related experiences and programme considerations. Results indicate the need for community-based experiences, measured risk-taking, long-term engagement, parental involvement, and greater interagency collaboration and integration.

Measuring the outcomes of word cueing technology.

BACKGROUND: Measurement of assistive technology outcomes is complex because many factors (e.g., environment and model of service delivery) influence the successful use of the technology. PURPOSE: Using the example of measuring the outcomes of word cueing technology, this paper presents an approach for measuring assistive technology outcomes. METHOD: The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) was administered to 29 children with physical and learning disabilities, between the ages of 3.9 and 19 years. Participants were provided with WordQ, a software program designed to assist the development of writing skills. Follow-up data were collected through telephone interviews. RESULTS: The COPM findings supported the effectiveness of WordQ Version 1 to enhance written productivity, with a mean performance change score of 3.5 (SD = 1.5). The COPM was an effective tool for measuring clients' perceived outcome of word cueing technology. Telephone interview was considered a successful method for collecting outcome data. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: A mix of tools and methodologies should be used to gain a comprehensive understanding of the impact of assistive technology.