and clinical reasoning needed to support clients in the evaluation and implementation of AT in their future practice. Each year, a new capstone student becomes the near peer teacher, immersing themselves into the design and implementation of the course with close mentorship from the faculty member (first author) teaching the course. In addition, the student typically has a special topic of interest that enhances the course content as technology evolves. Last year’s student, Isaiah Wills (second author) developed a comprehensive adaptive gaming module. First students learned about basic gaming systems and different assistive technology to support gamers of all abilities (images 27-28), and then students participated in a multi-station lab activity in teams to get hands-on experience with adaptive gaming (Videos AG 1-3). When Isaiah presented his adaptive gaming materials during one of the final weeks of the semester, students were prepared to layer onto their other knowledge. At this point, students had already worked with different access methods (e.g., head, eyes, hands, feet) and switch controls (e.g., one switch and two switch scanning, various types of switches) across a variety of platforms (e.g., tablets, desktop computers, mobile devices), so learning about how to incorporate this into the occupation of video gaming was an appropriate challenge. QR code 1(https://bit.ly/AdGaming) provides examples of Isaiah’s materials and resources for others hoping to build on his work.
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Generally, the first half of the semester is dedicated to enhancing students’ comfortability in creating solutions for home and community design as well as AT for mobility, including manual and power wheelchairs and alternative drive controls. The second half of the semester focuses on accessibility for computers and tablets, switch control, AAC, AT for leisure, and AT for cognition. While each week of class focuses on new content and/or new types of technologies, students are expected to build on previous knowledge to begin designing more complex and integrated solutions for their case studies as the class progresses. For their final practical exam, students are split into teams of two or three and asked to develop a comprehensive AT solution for a client with complex needs in areas that may include sensory, motor, and/or cognition. Through this practical exam, students are encouraged to creatively integrate all of the tools they have learned about over the semester, allowing them to practice the type of clinical reasoning that is expected in real world practice. In addition to supporting lab development and updating the ever changing array of resources available for assistive technology, the near peer teacher collaborates with the faculty for the course to host a series of open lab opportunities for students to trial solutions and talk through clinical reasoning and ideas prior to the practical exam. Students report feeling more confident in experimenting with AT solutions through these experiences and student feedback for the near peer support is consistently positive. In the most recent cohort, students said, “[The NPT] was instrumental in advancing my understanding of AT, from the lab activities and open labs to [their] one-on-one conversations,” and “Even on the off chance where [the NPT] was also confused–usually due to technical difficulties–, [the NPT] problem solved with us to help us figure it out.” CONCLUSION The use of NPT to support the assistive technologies course in the VCU curriculum has been instrumental over the past five years, allowing our program to provide students with the skills Image 26: Example Low Tech Solutions for Spaces to increase accessibility of spaces.
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