Assistive technology refers to any item, equipment, or system that helps individuals with disabilities maintain or improve their functional abilities. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires schools to provide assistive technologies and accommodations to eligible students. Individualized Education Plans outline technologies and services tailored to each student's needs, such as auditory aids, adapted utensils, and instructional software. Teachers have resources like projectors, word prediction software, FM systems, and non-tech strategies including outlines, emailing notes, and text-to-speech to meet the needs of students with disabilities.

1. Assistive Technology
By: Josey Cameron

2. What is Assistive Technology?
 Any item, piece of equipment, or product
system used to increase, maintain, or
improve functional capabilities of
individuals with disabilities. 1

3. Who Needs Assistive Technology?
 The law, commonly referred to as IDEA,
(Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act of 1990) requires that states “ensure
that all children with disabilities have
available to them a free appropriate
public education that emphasizes special
education and related services designed
to meet their unique needs and prepare
them for employment and independent
1
living.” (151)

4. Individual Educational Plan (IEP)
 Individual Education Plans are required
for all students who qualify for special
education. 1
 Each IEP is developed through careful
collaboration of parental, classroom
teacher, and school officials to ensure the
best type of instruction, often including
assistive technology.

5. Types of Assistive Technology
 Mobility and Positioning Aids (ex.
Wheelchair, walker, stander)
 Sensory Tools (ex. Hearing aids, auditory
trainers, reading devices)
 Daily Living Tools (ex. Adapted eating
utensils, reading magnifiers)
 Environmental Tools (ex. Electronic
systems which control access to lights,
television, appliances)

6. Types of Assistive Technology
(Continued)
 Instructional Tools (ex. Internet
technology, audiotape players)
 Computer Access (ex. Adapted
keyboard)
 Alternative/Augmentative Tools (ex.
Speech synthesizers, text-to-speech
technology)
 Motivational Tools (ex. Adapted sports
equipment, large print, Braille)

7. Assistive Technology In Use
 You are a teacher who has a few students
that require you to differentiate your
instruction. Three have been diagnosed with
ADHD, while one has an auditory disability,
and requires a special device in order to
hear. In addition, you have a number of
students that have mild learning disabilities
that impact all areas, especially reading and
writing. As you prepare for the school year,
you ask yourself, "What resources do I have
in order to help me meet my students'
needs?"

8. Assistive Technology In Use (cont.)
 “What resources do I have in order to
meet my students’ needs?”
◦ For ADHD students, instructional tools such
as overhead transparencies and projectors
could be used for teaching to keep them
engaged as opposed to lecturing.
◦ WordQ is a great software for ADHD
students in aiding in typing and proofreading
by providing such features as word
predictions and highlighting. 2

9. Assistive Technology In Use (cont.)
 “What resources do I have in order to
meet my students’ needs?”
◦ Devices such as FM system or closed
captioning could be used in helping a student
with auditory disabilities succeed.
◦ Simple modifications such as seating the
student towards the front of the class or
assigning the student a “buddy” to assist in
note taking can help students with auditory
disabilities. 3

10. Non-technology Assistance
 Teachers can meet the needs of students
with mild disabilities by using no-tech
techniques.
◦ Giving students an outline of the lecture in
order for them to take better notes. 4
◦ Sending class notes to students via email. 4
◦ Translating print-based notes to voice by
using optical character recognition (OCR)
4
software with a voice synthesizer.

11. References
Cennamo, Ross, Ertmer (2010). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom
Use: A Standards-Based Approach. CA: Cengage Learning.
e Duffy, Francesca (2012) The Write Tools for ADHD Students. Retrieved on June 15,
2012 from URL http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/9365.html
t ATSTAR: Retrieved on June 15, 2012 from URL
http://www.atstar.org/atinfo/info_disabilities_auditory.htm
r Berhmann, Michael & Jerome, Marci Kinas(2002) Assistive Technology for Students
with Mild Disabilities: Update 2002. ERIC Digest. Retrieved on June 15, 2012 from URL
http://www.cec.sped.org/Content/NavigationMenu/AboutCEC/International/StepbyStep/As
sistive%20Technology%20for%20Students%20with%20Mild%20Disabilities.pdf