Chapter 14. The Counseling Process in Assistive
Technology Evaluation and Selection
Overview
The cases reported here represent only an infinitesimal
part of all the possible problem combinations
with which an AT counseling service may have
to deal. Some of these do not end, as might
be expected, with the acquisition of a technical
device but rather by adopting other remedial
measures or by looking for solutions at a different
level. By the same token, this chapter is intended
to make as practical as possible the theoretical
perspective adopted, namely the systemic approach.
The cases have been used to illustrate some
of the approach's main points.
1. There is no such thing as the problem of
a sole individual; the situation must always
be considered within a wider context, that of
the system or systems to which that individual
belongs. Only in this way can the real strengths,
weaknesses, and goals be recognized.
2. There is no such thing as a neutral counselor
able to judge, decide, and advise from the summit
of an infallible science; rather, counselors
are involved, together with the user and system,
in finding solutions to the problem. They will
be successful only if they are aware of this
involvement and bring all their technical and
methodological competence to the solution. Their
achievement depends on awareness of their own
work hypotheses, decisions, and attributions
of meaning.
3. Because of the peculiarity of these two "systems,"
their meeting is unique and depends on the very
moment of occurrence in the systems' reciprocal
story. It is the counselor's task not only to
analyze the request content but also to determine
the moment at which it takes place.
4. The solution, or the group of possible solutions,
is but the outcome of this meeting, the final
result of a change planned in words. Because
it depends on a cobuilding process, the solution
can never be known or decided a priori but becomes
evident—it has been said—as the
conclusion of a dialogue between constraints
and possibilities.
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