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As if this book wasn't good enough on its content merits, there is an added bonus in the excellent line drawings that serve to illustrate the points the author makes throughout each chapter. The illustrations are simple and graphic. The book is spiral bound, facilitating the placing of the pages on a copy machine or photographing of the images using a macro lens. The author freely gives permission to use the illustrations for teaching purposes. Anyone who is teaching about seating theory, assessment and intervention will find them invaluable.

The book is divided into 5 sections. The Introduction section focuses on the theory behind seating intervention, including a clear discussion of the pelvis and it's role as an anchor. Anatomical landmarks are described and illustrated, as are suggested hand placement techniques to use during the assessment and intervention process.

The section on Assessment includes gathering information, physical assessment, hand and equipment simulation, and setting objectives. The author spends a great deal of time describing hands on simulation " Simulating with our hands demands all of our senses. I often feel like an octopus, using my trunk, hands, pelvis, legs and feet to provide just the right amount of support in just the right places". This integral part of the seated mat assessment and simulation process is often over looked in the rush to find a product solution.

Section 3 assists the reader move through the process of planning and designing interventions for each body segment, as well as integrating the solutions into the wheeled base. Several solutions are illustrated and described for each problem reemphasizing the importance of hands on assessment in the planning process. Section 4 helps readers learn to summarize what they have learned and what they have decided to do about it. One youngster's story is used as illustration throughout the assessment and intervention sections and 5 more stories are featured in Section 5.

There is an excellent, illustrated glossary of terms, a list of references, and an appendix of forms the author has used to document her assessments.

This book should be a must for students in PT, OT, PTA and OTA programs, as well as therapists, suppliers and rehab engineers working on seating solutions as part of their practice. Anyone who is teaching others in this area can choose from it's illustrations when preparing teaching materials.

Adee's Review: This comprehensive textbook offers an excellent information base for professionals working with assistive technologies. Information ranges from a historical overview of where assitive trechnology practice and devices have been to current information during the year of publication. Despite the age of some of the product information, (we have come a long way during the past five years) all of the theoretical information remains valuable.

The authors create a model for thinking about how humans and technology interface. The HAAT model places the human, the activity and the technology into the context where they interface. Using the model as a framework the authors discuss The Human Component, including the user, services, relevant laws, funding, etc., in Part 2. In Part 3 the authors discuss The Activities (extrinsic enablers), seating and positioning, control interfaces, computers, and output devices. Part 4 includes augmentative and alternative communication systems, personal mobility systems, aides to manipulate the environment, and sensory aides.

Experienced practitioners who have focused in one area of assistive technology can use this text to broaden their information base. This text is an excellent preparation tool for the RESNA credentialing exams.

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Adee's Review: This book should be a mandatory text for anyone working with the disabled, especially the non-vocal disabled population. I met Julia after I had already seen her on Dateline NBC several years ago. I was not disappointed. Julia is a remarkable woman with a spirit that has transcended the abuse and neglect she has suffered since a double stroke more than 30 years ago. In her book she offers us a window into the mind of a person newly awakened from a coma, but unable to communicate to those around her. She is living in a large municipal hospital in the days before patients' rights became commonplace, yet any of us working in this world know that what she describes is probably happening even now.

"My mind surfaces, slowly…..I try to lift my right hand, but it's rigid, inflexible, strapped to my chest like a dead person's. I attempt to unclench my left fist, but it's as hard and unbending as stone. Once more, I try to scream to convince myself that I'm alive. No sound comes forth, and I hear only the gnashing of teeth in my head."

Creating this manuscript, poetry and prose one letter at a time took years of Julia's life. Once she surfaced from her coma it took years for anyone to recognize that she was a thinking person. She shares her experiences with us, describing what it feels like to be tube-fed, what she experiences being raised in a Hoyer sling, moved to a stretcher and hosed down in a shower. Finally, in 1973 a speech pathologist and an occupational therapist realized that Julia was cognitive and devised a simple communication method for her. Her life improved slightly, but she was still abused or ignored by many of her caregivers, and mostly lost to her family. But her spirit lives on, and she overcomes much to learn to use a motorized wheelchair and a computer to reenter the mainstream of a life limited by the walls of the hospital.

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Adee's Review: This training guide, in a workbook format, is directed toward wheelchair riders and folks who assist them. It has excellent cartoon illustrations to clarify every point. The book covers everything from wheelchair fitting and adjustments to how to take a wheelchair on an escalator. The authors are careful to tell readers that some of the activities could be dangerous and should only be undertaken under supervision.

The first chapter includes basic wheelchair set-up. Information on making product choices is very superficial and readers should seek additional resources when making product selections. The next chapter moves right into how to survive in the environment when using a wheelchair for mobility: reaching, bending, doing wheelies, moving over different terrains, emergency skills, and managing in special circumstances like hiking, night safety, etc.

Directions and examples go from basic to advanced levels. Readers are shown how to complete activities and how to guide helpers who are available for assistance.

This excellent handbook should be a staple for wheelchair users and those of us who work with wheelchair users who want to move toward more advanced wheelchair skills.

by Rory A. Cooper
paperback, September 1998, Demos Medical Publishing, 339 pages
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by Peter Axelson, Jean Minkel, Denise Chesney
paperback, October 1994, Paralyzed Veterans of America, 53 pages
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by Jean A. Zollars
paperback, March 1993, Pax Press, 301 pages
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by Elaine Trefler, Douglas A. Hobson, Suzan Johnson Taylor, I. Monahan, Corwyn Zimbleman
paperback, 1993, Academic Press, 293 pages
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by John Hockenberry
paperback, July 1996, Hyperion Books, 367 pages
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by Beverly K. Bain (Editor), Dawn Leger (Editor)
paperback, June 1997, Churchill Livingstone, 336 pages
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