Volume 14, Issue 2

For people who suffer from a visual impairment, navigating in an unknown environment represents a considerable challenge. To help them develop spatial orientation and mobility skills, researchers have employed audio-based computer games as a practical, interactive and user-centered learning approach. The highly immersive and attractive nature of audio games enables blind people to create a spatial representation of their environment that can be assigned to aid performing real-life navigation tasks. This paper reviews the most notable navigational audio-based games in terms of their conceptual and technological approach, accessibility and user interaction efficiency.

With advances in medical technology, health care has improved the longevity, quality of life, and comfort of people across the world. Unfortunately, access to some of these health care technologies in many low-income countries and for certain people in developed countries is completely curtailed due to cost. The author presents a case study of a hearing technology that failed to reduce hearing disability (deafness) among profoundly hearing impaired people in developing countries despite the availability of cochlear implant prosthesis in the market for the last three decades. The recent World Health Organization (WHO) Report, released in 2013, is also silent on this issue while discussing many prevention and rehabilitation issues of hearing care across the world. There are nearly 25 million people suffering from profound hearing disability who need cochlear implant prosthesis, but are unable to afford one as each costs around USD 60,000. Most of these people suffer from social isolation, with limited employment opportunities that, in turn, severely affects their quality of life. With a personal average annual income of well below USD 2000 in low income countries, it is almost impossible to make progress against hearing disability. In the 21st century, should we allow people to suffer from hearing disability despite the availability of reliable technology? Why should any government or society indiscriminately consider the hearing disabled as helpless, incompetent, and dependent? Can the government, corporations, non-government organizations, the WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and so on, not collectively take care of the hearing disabled by making cochlear implant prostheses affordable? It is time to draw attention to the fact that people with disabilities have equal rights with others. If we want to equip every profoundly hearing disabled individual with a cochlear implant that bestows the gift of hearing, neither pure socialism nor capitalism would help. Conscientious business leaders who can embrace a higher purpose beyond making profits are required. Hence, Conscientious capitalism is the only answer wherein efforts are directed to not-just-for-profit business models or conscious popular consumerism but also socially responsible investments. We have to build upon a health care access model that is open-ended and has positive aspirations with strict policies on adoption and diffusion of new technologies. The policies should be framed such that access is not denied due to the high price of the device and to clinical and hospital budgets. I have chosen a case study of the hearing disabled to showcase the plight of poor people, especially in low-income countries, in gaining access to many life-transforming medical technologies. I present a heath care access model related to hearing disability, treating it as a global issue.

In contrast to a normal gait, the locomotion of people with infantile cerebral palsy (ICP) is characterized by great variability. An experiment was conducted to determine if the use of whole-body vibrations changes the time of support by each of the extremities as well as the range of flexion of the hip and knee articulations. Three women with ICP were involved in the whole-body vibration experiment. The parameters of the vibration adopted during training were a frequency of 20 Hz and an amplitude of 2 mm. The BTS Smart system for three-plane movement analysis paired with a desktop computer was used for the evaluation of gait parameters. The vibration procedure improved the range of flexion in knee articulation but did not change the range of flexion in hip articulation. The equalization of time disparities in the load of both extremities was obtained after the first treatment procedure. In this investigated group, the vibration procedure may be a complement to the rehabilitation process.

This study investigated the attitudes of dental and medical students toward disability issues in Nigeria. The setting was the College of Medicine, University of Lagos (CMUL), Idi-Araba, Lagos, Nigeria. The researchers surveyed two groups of 500-level students (i.e., 142 medical and 42 dental students). Participants voluntarily and anonymously completed a survey in July 2013 after a year-long exposure to disabilities in class modules and community-based experiences. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted. The researchers found three factors, namely: caring for children with disabilities, eliminating disabilities and outlook toward disabilities. Participants exhibited the greatest sympathy toward caring for children with disabilities and for eliminating disabilities. However, participants overall had a negative outlook toward individuals with disabilities. Additionally, younger participants and female participants tended to be more sympathetic toward individuals with disabilities. Although the trends found in this research were largely positive, the researchers identified some negative patterns. Specifically, participants admitted to feeling frustrated while caring for individuals with disabilities. They also reported feeling that families of children with disabilities do not love and care for their children as much as other families. These findings, among other things, indicate that medical students in Nigeria could benefit from further education about disabilities.

