The original Lifespace Access Profile (Williams, et al. 1995) was developed in 1992 to answer the need to “match” an individual with severe or multiple disabilities and his/her needs to the growing number of assistive devices that were on the market. In 1994 the authors added an “upper extension” to address the needs of the group of individuals with physical disabilities who are cognitively normal or above.

The Lifespace Access Profile is a client-centered, team-based collection of observations that is designed to point to next steps in a comprehensive program utilizing assistive technology.

The Lifespace Access Profile evaluates the individual’s current abilities across five domains: Physical Resources, Cognitive Resources, Emotional Resources, Support Resources and Environmental Analysis.

• The Physical Resources domain gathers information about the individual’s general health, mobility, and body sites for switch access.
• Cognitive Resources include the ability to understand cause/effect and development of communication skills. The
• Emotional Resources section gathers information about what is reinforcing, as well as the individual’s distractibility and tolerance for change.
• Support Resources identifies the degree to which family members and service providers have adequate training and time to implement the use of assistive technology. The profile is a written record of observations made by a team of care and service providers. It is a shared document that encourages discussion and problem solving. It is not a standardized test. Rather it asks team members to rate the individual on a scale of 1 to 10 across a variety of behaviors and abilities. A low number signals a relative weakness or absence of a behavior; a high number signals a relative strength or presence of a behavior. Except for certain fixed conditions, it is expected that these ratings will change from year to year, moving---if even ever so slowly---toward higher numbers.

References

Bailey, R.W. (1989). Human performance engineering (2nd Ed.) Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Bowser, G. & Reed, P. (1995). "Education TECH Points for assistive technology planning." Journal of Special Education Technology, 7(4), 325-338.
Bowser, G. & Reed, P. (1998). Education Tech Points: A framework for assistive technology planning. Winchester, OR: Coalition for Assistive Technology in Oregon
Christiansen, C. & Baum, C. (1997). "Person-environment occupational performance: a conceptual model for practice." In Christiansen, C. & Baum, C. editors: Occupational therapy: enabling function and well being, (2nd ed.) Thoroughfare, NJ: Slack
Cook, A.M. & Hussey, S.M. (2002). Assistive technologies: Principles and practices (2nd Ed.) St. Louis: Mosby, Inc.
Scherer. M. (2002).
Williams, W. B. , Stemach, G., Wolfe, S. & Stanger, C. (1995). Lifespace access profile: Assistive technology assessment and planning for individuals with severe or multiple disabilities (revised edition). Irvine, CA: Lifespace Access Assistive Technology Systems.