VICAID: Development and evaluation of a palmtop-based job aid for workers with severe developmental disabilities

The development of technologies to assist people with severe and profound d evelopmental disabilities to engage in constructive activity without consta nt support from carers may assist such persons to participate fully in voca tional and other occupational activities. We describe the development, eval uation and use of VICAID, a system based on a radically simplified palmtop computer. The VICAID system enables a person with a developmental disabilit y to access pictorial instructions designed to help him or her in the accur ate completion of tasks. It also provides reminders to access the instructi ons, and/or alerts a job coach or supervisor should the worker's interactio n with the system suggest that they are having difficulty with a task. Eval uative studies show that (1) the system is more effective than alternative supports (pictorial instructions presented in booklets) in maintaining accu rate task performance, (2) that the system is preferred to such booklets by most users with severe disabilities, and (3) that it can be used in real w ork settings, Future development of the system will require attention to be paid to issues of training job-coaches and support workers in its setting- up and maintenance.