Question-Answer Assignment

EE 502 - Homework #1 – STUDY QUESTIONS

STUDY QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK BY COOK & POLGAR

1.15 Assistive technology practitioners may have a background in a variety of disciplines. List some typical disciplines. (See p. 26 of textbook by Cook& Polgar)

1.20 How does a code of ethics differ from standards of practice?

1.21 What are the major elements of a Quality Assurance Program?

2.2 What are the three basic performance areas defined in the HAAT model? Give an example of

each. (See p. 36-38 of the course textbook by Cook & Polgar)

2.16 Describe the process of designing an assistive technology system.

3.14 List and describe the stages of (psychological) loss typically experienced by a person who has

sustained an injury or disease resulting in a permanent injury.

3.20 What are the five basic elements of language? Distinguish between speech and language.

3.23. Explain the meaning of the solid and dashed curves in Fig. 3-9. What type of curves would

you expect if the individual lacked good trunk support to each side?

3.26. How does the age at which an individual is introduced to assistive technology influence

acceptance and successful use of assistive technologies?

EE502 COURSE READER QUESTIONS (from Szeto's Chapter 5)

5-1. Describe the impact federal legislation has had on the prevalence of rehabilitation

engineers and the market for their work in assistive technology. Explain and provide examples.

5-2. As a school-based rehabilitation engineer, you received a request from a teacher to design

and build a gadget that would enable an 8-year-old, second-grade student to signal her desire to

respond to questions or to make a request in class. This young student uses a powered wheelchair,

has multiple disabilities, cannot move her upper arms very much, and is unable to produce

understandable speech. Prepare a list of quantitative and qualitative questions that will guide your

detailed analysis of this problem. Produce a hypothetical set of performance specifications for

such a signaling device.

5-4 Write a sample set of performance specifications for a foldable lap tray that will mount on a

manual wheelchair. Hints: What should its maximum and minimum dimensions be? How much

weight must it bear? Will your add-on lap tray user make the wheelchair user more or less

independent? What type of materials should be used?

5-11. The two main computer user interfaces are the command line interface (CLI), as

exemplified by MS-DOS commands, and the graphical user interface (GUI), as exemplified by the

Apple or Windows operating system. For someone with limited motoric abilities, each type of

interface has advantages and disadvantages. List and compare the advantages and disadvantages

of CLI and GUI. In what circumstances and for what kind of disabilities would the CLI be

superior or preferred over the GUI?