About

Educational services for students with disabilities have changed dramatically over the past 10 years. Technology for all students and assistive technology for students with disabilities has become more commonplace in schools across the country. Special education law requires the provision of assistive technology if needed as part of a "free appropriate public education" (FAPE). In 1990, amendments to IDEA included broad definitions of assistive technology devices and services and a specific requirement for schools to provide AT if needed for FAPE as part of special education, related services, or supplementary aids and services. The 1997 reauthorization of IDEA added a requirement that each individualized education program (IEP) team consider AT as one of a number of "special factor considerations."

As the technology has become more complex, so have the policy dilemmas. With the IDEA special factor requirement, every IEP team must consider the assistive technology needs of every student. This federal mandate has created a policy development and implementation need in every state and local school district across the country. Using IDEA child count information, IEP teams need to "consider" the assistive technology needs of over seven million students each year. This consideration and documentation through the IEP process will be repeated annually for every student, resulting in a minimum of seven million assistive technology considerations per year. Billions of dollars are being expended on technology for schools, with the promise of every school being wired and every student having a computer. Computer usage for instruction and learning is found today in almost every type of program, at every grade level, and in almost every school across the country. 

Unfortunately, the rapid acquisition of educational technology has not sufficiently addressed the needs of students with disabilities. We believe that access for students with disabilities should always be identified as an important factor when purchasing educational technology. However, it is not.

Barriers to the effective evaluation and use of assistive technology by ATstudents with disabilities in schools and colleges include:

• High cost: Unlike all other types of software the cost of commercial AT software has not decreased over the past 10 years. In many instances it has increased. See: http://ideal-group.org/prices.htm

• Ownership issues: Ownership issues sometime come into play when a student needs to take school-purchased AT software to another school with them or home to do their homework (Many students do not have AT software at home because their parents can not afford it). School policy often prevents this. 

• Outdated AT software: Maintenance contracts are expensive.  Many schools can not afford to purchase them. Portable and Web-delivered AT software is automatically updated, via the web, at no cost.

• Incompatibility/interoperability issues: When AT software is installed on a computer, incompatibility or interoperability issues may occur because of the need to share certain files resident on the PC. These occurrences are significantly reduces by running applications from flash drives and the Web.

• Licensing limitations: Commercial licensing limitation preclude students from using their AT software on every PC the student may wish/need to use;;

• Lack of training: Special education teachers not sufficiently trained to use equipment;

• Insufficient evaluation and support services to meet special technology needs; 

• Too few computers available to students with disabilities;

• Red tape and time delays conducting in-school AT evaluations; This often requires;

  • soliciting approval to install AT software on security protected school PCs

  • involving school IT department staff

  • installing software on school PCs

  • uninstalling software from school PCs

  • checking to insure that school PCs function properly after the AT uninstall

• AT settings being changed by other students;

• Unavailability of the PC with AT installed in it