Background: The aim of this study was to develop an animated 3D facial model with gestures in order to assist the early language learners and for the subjects suffering from hearing disabilities. Methods: Text-to-speech (TTS) engine for Tamil language was built using syllable-based concatenation approach and integrated with 3D facial model to provide natural speech. In this work, facial parts were modeled using a set of polygons and control points that were identified to parameterize the model. Such expressions as Happy, Sad, Anger, and Fear were simulated through various gestures, including lip, eyebrow and jaw movements. Results: The results indicated that 80%–85% of the gesture words were correctly identified by the children. Conclusions: The ultimate goal of the system is to assist the children with hearing disabilities for effective communication in their language learning process.

Background: Low birth weight (LBW) is the most common cause of neonatal death. The management includes admission to the neonatal intensive care unit, use of high frequency oscillator, and so on. The conventional management of LBW babies also includes kangaroo mother care and tactile kinesthetic stimulation (TKS), which are both non-invasive and easily affordable. However, very few studies have compared these two techniques. Hence, the aim of the study was to compare the effectiveness of kangaroo mother care (KMC) and TKS in LBW babies. Methods: This was an experimental study including 40 LBW babies weighing 1500–2500 g with gestational age of ≥32 weeks. Group A (n=20) was treated with KMC and group B (n=20) was treated with TKS for 5 consecutive days. The weight and parental bonding of all the neonates before and after intervention were recorded. Results: The results of this study revealed that the neonates in both groups showed significant weight gain after 5 days of treatment (p=0.00001) However, in Group B, parental bonding scores were significantly decreased with p=0.0126. Conclusions: The present study concluded that KMC and TKS were equally effective in increasing the weight of the neonates and the mother-child bonding.

Background: Disabled individuals have poorer health compared to non-disabled individuals and they exhibit a higher prevalence of chronic diseases, such as hypertension (HTN) and diabetes mellitus (DM). We explored how effectively blood pressure (BP) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) level, factors influencing development of HTN and DM, were controlled in disabled and non-disabled individuals over the age of 40 years. We hypothesized that control of BP and FPG levels in disabled individuals would be lower than that in non-disabled participants. Methods: Records of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) were analyzed and the health screening program database was examined between the years 2007 and 2009. We identified patients who had used healthcare services to treat HTN or DM. Health-related information that might influence effective control of both BP and FPG levels in those with or without physical disabilities were examined. Results: The extent of effective BP and DM control did not differ between people with and without disabilities, but plasma glucose levels were slightly better controlled in individuals with disabilities than those without disabilities. HTN and DM control was more closely associated with female gender, age, grade of disability, non-smoking and non-drinker status, engagement in physical activity, presentation for health examinations, and frequent tertiary hospital visits for HTN management. Conclusions: Our paper is significant because of our focus on differences between disabled and non-disabled individuals. Our results and future data from NHIS health screening programs can be used to regularly monitor population health status and to evaluate information relevant to the management of HTN and DM control.

Background : Wheelchair basketball, a popular sport that allows for the inclusion of different levels of disability, has been played since 1946. It became a Paralympics sport in 1988. The aim of the study was to examine the association between quality of life (QOL) and achievement among wheelchair basketball players on a national level. Methods: Seven German players and 11 Israeli players participated in the study. The 36-Item Short Form Health Survey and the the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaires were used to measure QOL, and a sociodemographic questionnaire was used for individual athletic lifestyles. Results : Due to low compliance by several countries, only Germany and Israel were surveyed. There was no significant difference in the QOL scores between Israeli and German players. Israeli players were, on average, older than German players and had higher incomes. German players dedicated more time to the sport than Israeli players. Conclusions: QOL and team achievement were influenced by hours of practice and younger age, which were related to physical ability requirements for athletic performance. QOL was not contingent on income level or achievement.

