Design of assistive technology in Mexico

For children with disabilities, the proper recommendation and timely usage of assistive technology (AT) could result in significant improvement of their overall health condition. Two of the most disabling conditions that affect children result from inappropriate postures that they adopt and generally cannot correct by themselves and the lack of communication. In an effort to develop appropriate AT, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, through its Center for Rehabilitation Engineering and Technology (CITeR) embarked in the development of several AT projects. The initial projects included a system to fabricate contoured seating for children and a software based, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device. This report presents the development of these two technologies and their preliminary results.