What is Assistive Technology (AT)?
What is Assistive Technology (AT)?
Assistive Technology was first defined by federal law in the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988. The most recent definition of an assistive technology device is from The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997. It states that an assistive technology device is “any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability”.
Assistive technology may be ”low” or “no” technology devices, requiring no electronic equipment such as a pencil grip to allow a student to better hold onto a writing implement; or “high” technology devices such as an iPad or a complicated electronic communication device (Purcell & Grant, 2002). CCSU utilizes assistive technology that ranges from “low” technology items such as pencil grips and slant boards for students to place their writing on, to “high” technology items such as comprehensive software that supports students in learning to read like Lexia Learning and speech recognition software such as Dragon Naturally Speaking, which allows students to speak and have the computer or table type their words for them.
Online Resources to Learn More
An Assistive Technology 101 website from The Family Center on Technology and Disability which includes links to several other sites with even more information.
An article describing assistive technology from the University of Washington.
A brief history of the legal definition of assistive technology and a table of common assistive technology items used in the classroom sorted by the purpose of the technology on the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory website.
Last updated: Sep 26, 2011 at 8:16 pm
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