The Árnadóttir OT-ADL Neurobehavioral Evaluation:
The A-ONE
2008 A-ONE Courses
October 2-3 and 6-8.
Denmark: Hammel Neurocenter (taught in Danish)
Contact: waehrens@post8.tele.dk
October 29-31
Advanced Course
Denmark: Hammel Neurocenter
Contact: waehrens@post8.tele.dk
November 20-21 and 24-26.
Amsterdam: Taught in Dutch.
Contact: http://www.proeducation.nl/a-one.cursus/
2009 A-ONE Courses
March 12-13 and 16-18.
Amsterdam: Taught in Dutch.
Contact: http://www.proeducation.nl/a-one.cursus/
March 14-18
New York City, New York
Contact: GG50@Columbia.edu
August 31- September 2nd
Advanced Course
Denmark: Vejlefjord Neurocenter
Contact: waehrens@post8.tele.dk
October 22-23 and 26-28
Denmark: Hospital of Northern Seeland (taught in Danish)
Contact: waehrens@post8.tele.dk
November 19-20 and 23-25.
Amsterdam: Taught in Dutch.
Contact: http://www.proeducation.nl/a-one.cursus/
To sponsor a course, please contact:
Glen Gillen, GG50@columbia.edu ( North America)
Eva Wæhrens, waehrens@post8.tele.dk ( Denmark)
Ester Steultjens, esteultjens@ergotherapie.nl ( Holland)
Valerie Harris, valerie@unak.is ( Australia)
Guðrún Árnadóttir, a-one@islandia.is, (Worldwide courses)
Description of the A-ONE Instrument:
Within the field of occupational therapy (OT) there is a growing awareness and need to have therapists evaluate patients with cognitive-perceptual dysfunction in a way that is unique to OT (i.e. a functional emphasis). Traditionally, the evaluation of activities of daily living and mobility occurs separately from the cognitive-perceptual evaluation. This is unfortunate as the “traditional” cognitive-perceptual evaluation includes items not oriented to the discipline of OT; that is they do not focus on how or why such dysfunction interferes with daily activities.
With this in mind Guðrún Árnadóttir, an Icelandic occupational therapist, developed an assessment tool that combines neurobehavioral theory with OT principles. The A-ONE directly links functional performance (basic activities of daily living and mobility) to neurobehavioral deficits including cognitive-perceptual and motor impairments. The A-ONE is appropriate to use for clients over the age of 16 who present with damage to the central nervous system.
The A-ONE utilizes standardized and structured observations as the method of assessment during the following daily living skills:
- Feeding
- Grooming & Hygiene (upper body washing, oral/hair care, shaving, etc.)
- Dressing (upper and lower body)
- Transfers and Mobility (bed mobility, transfers, maneuvering in a w/c or during ambulation)
- Functional Communication (comprehension and expression)
Utilizing standardized procedures and uniform conceptual and operational definitions as guidelines the following specific impairments are evaluated in the context of functional skills:
- Ideational apraxia
- Motor apraxia
- Unilateral body neglect
- Somatoagnosia
- Spatial relations dysfunction
- Unilateral spatial neglect
- Perseveration
- Organization & Sequencing dysfunction
- Topographical disorientation
- Motor control impairments
In addition, the following pervasive impairments can be detected and objectified:
- Agnosias (visual object, associative visual object, visual spatial)
- Anosognosia
- Body scheme disturbances
- Emotional/affective disturbances
- Impaired attention and alertness
- Memory loss
- etc…
The A-ONE is standardized, valid and reliable and used throughout the international OT community. The instrument is contained in the textbook “The Brain and Behavior: Assessing Cortical Dysfunction Through Activities of Daily Living” (Click here for more information on the text: http://us.elsevierhealth.com/product.jsp?isbn=080160334X
To use the tool reliably a certification course is required. The course presents the A-ONE with examples of how it can be used and delineates the concepts on which it is based. It will provide guidance in evaluating cognitive-perceptual dysfunction from a functional viewpoint. Participants become proficient in the A-ONE administration and scoring procedures, and are able to use it with increased reliability. The course instructors teach clinical reasoning strategies based on the operational definitions and knowledge of neurological processing to differentiate between the various presentations of the impairments.
