Enabling students with multiple disabilities to request and choose among environmental stimuli through microswitch and computer technology.
A microswitch plus yes/no voice choices lets students with multiple disabilities reliably request preferred items.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Two students with multiple disabilities sat in wheelchairs. They could not walk or talk. The team set up a small switch and a laptop. A tap on the switch made the screen ask, “Want music?” The kids answered with a clear yes or no sound. They picked or skipped items by voicing yes or no.
The study ran in short daily sessions. Staff recorded how often each child picked a preferred item. They also checked if the skill lasted after teaching stopped.
What they found
Both students learned to hit the switch and then use yes/no sounds to choose. They picked preferred items about nine times out of ten. The skill stuck around for three and six weeks with no extra teaching.
Parents and teachers saw the kids make real choices for the first time.
How this fits with other research
Carr et al. (2003) first showed that adults with multiple disabilities could press several microswitches to ask for things. The 2007 study moved the idea to school students and added yes/no vocal choices inside a computer screen.
Lancioni et al. (2009) later repeated the setup with five students and added a caregiver play period. Results stayed strong two months out, building on the 2007 finding.
O’Brien et al. (2024) looked at 27 studies and found most people with IDD prefer high-tech tools over picture cards. The 2007 microswitch laptop fits that trend, giving a low-cost high-tech option.
Meier et al. (2012) took the same switch setup to adults with brain injury. The positive results show the method travels across diagnoses and ages.
Why it matters
If you work with non-ambulatory clients who have limited speech, try a single microswitch linked to yes/no questions on a laptop. It takes minutes to program and gives the student an instant voice. Start with two clear choices the learner already likes. Record yes/no sounds in their own voice if possible. You will see choice-making in days, not months.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study assessed the possibility of enabling two students with multiple disabilities to request and choose among environmental stimuli through microswitch and computer technology. Each student was provided with two basic microswitches the activation of which made a computer system present a sample of a preferred or non-preferred stimulus. The student could select or reject such a stimulus by vocal utterances discriminated by the computer system as 'yes' or 'no'. If the student selected the stimulus, the computer system presented it for a preset time. If the student rejected the stimulus, the computer system waited for the next input of one of the basic microswitches. Data showed that both students learned to activate the basic microswitches consistently, selected the preferred stimuli about 90% of the times, and largely rejected the non-preferred stimuli. The students also showed some preferences between the two basic microswitches/responses. The performance was maintained at the post-intervention checks carried out 3 and 6 weeks after the end of the intervention. Implications of the findings are discussed technically, practically, and in terms of quality of life.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2007 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2005.12.001