Knowledge and experience of educational rehabilitators in the application of assistive technology

Asistivna tehnologija predstavlja bilo koji proizvod, dio opreme ili sustav koji se koristi u svrhu povećanja, održavanja ili poboljšavanja funkcionalnih sposobnosti osoba s invaliditetom i djece s teškoćama u razvoju. Obuhvaća širok spektar različitih uređaja i usluga koji se primjenjuju kako bi poboljšale i olakšale suočavanje osoba s invaliditetom s teškoćama s kojima se susreću pri izvođenju aktivnosti svakodnevnog života. Cilj istraživanja bio je ispitati iskustva i znanja edukacijskih rehabilitatora o asistivnoj tehnologiji u Republici Hrvatskoj s naglaskom na poznavanju i primjeni asistivne tehnologije u svakodnevnom radu s djecom s teškoćama u razvoju i osobama s invaliditetom, izazove s kojima se susreću u primjeni asistivne tehnologije te stavove o asistivnoj tehnologiji. Sudionici istraživanja bili su edukacijski rehabilitatori s iskustvom u primjeni asistivne tehnologije s područje cijele Republike Hrvatske (N=64). Za potrebe istraživanja kreiran je i primijenjen online anketni upitnik „Iskustva i znanja edukacijskih rehabilitatora u primjeni asistivne tehnologije“. Upitnik je korišten kako bi se opisali stavovi, mišljenja i znanja ispitanika te sadrži 30 pitanja zatvorenog i otvorenog tipa. U anketnom upitniku pitanja su raspoređena na tri područja: opća pitanja i podatke o ispitanicima, područje koje ispituje iskustva i znanja ispitanika u primjeni asistivne tehnologije i područje koje ispituje stavove ispitanika o asistivnoj tehnologiji. Podaci su obrađeni kvantitativnim i kvalitativnim metodama obrade podataka. Dobiveni rezultati ukazuju na potrebu za dodatnom edukacijom, informiranjem i podizanjem svijesti edukacijskih rehabilitatora i opće populacije o važnosti i ulozi asistivne tehnologije za njene korisnike. Potrebno je raditi na tome da se ublaže postojeće teškoće s kojima se susreću i samim time olakša korištenje asistivne tehnologije stručnjacima.Assistive technology is any product, piece of equipment or system used to increase, maintain or improve functional capabilities of people and children with disability. It includes a wide range of different devices and services that are used to improve and facilitate coping of people with disabilities with difficulties that they encounter in performing activities of daily life. The aim of this research was to examine the experience and knowledge of educational rehabilitators about assistive technology in Croatia. The focus is on knowledge and application of assistive technology in everyday work with people and children with disabilities, challenges encountered in the application of assistive technology and attitudes towards assistive technology. The participants of the research were educational rehabilitators from Croatia with experience in the application of assistive technology (N=64). Online questionnaire “Knowledge and experience of educational rehabilitators in the application of assistive technology” was created and applied for the research purposes. The questionnaire was used to describe the attitudes, opinions and knowledge of participants and contains 30 close-ended and open-ended type of questions. In the questionnaire, questions are divided into three areas: general questions and informations about participants, an area that examines experience and knowledge of participants in the application od assistive technology and an area that examines attitudes of participants towards assistive technology. Data were processed by quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Results of the research indicate the need for additional education, informing and raising awareness of educational rehabilitators and general population about the importance and role of assistive technology in life of its users. It is necessary to work on alleviating the existing difficulties which educational rehabilitators encountered and thus facilitate the use of assistive technology to professionals