Assistive technology is awesome, but not every school or child has access to such things. Assistive technology can include various things such as wheelchairs, voice activated software and customized laptops. Each of the things I mentioned may be very unimportant to so called "normal people" but for those with disabilities or special needs, assistive technology is their world. It helps them talk to others, do their homework, play an instrument, etc. Assistive technology is a great tool to include in education when needed. Assisitive technology can help support independence in elementary and middle school classrooms as well as in high school and college. Assistive technology can help those with special needs feel more like their classmates and teachers.
I have personally experienced assistive technology as I worked with a 9 year old named Ashly who was born with cerebral palsy as a baby and wheelchair bound. At the time, Ashly had her own specialized keyboard that she used to communicate with her friends and teachers at both daycare and school as well as her parents at home. Without her keyboard, Ashly would have very little ways to communicate with others. Ashly's keyboard made her life easier and better. As a teenager now, Ashly no longer uses her keyboard as much as she once did. But her keyboard helped her get to where she is today.
I hope that one day when I have a classroom and if I have any children who need assistive technology, the school district I work for will help those students and their families to get what they need to do well in school and strive.
Link: http://www.pluk.org/AT1.html
Photo from Google Images.
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