| Despite the incredible gains in communication technologies, barriers to communication remain. Certain groups in particular tend to experience marked communication difficulties, including people who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Assistive technology can help an individual with a disability eliminate a range of communication barriers and increase participation in activities of daily life, in work, and social settings, but many devices are abandoned in their first year of use. Psychosocial factors may have significant impact on how a person evaluates his or her decision to use assistive technology, in keeping with Rogers' Theory of Diffusion of Innovations, which serves the theoretical framework for this study. The study's null hypothesis states that Psychosocial and demographic variables will not predict among four levels of adoption of video relay services (VRS). Stated more technically, linear combinations of psychosocial and demographic variables will not discriminate among four levels of adoption of VRS assistive technology. The population for this study included only adult employees of the Texas School for the Deaf, with a total 103 respondents. Two data collection instruments were used---a demographic questionnaire and the Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Device Scale (PIADS). The demographic questionnaire gathered information related to characteristics of early and late adopters of innovations as per Roger's Theory. The PIADS is a 26 item self-report of psychosocial factors of independence, well being and quality of life. This study employed a non-experimental research design. Multiple Discriminant Analysis (MDA) was chosen as the statistical technique most appropriate for testing the hypothesis. Results indicate that the psychosocial variables of Competence, Adaptability and Self-Esteem were predictive of group membership in the adopter category. Communication Mode, Title, Past Phone Use, Years of Employment, Hearing Level, and Training variables also had predictive utility for group membership, of demographic variables, only Training was highly correlated to Competence and Adaptability. Possible study limitations include novelty effect, and pro innovation bias and associated with the introduction of an innovation. |
