Assistive and Adaptive Technology

Adapting Classrooms for AT Users: Challenges and Solutions


Nothing seems more cruel to me than having a student who cannot run sit on the sidelines in a gym class watching his peers run and play sports. We need to take a Partial Participation approach to including students in activities that are typically considered off limits. Those who are not familiar with adapting activities find it easier to just find an alternate activity for students with disabilities. This video details classrooms designed for students with disabilities. A modification like a supportive chair can allow a child to participate in an activity without falling off her chair. Something as simple as putting felt in between the pages of a book make it easier for a child with a physical disability to turn the pages. There are many modifications and accommodations that are costly but there are also things we can do that cost very little. We have to think outside of the box and be willing to spend some time to make classrooms accessible to all students. 

Disabled Bodies, Able Minds: Giving Voice, Movement, and Independence to the Physically Challenged

Providing students with disabilities access to assistive technology devices increases their independence. My non-verbal students with autism use Proloquo2go to communicate. Without it (and the devices that preceded the iPad and this application) all the adults in these students lives would just guess what they needed and do everything for them. The students in this article/video were able to pursue their interests and participate fully in school and extracurricular activities through the use of assistive technology. When there was no technology yet available (the device made to play the instrument), it pushed someone to create it. Without students like this who continually seek to be involved in activities considered out of their reach, we would not continue to make advances in AT. 

Interview with Richard Keller

Dr. Keller explains the difference between assistive and adaptive technology, two words that are often used interchangeably. Dr. Keller points out that assistive technology is derived from the medical model of disability in which the person will somehow be fixed or made complete. On the other hand, adaptive technology changes the technology, not the person --a disabilities study paradigm. Dr. Keller explains further, "when we say assistive it means you're helping me and when it says adaptive, it's a tool that works specially for me in the circumstances I want to use it in." I think it is very important to speak about disabilities using language that empowers individuals. Dr. Keller also speaks about gaining independence through the use of adaptive technology.