The achievement of upright, self-initiated mobility radically alters the experiential world of young children and provides new contexts for acquiring, practicing, and refining skills that contribute to learning. Young children with severe physical impairment who have no means for self-initiated, upright mobility will be limited in their abilities to explore, interact, and participate in the classroom environment. In this presentation we describe the use of hands-free support walkers to encourage self initiated mobility combined with the use of AAC techniques and devices, in the context of ongoing preschool curricular activities. The rationale for using hands-free support walkers in selected preschool activities as well as hardware considerations will be discussed through slides and video case studies.
