Technology is being used to help people with special educational needs enhance and improve

their independence in academic and employment tasks, their participation in classroom

discussions, along with helping them accomplish some difficult academic tasks in homes as well
as in the community. For people with disabilities, technology makes things possible for them.
Learners with disabilities experience different forms of exclusion, which may cut them off from
health, education and social services, and limit their participation in family, community and
society. This isolation can have lasting effects on future employment opportunities and
participation in civic life.

Assistive technology includes products and related services that improve the functioning of
people with disabilities. It can be instrumental for children’s development and health, as well as
for participation in various facets of life. These include communication, mobility, self-care,
household tasks, family relationships, education, engagement in play and recreation. Assistive
technology can enhance the quality of life of both children and their families. Special educational
needs has a legal definition, referring to children who have learning problems or disabilities that
make it harder for them to learn than most children of the same age. Many children will have
special needs of the same kind at some time during their education. Therefore, this piece of
writing will describe with examples reasons why people with special educational needs are at
risk of being disadvantaged if their access to appropriate assistive technologies is not supported.
(Scherer: 2015)

People with physical impairments caused by the damaged central nervous systems, have
difficulties in motor control because of a health condition or trauma during or after birth.
Additional impairments can be associated with physical, for example cognitive, visual, or
hearing impairments, verbal language difficulties. Such people may experience reduced or no
movement; imprecise movement, low speed and muscular strength fatigue. Assistive Technology
can be used for each of these problems in order to help such kind of learners. In most cases
simple technical adaptations can be used to make these people fully participate in school
activities. If the situation is more complex, the teaching rate may be slower, while learning may
require reinforcement time and activities. (Bigelow et al: 2001)

Additionally, there are a lot of assistive technology devices which learners who are deaf can
access and participate fully together with their normal peers. These visual/ visual aids can be

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very useful in supporting such kind of learners, and the combination of these two is particularly
effective since the two most imperative senses are involved. Hence, it is only very important that
with special education needs who need visual aids access this aids appropriately if not supported
this may disadvantage a learner who is deaf and dumb not effectively benefit the education as
compared to other learners who do not have special educational needs. For example, a student
who is dumb and deaf cannot effectively benefit from a lecture without audio or visual aids
hence that person will be disadvantaged. (Parving: 2004)

In addition to that reason to disadvantage the special educational needs people is the restricted
movement they experience when the AT devices or equipment such a wheelchair is not
supported. Wheelchairs are devices that can be manually propelled or electrically propelled and
that include a seating system and are designed to be a substitute for the normal mobility that
most people enjoy. Wheelchairs and other mobility devices allow people to perform mobility
related activities of daily living which include feeding, toileting, dressing grooming and bathing.
The devices comes in a number of variations where they can be propelled either by hand or by
motors where the occupant uses electrical controls to manage motors and seating control
actuators through a joystick, sip-and-puff control, or other input devices. Often there are handles
behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing or input devices for caregivers. Wheelchairs
are used by people for whom walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, or
disability. People with both sitting and walking disability often need to use a wheelchair or
walker and if not supported they suffer a risk of being disadvantaged that gives them restricted
movement to the toilet for instance. (Cullen: 2015)

Not only that but also a decreases in their opportunities for education, social interactions and
potential for meaningful employment is another reason why these people will placed an
uncomfortable condition making their life on earth more miserable if the appropriate access to
assistive technology is not supported. (Ohline: 1995)

Furthermore, assistive technology aids the students with hearing impairment to improve their
sense of hearing via the use of certain assistive technology devices or equipment. Students with
hearing impairments are those who have a hearing loss that interferes with their ability to process
information through auditory channels with or without amplification. The teacher needs to
choose appropriate methods of teaching in order for such kind of learners to benefit in the

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classroom like those who have a normal sense of hearing. Examples of such assistive technology
devices include audio players and recorders, hearing aids among others. These devices may help
your child to be able to listen to the words as he/she reads them on the page. (WHO: 2011)

