Assisting people with developmental disabilities to improve pointing efficiency with a Dual Cursor Automatic Pointing Assistive Program.
A two-cursor mouse helper lets adults with developmental disabilities click targets faster and keeps the gain later.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Two adults with developmental disabilities tried a new mouse helper called DCAPAP. The program shows two cursors on the screen. The second cursor gently pulls the pointer toward the target.
The team used a single-case design. They counted how many clicks hit the right spot before, during, and after the tool was turned on.
What they found
Both adults hit the targets faster and more accurately when DCAPAP was on. Their better scores stayed high even when the helper was removed later.
How this fits with other research
Shih et al. (2009) first showed that a single-cursor helper (APAP) could work. The 2010 DCAPAP adds a second cursor to the same idea.
Shih et al. (2011) later swapped the dual cursor for an auto-snap feature (DCATAP). Both papers still found big gains, so the dual cursor is just one working path, not the only one.
A direct replication in the same year (Ching-Hsiang et al. 2010, EDCAPAP paper) shows the result is reliable across tiny wording tweaks.
Why it matters
If a client struggles to click small icons, try a dual-cursor driver first. It installs like a normal mouse setting and needs no extra hardware. Track hits and misses for one week. If you see the same jump as these studies, keep it. If not, the 2011 auto-snap version is your next quick swap.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study evaluated whether two persons with developmental disabilities would be able to improve their pointing performance through a Dual Cursor Automatic Pointing Assistive Program (DCAPAP) with a newly developed mouse driver (i.e., a new mouse driver replaces standard mouse driver, and is able to intercept/detect mouse movement action). First, baseline sessions started with both participants. Then the first participant had his intervention session. When his performance was consolidated, new baseline and intervention occurred with the second participant. Finally, both participants were exposed to maintenance phase, in which their pointing performance improved significantly. Data showed that both participants improved their pointing efficiency through the use of DCAPAP and retained their successful results through maintenance phase. Implications of the findings are discussed.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2010 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2009.08.007