Specialist Services

Environmental Controls & Assistive Technology Assessment

What are environmental controls & assistive technology?

These are technology systems that a person can use to control many aspects of their surroundings.  For example, use the phone, turn electrical appliances on/off and operate them, use a computer, answer the door via an intercom system. These are operated via an appropriate switch that the person can use, the switch is used to scroll through a menu system to choose the facility they wish to access.  

Who may benefit from environmental controls & assistive technology?

Anyone with a significant disability e.g. wheelchair dependent, would benefit from these systems as they allow a person to be more independent and enable them to engage in their surroundings.

How is this achieved?

These systems can be very complex and include access to computer programmes and various menus.  Or they can be simple systems depending on the persons needs and skills. 

The assessment for environmental controls is based on the persons needs and their skills.  This includes the physical impairment of their disability with regards to the type of switch and its positioning to facilitate access and the cognitive impairment with regards to the level of complexity of system they could learn to use effectively.  Then the person's social circumstances, home and community environments, and interests are considered as to the system that will benefit them.

These environmental control systems can be linked to communication technology, that helps people with communication difficulties, or powered wheelchairs.  These additional systems are called assistive technology.