Incorporating or Resisting Assistive Devices: Different Approaches to Achieving a Desired Occupational Self-Image

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to enhance the understanding of how people with disabilities experience the meaning of their assistive devices in their occupations and how they act on their experiences. Seventeen participants were interviewed and data were analyzed using a qualitative approach. The participants' experiences showed that they reacted differently to the manifold and often contradictory meaning of assistive devices. The analysts organized the participants' reactions into three categories: pragmatic users, ambivalent users, and reluctant users. The differences between the participants were understood as representing different adaptive approaches to achieve desired occupational self-images. Thus, the assistive devices were not in themselves important, but were merely a means to achieve a desired self-image. The findings reflect that the participants' experiences of using assistive devices reveal meanings about their use that go beyond the traditional medical perspective that focuses on the role of assistive devices as compensation for physical impairment.