Objective: To find physiologically arousing stimuli and labile physiological channels in a non-verbal adolescent with severe and multiple congenital disabilities, who did not have a reliable means of communication.
Methods: The client was repeatedly presented with visual and audiovisual stimuli, representing variations of six contextual factors over three sessions in a one month period. For each stimulus, reactions were detected in the client's four peripheral autonomic nervous system signals using a rule-based classification algorithm.
Results: During the presentation of audiovisual stimuli, the number of physiological reactions significantly differed from that observed in baseline (χ(2) = 3.93, p = 0.0476). Aural stimuli articulated in an unfamiliar voice, and aural stimuli containing anticipatory patterns were also physiologically arousing. Fingertip temperature was the client's most labile physiological signal.
Conclusions: The results of this case study suggest that physiological data may complement caregiver acumen in deciphering the reactions of non-verbal clients with severe and multiple disabilities.
Keywords: Access pathway; arousal; people with severe disabilities; physiological signals.