Background : Savant syndrome is a rare condition, in which persons with serious intellectual disabilities demonstrate extraordinary capacities or abilities in contrast to their overall disability. This paper presents the savant abilities of a child with autism spectrum disorder, who showed exceptional arithmetic skills and higher word decoding ability. Methods : A protocol of academic skills evaluation was administered. Assessment of calculation skills included tests on written calculations; numerical knowledge indicating the semantic, syntactic and lexical level; and accuracy and speed measurement. Results : Performances in number elaboration showed an adequate access to semantic and verbal number information. In the written and mental calculation task and in fact retrieval, implicating calculation strategies and information retrieval, processes were automatized. Conclusions: The data gathered show that the child’s performance both for number elaboration and calculation procedures is higher than the school grade attended, typical of people with exceptional abilities.

Community physiotherapy in India is an important but under researched field. There are three components of community physiotherapy that are associated with each other, namely, education, research, and service delivery. There have been previous attempts to study the components of education and service delivery in the field of community physiotherapy in India. However, there is little published research. The aim of the current paper is to understand the contribution of Indian physiotherapists to the field of community research in an Indian and a global context. A research journal called Disability, CBR and Inclusive Development was used for this study. It was found that the contribution of physiotherapists in India to the field of community research was minimal. This could be one of the reasons for reduced awareness, decreased motivation, and confusion about community physiotherapy amongst physiotherapy students. Community physiotherapy is an important specialization, especially in a developing country such as India. It can be perceived as a cost-effective solution to the rehabilitation of underprivileged communities in India. Knowledge dissemination through more published research is required.

Little research exists on the victimization of youth with disabilities in Asian countries. Yet, developing Asian countries, such as Vietnam, harbor a significant number of youth with disabilities, while services to address their needs often lag behind. The objectives of this study were to: 1) identify the prevalence of reported injuries due to family violence among youth with disabilities in a nationally representative sample of Vietnamese youth, and 2) analyze the relative contribution of disability status and other factors influencing variations in the prevalence of reported injuries. This study employed the 2003 Vietnam Survey Assessment of Vietnamese Youth (VNSAVY), the first nationally representative, population-based survey of 7584 adolescents and young adults in Vietnam. Data collection included face-to-face interviews and self-administered surveys. Weighted bivariate and multiple logistic regressions were used to investigate the relationship among disability, violence, and selected covariates. Results indicated that approximately 14% of Vietnamese youth reported having a disability. Among these youth, approximately 3% reported victimization, in comparison to 2% of able-bodied youth. The odds of youth with disabilities reporting injuries due to family violence remained 50% higher than those without disabilities, controlling for all other variables. Gender and alcohol abuse among family members were also significant risk factors in family violence. Youth with disabilities in developing Asian countries, such as Vietnam, may be vulnerable to physical violence. Preventative programs and services are thus needed to address the unique vulnerabilities of youth with disabilities in developing contexts by screening for victimization experiences and adapting trauma-informed behavioral health services and supports.

There is a close relationship between religion and education. Tibetan religions have a far-reaching influence on all aspects of Tibetan lives. Tibetan religious ideas bring both challenge and promotion to Tibetan special education, including special schooling and the parenting of disabled children. Both positive and negative influences of religious philosophies on Tibetan special schooling and parenting are analyzed based on the introduction of three kinds of Tibetan religions.

We present two cases of thalamic infarction presentation with aphasia, which has rarely been documented in the literature. Of interest, the second case presented with a lesion in the non-dominant thalamus, which made the finding of speech impairment exceedingly rare. Anomic aphasia has been associated with lesions to the basal temporal lobe, anterior inferior temporal lobe, temporo-parieto-occipital junction and the inferior parietal lobe, but rarely in association with the thalamus. Thalamic strokes most often present with motor, sensory, and cognitive deficits; few reports in the medical literature associate aphasia with a thalamic infarction. Possible explanations include crossed aphasia, diaschisis, the hypometabolic theory, and the thalamus as a secondary language center. Our findings may hint to a relationship among language, higher cognitive function, subcortical structures, and interhemispheric connections that are yet to be understood completely. We postulate that an increasingly important role of subcortical neuronal structures in cognitive functions will be recognized as diagnostic imaging technology improves over time.

A 14-month old male was admitted with a 1-day history of lethargy, vomiting, drowsiness, and pallor. His examination was unremarkable. Within 24 h of admission, he developed partial seizures on the right side of his face. Magnetic resonance imaging scan showed cerebral venous thrombosis. Subsequent investigations included a thrombophilia screen, which revealed the heterozygote for prothrombin mutation G20210A (PROG).