Episode 25: How To Know What Kind Of AMD Your Student Need
AMD or Adaptive Mobility Devices are defined by the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired as specifically designed devices to provide environmental preview information to people who cannot use a long cane. These devices can help students who are having difficulty handling conventional canes. And to some extent they can be used as a pre-cane.
I’ll be discussing more of this on my podcast, but I’ll give you a glimpse of what this episode has to offer. Below are the different types of adaptive mobility devices, which of these could work for your students,and what obstacles you could potentially encounter if you choose that type.
Simulators are the ones that are like maybe a PVC square or a small hula hoop, that you walk with your student and you hold that AMD and they hold on to the AMD and you're basically guiding them, but you have a little bit of a separation.
Pros. Good for kids who can physically walk, but they have a health condition that makes the impact of any falls a bit scarier, but you want to be able to give them some sort of independence,
Cons. it's the most restrictive and so if you can possibly use this type of AMD for the least amount of time possible, that will allow them to be the most independent as possible in their lives in general. The other thing is, you always need somebody with them.
Full PVC. It's basically a long rectangle that has either wheels or larger PVC on the bottom to help it roll and then the person holds on to the top. or the person might hold on to maybe the sides of it, but still long rectangle.
Pros. This is a good one for students with multiple impairments, for students that for whatever reason, they're not doing very well with the cane and for those who need to propel themselves forward like with their upper body.
Cons..It's big, it's bulky, there's really no way of getting around it. Also, oftentimes I see students try to lean on it and then they fall over. So that might be just like a natural consequence.
PVC/Cane Combination. This is a combination of the PVC pipe, or hula hoop and a cane. These are more like a hybrid of some sort of your AMD and the cane.
Pros. When you mix PVC and a regular cane together, a couple really cool things can happen. For one, it can increase the coverage by bringing the other hand into the situation. It can also give them a sense of freedom, because it decreases the teachers prompts.
Cons. it's hard to know if you should go from this AMD style cane to a regular cane or if you should stay with this one for a while. Also, if in the event that they do break, they're harder to fix and the more expensive.
When do I move on? When do I know that it's the right decision? How can I be sure? Here's the thing, my friend, you got into a profession, where just about every decision you make is going to be subjective, you have to listen to your gut. You have to trust your professional judgment.
You have to just follow your own ethics, and then take data because you aren't always going to know for sure. Because in these types of situations, you are creating an adaptive mobility device, because a long cane isn't the best option for your student. So you have to figure out what is going to work and how much you can test this for.