The Effects of Assistive Technology on Students with Disabilities

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze assistive technology literature for students with disabilities. The literature search rendered N = 57 literature and n = 17 manuscripts were identified in the special education technology field studies. Each source was evaluated according to the following criteria: types of disability, learning objectives and tasks, types of assistive devices available, application, and competency in matching the assistive technology with a specific disability. Results show: 1) research in this field tends to be limited to faculty development and need assessment focus; 2) technological interventions appeared scattered, vague, incomprehensive and non-specific; and 3) pre-service teachers' comfort level of assistive technology in an inclusive classroom remain low. An updated list of various type of AT suggesting teachers to match each technological tool to a specific disability is summarized in Table 1 and it is also included in this study.