Who determines the ethics of AT research?

The potential for overly complex and demanding ethical procedures to slow or terminate future development of some Assistive Technology is noted. As Assistive Technology users and their carers have not been consulted widely about what standards they would expect in research and development ethics, an exploratory study involving 62 participants in four countries was conducted. A course on ethics for participants was created that would elicit their views. The participants' initial judgments were approximately twice as likely to suggest reducing ethical procedural hurdles. The balance of judgments changed during the course. Potential implications of the findings are reported. Further studies are indicated to bring statistical significance and fuller understanding of this issue.