Synonyms
Cognitive stimulation; RO
Short Description or Definition
Reality orientation (RO) is an important construct in developmental clinical neuropsychology. Young children as well as the elderly often undergo an examination called the mental status examination, or the mini-mental status examination, to evaluate if an individual is oriented to reality (D’Amato et al. 2005).
Accordingly, it is critical to understand an individual’s RO. RO was first described by Taulbee and Folsom (1966) as a technique to improve the life of individuals suffering from disorientation. It involves the presentation of orientation and memory information to individuals to reorient those individuals to their environment. This technique was thought to provide the patient with a better understanding of his or her environment which may subsequently impact sense of control and self-esteem. RO is typically utilized with individuals suffering from dementia although research has been conducted in other areas....
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References and Readings
D’Amato, R. C., & Rothlisberg, B. A. (1996). How education should respond to students with traumatic brain injuries. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29, 670–683.
D’Amato, R. C., Fletcher-Janzen, E., & Reynolds, C. R. (Eds.). (2005). Handbook of school neuropsychology. New York: Wiley.
Davis, A. (Ed.). (2011). Handbook of pediatric neuropsychology. New York: Springer.
Folsom, J. C. (1966). Reality orientation for the elderly mental patient. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 1, 291–307.
Taulbee, L. R., & Folsom, J. C. (1966). Reality orientation for geriatric patients. Psychiatric Services, 17(5), 133–135.
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Tickle, J.W., D’Amato, R.C., Carboni, J.A., Decker, S.L. (2018). Reality Orientation. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1482
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1482
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