Student Assistive Technology for Kids

Technology has provided new ways for disabled students to communicate and learn. Assistive technologies allow students to expand their abilities so they are able to function more independently. In many cases, disabled students are able to participate in mainstream classrooms, eliminating the need for special education placement.

Laws

• According to KidSource, the 1988 Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act (Tech Act) was created to enhance the quality and availability of assistive technology devices for disabled individuals. The act defines assistive technology as any "item, piece of equipment or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities." These items include those that are modified or customized to suit the specific needs of the individual.

  Schools are required to furnish technology to disabled students by The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The goal of the law is to give disabled students the same learning opportunities as other students. Schools must provide the assistive equipment or services free of charge. In some cases, the school assessment team may decide the child needs to use assistive devices at home as well.

Types

• KidSource characterizes assistive devices as high-tech or low-tech. High-tech devices usually involve a computer chip. Low-tech devices are those widely available from a catalog or hardware store. Examples of high-tech devices include talking clocks, optical character recognition calculators, voice recognition, speech synthesizers, alternative keyboards, word prediction and augmentative communication devices. Low-tech devices include simple switches, pencil grips, picture boards, workbooks and cassette recorders.

Sight and Reading Assistive Technology

• Education World maintains that blind or visually impaired students can benefit from a number of technologies in the classroom. Speech recognition systems allow students to control computers by voice. Reading machines and software translate written text into audio. Braille machines translate written text into a Braille format. Students with vision impairments benefit from magnification software or hardware that enlarges the print text as it moves across the page. Talking calculators allow disabled students to complete the same math problems as other students. The calculators are designed to say the numbers pressed and to read back the answer calculated by the student.

Audio Assistive Technology

• Students who are hard of hearing or deaf benefit from a number of devices. These include hearing aids, personal FM systems, sound field FM systems and TDDs (telecommunications device for the deaf). TDDs, also known as TTYs, have keyboards and visual displays. Some classrooms use captioning to translate audio into text that is visible on a video or television screen.

Other Assistive Technology

• Other types of technology used to provide assistance in the classroom include side lying frames, wheelchairs, walkers, standing aides, anatomical site devices, remote control switches, robotic arms, alternative keyboards, touch windows, translation software, signs in Braille and flashing light systems.