Additionally many e- books have audio files, and smart phones and tablet computers come with
text- to- speech software that can read aloud anything on the child’s screen. If he/she struggles
with writing or taking notes, an audio recorder can capture what the teacher says in class so that
the learner can listen to it again at home. These hearing aids need to be given to students and
these students needs to be trained on how to use them and if that does not happen they end up
being disadvantaged when they are not adequately taught on how to use these assistive
technologies. (Gilster: 1998)

Furthermore, the other reason is that these people are unable to use the computer effectively and
cannot get latest information on the social media or just accessing an email. This reason only
comes when the Assistive technology device does not support the needs of these people and
poses them in a disadvantage. In human–computer interaction, computer accessibility (also
known as accessible computing) refers to the accessibility of a computer system to all people,
regardless of their disability, examples include web accessibility guidelines. Another approach is
for the user to present a token to the computer terminal, such as a smart card, that has
configuration information to adjust the computer’s speed, text size, among others to their
particular needs. This is useful where users want to access public computer based terminals in
Libraries, ATM, Information kiosks among others. (Cullen: 2015)

Providing assistive technology to learners as early as possible may facilitate their development
and prevent secondary conditions such as deformities. For example, correction of a clubfoot by
the means of a simple foot orthosis at an early age may reduce the need for costly surgery at an
older age. Therefore, learners with special education needs may be disadvantaged in many ways
if their assistive technology is not sufficiently supported. (Costello: 2013)

Some children with severe disabilities that are unable to attend school can access education from
home and communicate with others with the help of assistive technologies, accessible
information and communication technologies (ICTs) or cloud-based services. ICTs offer new
ways to break down accessibility barriers and provide children with disabilities the opportunities

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to exchange knowledge and information, and to communicate in ways they otherwise have not
been able to do. (Andrich: 2007)

However, memory aids helps a user learn and remember certain information effectively. This
kind of assistive technology is used for cognitive impairments such as reading, writing, or
organizational difficulties. For example, a Smartpen records have handwritten notes by creating
both a digital copy and an audio recording of the text. Users simply tap certain parts of their
notes and the pen saves it and reads it back to them. From there, the user can also download their
notes onto a computer for increased accessibility. Digital voice recorders are also used to record
“in the moment” information for fast and easy recall at a later time. The reason why special
educational needs people can be at risk is because they will not learn or acquire more knowledge
and skills as compared to their peers who are considered to be normal children. (Bensi: 2011)

In conclusion, assistive technology supports people to access and enjoy their rights; do things
they value; and bridges disparities between learners with and without disabilities. It provides the
means of access to and participation in educational, social and recreational opportunities;
empowers greater physical and mental function and improved self-esteem; and reduces costs for
educational services and individual supports. If nothing happens to the special needs people
regarding their welfare they will at risk of being disadvantaged in the in schools, homes, and the
community. It helps individual children become mobile, communicate more effectively, see and
hear better, and participate more fully in learning activities

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 REFERENCES

Andrich, R., & Caracciolo, A., (2007). Analysing the cost of individual assistive technology
programmes. Disability & Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology.
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for independence: cost or investment? Proceedings of the 11th European Conference of
the Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe, Maastricht, The
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Bigelow J, Korth M, Jacobs J, Anger N, Riddle M, Gifford J. (2001). A picture of amputees
and the prosthetic situation in Haiti. Disabil Rehabil.

Costello, L.,& Cox, W., (2013). Living in the Community: Services and Supports for
People with Disabilities.
Cullen, K., Dolphin, C., & Wynne, R. (2015). Assistive Technology Usage and Unmet Need
amongst People with Disabilities in Ireland. www.nda.ie

Gilster, P., (1998). Digital Literacy: John Wiley & Son:Canada.

Ohline, P., Fagerberg, G., and Lagerwall, T., (1995). Technology for Assisting Disabled and
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Parving,. A, (2004). Christensen B. Clinical trial of a low-cost, solar-powered hearing aid.

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World Health Organisation & World Bank (2011). World Report on Disability.
Geneva,CH;WHO