Technological Solutions for Helping Adaptive Responding of Children with Severe to Profound Developmental Disabilities

This article provides the reader with a literature overview of the newest empirical evidences available on the use of assistive technology-based programs for teaching and improving adaptive responding of children with severe to profound developmental disabilities. Four main categories of studies were selected, regarding (a) the technology for promoting independent access to positive stimulation, (b) the combination between microswitch and VOCA aimed at asking for social contact with a caregiver, (c) the cluster technology for increasing an adaptive response, and simultaneously reducing a challenging behavior, (d) the technology for requesting and choosing desired item or the access to the literacy. Overall, 26 studies were reviewed, and 75 participants were involved. The outcomes were largely positive, although few failures occurred. Psychological and Rehabilitative implications of the findings for both research and clinical practices were critically discussed

Assistive Technology to Promote Adaptive Skills in Children and Adolescents With Rett Syndrome

Rett syndrome is classified within the rare genetic syndromes, characterised by intellectual delays, extensive motor impairments, lack of speech and communication difficulties, sensorial deficits, and problems in adaptive responding. That clinical conditions may be deleterious on their social image, status, and quality of life. A practice for addressing this problem is technology-based interventions. The use of assistive technologies, in particular microswitches, with children with RTT has been shown to effectively change the impact on their quality of life, facilitating access to recreational activities and improving their performance. Through the use of technology-aided programs, a child with RTT and multiple disabilities will be ensured with an independent access to positive stimulation. In this chapter, a selective literature review was carried out considering Rett Syndrome, assistive technologies, quality of life, and rare genetic syndromes. Empirical data demonstrated the effectiveness and suitability of interventions with AT, allowing participants to increase their level of independence.

Assistive Technology-Based Programs and Telerehabilitation Strategies to Support Adaptive Responding of Individuals With Neurodegenerative Diseases

Individuals with neurodegenerative diseases (NDD) may pose serious challenges to daily life medical contexts. In fact, they commonly fail while dealing with environmental requests. To overcome this issue, one may rely on assistive technology-based programs. The COVID-19 pandemic suddenly exacerbated their clinical conditions. Telerehabilitation may be useful to profitably tackle the latter issue. A concise survey on the newest empirical contributions available was proposed. Five main categories of studies were identified. Results were satisfactory, although failures occurred. Findings were critically discussed and some useful insights for both research and practice were highlighted.

New Technologies to Support Adaptive Responding in Children and Adolescents With Neurodevelopmental Disorders

The chapter provides the reader with a narrative overview on the newest empirical evidence available on the use of new technologies to help individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders. Three main categories of studies were identified, namely (1) virtual reality, (2) mobile technologies, and (3) wearable technologies. Results were satisfactory although failures occurred. Findings were critically discussed, and different technological solutions were emphasized. Some useful insights for both future and practice were critically discussed.

Central Thalamic-Medial Prefrontal Control of Adaptive Responding in the Rat: Many Players in the Chamber

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has robust afferent and efferent connections with multiple nuclei clustered in the central thalamus. These nuclei are elements in large-scale networks linking mPFC with the hippocampus, basal ganglia, amygdala, other cortical areas, and visceral and arousal systems in the brainstem that give rise to adaptive goal-directed behavior. Lesions of the mediodorsal nucleus (MD), the main source of thalamic input to middle layers of PFC, have limited effects on delayed conditional discriminations, like DMTP and DNMTP, that depend on mPFC. Recent evidence suggests that MD sustains and amplifies neuronal responses in mPFC that represent salient task-related information and is important for detecting and encoding contingencies between actions and their consequences. Lesions of rostral intralaminar (rIL) and ventromedial (VM) nuclei produce delay-independent impairments of egocentric DMTP and DNMTP that resemble effects of mPFC lesions on response speed and accuracy: results consistent with projections of rIL to striatum and VM to motor cortices. The ventral midline and anterior thalamic nuclei affect allocentric spatial cognition and memory consistent with their connections to mPFC and hippocampus. The dorsal midline nuclei spare DMTP and DNMTP. They have been implicated in behavioral-state control and response to salient stimuli in associative learning. mPFC functions are served during DNMTP by discrete populations of neurons with responses related to motor preparation, movements, lever press responses, reinforcement anticipation, reinforcement delivery, and memory delay. Population analyses show that different responses are timed so that they effectively tile the temporal interval from when DNMTP trials are initiated until the end. Event-related responses of MD neurons during DNMTP are predominantly related to movement and reinforcement, information important for DNMTP choice. These responses closely mirror the activity of mPFC neurons with similar responses. Pharmacological inactivation of MD and adjacent rIL affects the expression of diverse action- and outcome-related responses of mPFC neurons. Lesions of MD before training are associated with a shift away from movement-related responses in mPFC important for DNMTP choice. These results suggest that MD has short-term effects on the expression of event-related activity in mPFC and long-term effects that tune mPFC neurons to respond to task-specific information.

Assistive Technology-Based Programs and Cognitive-Behavioral Interventions for Helping Adaptive Responding of Children and Adolescents With Rett Syndrome

This chapter provides the reader with a concise overview of the newest empirical evidences available on the use of assistive technology and cognitive behavioral interventions to promote adaptive skills and decrease challenging behaviors of children and adolescents with Rett syndrome and severe to profound developmental disabilities. Four main categories of studies were identified, namely (1) communication skills, (2) adaptive skills, (3) challenging behavior, and (4) on-task behavior. Twenty-six contributions were reviewed, and 936 participants were involved. Results were largely positive, although rare failures occurred. Educational, clinical, rehabilitative, and psychological implications of the findings were critically discussed. Some useful suggestions for future research and practice were emphasized.

Assistive Technology to Promote Adaptive Responding and Reduce Challenging Behaviors in Children and Young Adults With Rare Genetic Syndrome

Children, adolescents, and young adults with rare genetic syndromes, neurodevelopmental disorders, and multiple disabilities may experience significant problems while dealing with everyday life environmental requests. Besides extensive motor impairments, intellectual disabilities, and communication difficulties, they may exhibit challenging behaviors. Clinical conditions may be deleterious on their social image, status, and quality of life. A practical way to tackle this issue is represented by assistive technology-based interventions. A narrative review on the newest empirical contributions available in the literature over last five years (i.e., 2015-2020) was presented. Nineteen studies were reviewed. Five main categories of studies were identified, namely (1) adaptive responding, (2) executive functions, (3) communication, (4) gait and locomotion, and (5) challenging behaviors. Results were satisfactory although occasional failures were evidenced. Some helpful insights were emphasized, and future directions for both research and practice were critically discussed.