Title
"I Am Not an Engineer": Understanding How Clinicians Design & Alter Assistive Technology
Abstract
In the emerging maker movement, clinicians have long played an advisory role in the development of customized assistive technology (AT). Recently, there has been a growing interest in including clinicians as builders of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) AT. To identify the needs of clinicians-as-makers, we investigated the challenges that clinicians faced as they volunteered in an AT building project where they were the primary designers and builders of assistive mobility devices for children. Through observation and co-building of modified ride-on toy cars with clinicians, we found that the rapid pace of development and transient relationship between user and builder did not allow for a complete assessment of the child's mobility. Furthermore, clinicians struggled to actualize concepts borne out of their clinical intent due to a lack of engineering skill. This study highlights the need for tools that support clinicians-as-makers in the AT maker process and a new conceptualization of the role of DIY-AT maker programs within the AT provider ecosystem.
Year
DOI
Venue
2020
10.1145/3334480.3382982
CHI '20: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Honolulu HI USA April, 2020
Keywords
DocType
ISBN
Assistive Technology, Making, Physical Therapy, Children
Conference
978-1-4503-6819-3
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
0
0.34
0
Authors
4
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Rahaf Alharbi100.34
Ada Ng201.35
Rawan Alharbi384.17
Josiah D. Hester413818.13