Practical Applications for Use of PDAs and Smartphones With
Children and Adolescents Who Have Traumatic Brain InjuryBy
DePompei, Roberta; Gillette, Yvonne; Goetz, Elaine; Xenopoulos-
Oddsson; Bryen, Diane; Dowds, Murdo; NeuroRehabilitation: An
Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol. 23, No. 6, pp. 487-499
Publication Date: 2008 Study explored the use of personal
digital assistants (PDAs) and smartphones as memory aids for
children and adolescents with traumatic brain injury (TBI). An
initial study including 106 participants with TBI or
intellectual disabilities (ID) at three university
rehabilitation centers compared the effectiveness of a paper
calendar, a Dell PDA, and a Palm PDA as memory aids. During the
8-week trial, participants completed two tasks following a
reminder alarm from the PDAs: placing a phone call and leaving a
message, and completing a typical task. External memory aids
were exchanged each week. Results showed the Palm PDA to be the
most effective reminder method across the three groups, with the
P