The Advancement of Assistive Technology is Helping Children with Disabilities Improve Cognitive and Developmental Skills

Assistive technology has been used and has shown a great increase in communication and developmental skills among children with disabilities. With the help of assistive technology, it allows the child to feel more confident in their academic performances.

According to the Los Angeles Unified School District, assistive technology can be defined as "any device, piece of equipment or system that helps bypass, work around or compensate for an individuals specific learning deficits. It can help reach the children's potential by allowing them to capitalize on strengths". With the use of this technology, it can benefit the children in many different ways:

• have a greater control over their own lives
• participate in and contribute more fully in activities
• interact to a greater extent with a non-disabled individual
• increases self-esteem
• increases independence

The majority of the learning disabilities that are found in children which can be helped with the assistive technology are listening, math, organization, memory, reading, and writing. These learning disabilities can be helped with abbreviation expanders, alternative keyboards, audio books and publications, electronic math work sheets, freeform database software, graphic organizers and outlining, optical character recognition, speech synthesizers, talking calculators, and word prediction programs.

Assistive technology is available in schools as early as preschool. In order for children to be eligible, the child must be evaluated by specific people, depending on the age. For each school county, there are different government organizations that work with assistance in schools. The most known program used in schools is the Individualized Education Program. A child that is eligible for special education, is entitled to the use of assistive technology to help receive the proper education. Every child's disability might be different so for those who do not necessarily need it everyday can still be eligible for assistance whenever is need. Parents are able to deny the use of the technology in the classroom while making the decision.

When visiting an elementary school, Paraeducator, Kristen Mann shared that "many children in my classroom learn their mastering skills a lot better with the technology we have".  She shared that they use technology in her classroom to help master skills and also as a form of reward.

Classrooms are set up to have stations all over the classrooms for specific activities. Every child's use of assistive technology is different, where as some children use it as a way to help strengthen their academic skills, for example using a more interactive math program that can help someone who is struggling with pronouncing numbers. Some children use the technology as the base of communicating which is eventually carried around with them everywhere they go to help start conversations.

Many schools also have interactive promethean boards that are connected to the computer, which are used to go on the internet and play games. Kristen also shared that the benefit of using the promethean board instead of the computer is not using the mouse. Since it is difficult for many children with poor motor planning skills and poor hand eye coordination, it is difficult for them to use the mouse to drag things around. So with the board, that gives them access that they would not otherwise have.

With Each Child, There are Many Factors That Need to be Considered When Being Evaluated for Assistive Technology.

There are many specific aspects that are tested when the child's disability is being evaluated, to insure that the teacher or educator knows the best assistances to provide for them. They first look at  the specific needs or challenges that the child may be facing academically and cognitively. They also look at their strengths to see how that can be used to help with their struggles while using the assistive technology.

They also consider their interests and experience with technology because with a child that is not familiar at all with technology, you might have to start with something that is more simpler to use. By not knowing this information, the educator might frustrate the child even more because they find it difficult to use. The adjustment to the technology might take some time to get used too but with time, they can advance the devices they use to further help mastering cognitive skills.

This also becomes really important as well with the teachers knowledge of the technology and how to apply it in classrooms with the children. If the educator is the not properly trained on how to use the assistive technology, the devices will be just as useless as them not using anything.

Children are Now Able to Receive Assistive Technology in Classrooms at No Cost.

Children who are eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are supplied the special technology needed in the classrooms for free. The assistive technology is covered by the public school and the school is responsible of providing whatever equipment is recommended in assistance to their disability.

This becomes helpful when the child needs the assistive technology outside of school as well.    As part of the program, the children are allowed to take the equipment needed home.  Depending on the contract they have, some children are also able to keep the technology over school breaks such as summer. However, if they are to move school districts, the device must be returned and received at the next school/program.

A very common assistance that is given in classrooms at no cost is comprehensive literacy support tools such as Text-to-Speech. This helps children follow the sentences when reading a passage by highlighting while reading on device.  With this feature, it also includes study skills for organizing and research.

All the equipment that is provided to these children are modified to the severity of their disability. For children that have trouble with speech, there are many devices that are available in the classrooms such as a recordable button that simply replays one word for the child to practice repeating.

Assistive technology also classifies to things that can be as simple as giving a pencil grip to a child that is having muscular pains in the hands from holding the pencil for too long. A lot of assistive technology that is used in classrooms are not high tech devices. It is all about how it assists their learning disability or disability in general.

Children are also able to receive the assistance for free from groups outside of school. Those that qualify for the program can receive technology that is covered by health insurance. Non profit groups can be a big help to the children. Things are received such as a computer, which are then refurbished and given out to the kids with disabilities.

Applications Such as Proloquo2Go Can be Used Everyday to Help Communication with Disabled to Non-Disabled.

Along with the technology used in school, applications have been introduced to families of those with disabled children. These applications are available for children on Apple products and Androids. These applications allow the child to improve communication at home or anywhere. Many applications can be found to be free or cost less than 25 dollars.

Proloquo2Go is a popular app that is used and found to be very useful. This application is used for children who have a difficult time building vocabulary and speaking. Over 14, 000 symbols are offered with sounds to teach the child how to pronounce the words.

Pathologist at Communication Therapy in Chicago has been using this app for years with autistic children and has found that "it is quite easy to use and individualize for any given child". She also explains that it is the primary mode of communication for many of her patients.

There have been many other applications that have been shared by Parenting.com that have been found helpful for children with disabilities, especially autism. Apps that can be found on iPads are:

• Book Creator
• MathBoard
• AutisMate
• Choiceworks
• Pictello
• Word sLaPps

Each application is unique in different ways. They are made accessible at any location. These apps can be used in public and do not require internet connection, with the exception of a few.

With the help of having easy access to these applications, parents can be more at ease, as they can know exactly what is bothering their child or what they need in a specific instance. Like earlier mentioned, the text-to-speech tools that can be used in schools, there is now an application that can be used on an iPad or tablet that helps the child read and speak. By selecting the word, the child is then able to communicate to a non-disabled person in a full sentence, without any barriers. This give the child a voice and really makes them happy about themselves that they can talk to someone else without struggling.

Many children grow up and live with a learning disability or a severe disability that may prohibit them from reaching their full potential. With the help of assistive technology, they have a new sense of confidence and belonging. They can now be included in life where in the past it was not even a possibility. The advancement of technology is helping many people everyday and will forever have endless possibilities.