Persons with multiple disabilities exercise adaptive head responses with the support of microswitch-aided programs

The present two studies were aimed at extending evidence on the effectiveness of microswitch-aided programs for promoting exercise of head movements through contingent stimulation with three participants (i.e., a man and two children) with multiple disabilities. The man and the child involved in Study I were to exercise head rotation movements from a lying or sitting position. The child involved in Study II was to exercise brief head lifting movements from a supine and a prone position. Tilt, optic, and pressure microswitches were used for the three participants, respectively. Performance of the target movements led to brief periods of preferred stimulation during the intervention phases of the studies. Data showed that the intervention frequencies of those movements increased for all three participants. Implications of the studies were discussed.