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Daire Brown
ETEC 444
Rica Young
November 10, 2014
Technology and Diversity
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal law that provides
educational rights to individuals with cognitive, emotional, and physical disabilities from
birth until age 21. This law have five main points: free and appropriate education, fair and
nondiscriminatory evaluation in all areas of need, education in the least restrictive
environment, the right to an individualized education program (IEP), and due process.
Since this acts signing into law in 1990, schools throughout the United States have been
practicing inclusion. This means that students with disabilities are educated in a general
education classroom as much as they can be, reflecting the least restrictive environment
requirement of IDEA. As a result of this practice of inclusion, technology has been
implemented as a resource for those with disabilities in the classroom. Assistive technology
is defined as hardware, devices and software equipment that help students with disabilities
by giving them the same access to perform certain tasks that would otherwise have been
challenging.1 Additionally, advancements in assistive technologies...have spurred an
emerging roster of new digital products designed to facilitate better communication between
parents and teachers of children...and provide more affordable, higher-quality education to
those students.2
There are many technology-based resources for students with disabilities to use in
the classroom. JAWS (Job Access With Speech) is a screen reader which reads aloud a
desired text for the user at an incredibly fast rate. This software is useful for individuals
with vision impairments, dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, and other learning disabilities. Though JAWS
is designed to work with just about everything (websites, other applications), it is not
desired for math work because it cannot read images, only text. Braille is usually used for
math purposes. Another technological tool is the Livescribe pen and paper. This is a tool
which can be used for anyone, not just individuals with disabilities. The pen and paper work
simultaneously to record voice to text. Although the paper is expensive, it is very useful. A
student simply takes notes while recording a lecture or lesson and then uploads the
recording to his or her computer, which is then converted to text format. This enables
students of all kinds to review exactly what was said in their class, so they do not miss any
important information. A third assistive technology is the WordQ software. This software is
useful for students with mobility limitations, dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, autism, and ESL, just to
name a few. When a student is typing, the software predicts the next letter of the word or
phrase, assisting the user if he or she has a vocabulary or writing difficulties. The program
can also read the words out loud in an effort to help the user develop proper grammar and
writing skills.
Many of the available resources can be used for individuals with multiple disabilities,
or they can be used to help a number of people all with different disabilities. Everyone
learns differently, and the use of assistive technology in classrooms can cause students [to]
become more interested and actively engaged in their classes, and have a higher level of
retention than students in traditional ... classes.3 The main goal of assistive technology is
to adjust the curriculum to fit the learner and change the ways in which the students can
1 Onintra Poobrasert and Alongkorn Wongteeratana, Assistive Technology: Writing Tool to Support
Students with Learning Disabilities Computers Helping People with Special Needs 7383 (2012):
accessed November 9, 2014. http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-31534-3_52
2 Kate Ash, New Digital Products Target Needs of Autistic Children. Assistive-Tech Connections 03
(2009): 28-31. Accessed November 10, 2014.
http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2009/10/21/01autistictech.h03.html

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be engaged in learning.4 Though there is discussion contradicting Howard Gardners
Multiple Intelligences theory, it is a useful tool to begin finding ways to effectively integrate
technology into the classroom. These techniques include using different types of reading
programs, draw and paint software, and even games in an effort to help a student learn to
the best of his or her ability. Learning disabilities are the largest special education category
in terms of number of students, so it is important for future teachers to learn how to
properly educate a student with a learning disability.5
Unfortunately, assistive technology come at a high price, and therefore many schools
only convey that they have made a reasonable accommodation for students with disabilities.
Many schools and school districts simply cannot afford the advanced software that enables
students to learn more easily and more efficiently. Schools in low-income areas cannot
purchase enough computers to accommodate and teach computer literacy to their general
education students. As a result, many low-income area schools practice outdated
techniques for teaching students with disabilities. These outdated techniques are a
disadvantage to the students with disabilities because they are not properly accommodated
and prepared for life after school. Home access to these programs and software varies
between wealthy and low-income families.6 Schools that are able to purchase the expensive
software will do so, creating a larger gap between those who are privileged and those who
are not. One way to fix this problem is to educate teachers. If teachers were taught how to
properly write a grant, they open the possibly to earning money for their school. In turn,
they can more effectively teach students with disabilities of all kinds.

3 Madelon Alpert and Carol M. Shepherd, Engaging Diverse Learners Through New Technologies
(paper presented at the 2013 Global Humanitarian Technology Conference, Trivandrum, India, August
23-24, 2013).
4 Ibid.

5 D.P. Bryant et al, Assistive Technology for Individuals with Learning Disabilities, Assistive
Technologies for People with Diverse Abilities, Autism and Child Psychopathology Series (2014):
accessed November 9, 2014. http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4899-8029-8_9
6 Mark Warschauer, "Technology & School Reform: A View from Both Sides of the Tracks." Education
policy analysis archives [Online], 8 (2000): 4. Web. 10 Nov. 2014