Assistive Technology at Touro

What is Assistive Technology (AT)?

Assistive Technology (AT) is any item, piece of equipment, software program, or product system that a patient may need to complete an activity of daily living. This may include help with environmental controls, computers, cellphones, smartphones, and tablets; and may also include mounts for devices.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

AT also includes Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) which is all the ways someone communicates besides talking including:

• Pointing
• Seeing
• Writing
• Drawing
• Gestures

ACC options could also include dedicated speech generating device, an app for a tablet device, a communication book, or a communication board.

Diagnoses that benefit from AT

• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
• Brain Injury
• Brain Injury Tumor
• Cerebral Palsy
• Cerebrovascular accident (CVA) and stroke
• Guillain-Barre’ Syndrome (GBS)
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Assistive Technology Lab at Touro

Touro, facilitated by Team Gleason, has developed an in hospital assistive technology lab that allows our therapists to fit patients with assistive technology and try various devices, access methods and mounts during inpatient rehabilitation.

Unfortunately, this is not standard care across hospitals. Typically, most patients must wait until they are in outpatient rehabilitation until they have access to these devices. At Touro, we’re able to use these in inpatient rehab to help make our patients more independent.