PICO Paper

Rachel Dietrich

Jackson College

March 2, 2018
 PICO Research paper

In non-verbal children with cerebral palsy how effective is eye gaze technology verses traditional

tools (paper and pen, signing, cues gestures) in helping children establish clear communication?

Cerebral palsy is a disorder that affects motor function including gross, fine and oral

motor functions. It is caused by neurological abnormalities in parts of the brain that controls

movement. Most commonly due to problem in utero or premature development of the fetus. CP

is frequently diagnosed before two years of age. According to the CDC on average, 3.3 children

per 1,000 live births are diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Many children with CP are non-verbal which leads to an interference in communication

between the child and others (parent, teachers, sibling, peers). This can be frustrating on all

parties, resulting in the child’s needs not being met. Children with CP are not all cognitively

declined, so imagine no one understanding you. At Lyle torrent I had the pleasure of working

with several children. However, I found a barrier when the child was trying to communicate with

me. There were several different methods used when communicating with the kids. One I found

incredibly valuable was eye gaze technology.

Eye gaze technology has many advantages for nonverbal children. Gross and motor skills

are often affected by CP, making it difficult to use traditional nonverbal communication. It

allows the child to use their eyes to control a device that’s similar to a tablet. Eye gaze can be a

universal form of communication, if you are able to read you should be able to understand the

user. It diminishes many barriers between the sender and receiver, there’s less room for errors
and the child’s needs can be met. This device can also help with the child’s social needs as well,

it’s used for communication during school, in games and normal internet access. It helps the

child maintain as normal of a childhood as possible. Although there have been very little studies

on this technology it may be the only way for some children to communicate.

Parents and caregivers are desperate to communicate with their children they try many

different methods. Most of the other method count on the child to have gross or fine motor skills,

which are usually poor in children with CP. One method I saw demonstrated at Lyle torrent was

American sign language(ASL), great form of communication but has its limitations. All parties

must have a basic knowledge of ASL for it to be effective. Since ASL is not a universal language

the child would need to be accompanied by an interpreter 24/7. If the child has problem with fine

motor skills, ASL can get garbled. When the child at Lyle Torrent was using sign, it was hard for

the staff to understand. They have limited experience with ASL, so they created a book of signs

to help with the child’s learning. It’s great initiative but time consuming and takes away from

time needed for other children.

There are many ways to communicate with nonverbal children with cerebral Palsy, the

goal is to make the child’s life as normal as possible while going through this horrible disorder.

Although there’s limited research on weather eye gaze in more efficient, it allows the user to

have vast audience compared to a select few. With technology being our main source of

communication today, this put the child on an even playing field with their peers.
 References
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https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Hope-

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http://www.cerebralpalsy.org/information/communication/communicating-

effectively

Definition of Cerebral Palsy. (n.d.). Retrieved March 02, 2018, from

http://www.cerebralpalsy.org/about-cerebral-palsy/definition

Eye Tracking Communication for Individuals that are Non-Verbal. (n.d.). Retrieved

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3788277/