The SETT Framework

The occupational therapist said that she had just attended a meeting at which the SETT Framework was discussed (See Module 5 for a detailed discussion of the SETT Framework).

She said that SETT was an acronym for Student, Environments, Task, and Tools. She reported that meeting participants generally felt that it was not possible to select appropriate tools (devices and services) without first really being clear about who was going to use them (the Student), where they were going to be used (the Environments), and what they were to be used for (the Tasks). She suggested that they use the SETT Framework to build shared knowledge so that they could make a good decision about AT for Jim, so the team set a time to meet again the next week to work through the SETT Framework.

In the meantime, each person was to take a few minutes to think of about five things they wanted the rest of the team to be sure to know about Jim, his customary environments, and the writing tasks that were of concern. They were to write each item individually on a 2 x 4 PostIt note – a total of 15 notes – and bring the notes to the meeting so that their thoughts could be easily added to a group framework that would be posted for all to see as they worked. The occupational therapist volunteered to do some research to find out what Assistive Technology tools were available to assist with written productivity. Several others said they would do that, too.

The following week when the team met, the occupational therapist had prepared a SETT Scaffold for Data-Gathering and posted in on the wall. (Download a Word document of Jim's SETT Scoffold forms). There were three sheets of chart paper, one entitled Student, one entitled Environments, and one entitled Tasks. There was not a sheet for Tools yet because that would come later in the process. When team members entered the room, they were asked to place their PostIts on the appropriate sheet, thus a great deal of information was gathered in a very short time.