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P4: Use examples to describe the use of assistive technology

to support individuals with additional needs.
What is Assistive Technology?
Assistive technology is a piece of equipment which helps disabled people’s day
to day lives so they can fight discrimination and have more fulfilled and
enabled rights.

General History on American Laws Regarding Disability

In 1973, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation act got introduced to protect
disabled people who worked in the public sector (for the government).

In 1988, all US companies were required to implement assistive technology in

the workplace. This is also known as the Tech Act.

In 1990, a new act got legalised making discrimination against disabled people
illegal whether at work or not called the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990).

The Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1990 officially changed

EHA to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

In 1998, amendments to IDEA passed a law that assistive technology must be

considered for all students eligible of special education services.

What are the different categories of assistive technology?

 Existence
 Problems in the existence area are associated with the functions needed to sustain
life, including eating, grooming, dressing, elimination, and hygiene. Some assistive
technologies in this area are adapted utensils, dressing aids, adapted toilet seats,
toilet training, and occupational therapy services.
 Communication
 Students with communication needs have difficulties associated with the functions
needed to receive, internalize, and express information, and to interact socially,
including oral and written expression and visual and auditory reception. Solutions
may include hearing amplifiers, magnifiers, pointers, alternate computer input,
augmentative communication devices and services, social skills training, and
speech/language therapy services.
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 Body support protection and positioning

 Body support, protection and positioning issues are associated with the functions
needed to stabilize support or protect a portion of the body while sitting, standing,
or reclining. Assistive technologies may include prone standers, furniture
adaptations, support harnesses, stabilizers, head gear, and physical therapy services.
 Travel and positioning
 Travel and mobility needs are associated with the necessity to move horizontally or
vertically, including crawling, walking, navigating, stair climbing, and transferring
either laterally or vertically. Technologies to assist with travel and mobility include
wheelchairs, scooters, hoists, cycles, walkers, crutches, and orientation-and mobility-
training services.
 Environmental interaction
 Difficulties in environmental interaction are associated with the functions needed to
perform activities across environments, including operating computer equipment
and accessing facilities. Assistive-technology solutions may include the use of
switches to control computers, remote-control devices, adapted appliances, ramps,
automatic door openers, modified furniture, driving aids, and rehabilitation services.
 Education and transition
 Problems in education and transition are associated with the functions needed to
participate in learning activities and to prepare for new school settings or postschool
environments. Assistive technologies may include educational software, computer
adaptations, community-based instruction, and services from an assistive
technologist.
 Sport and fitness
 Persons needing assistive technology for sports, fitness, and recreation require
assistance with individual or group sports, play, and hobbies and craft activities.
Those individuals may benefit from modified rules and equipment, adapted aquatics,
switch-activated cameras, and braille playing cards, and may participate in adapted
physical education services.
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Research different examples of assistive technology

 Mobility Aids
 Wheelchairs. The NHS provides its own service which allows hospital
staff to give a disabled person a free wheelchair. Powered wheelchairs are
operated by electricity and have to be charged daily. Wheelchairs have
been developed that can climb stairs. With this wheelchair, people
with disabilities can access more places.
 Mobility Cars is a government scheme for people
who are on Disability Living Allowance or War
Pensioners Mobility Supplement to give them cars,
wheelchairs and scooters. The aim is to not make
disabled people housebound because they do not
own a car (because they don’t have a job etc.)
According to motability: “things that were once hard
to accomplish became easier for many more disabled
people such as shopping, doing voluntary work, visiting
friends, getting to the doctor, going swimming, giving a family member a lift or enjoying a
driving holiday. For some, enhanced opportunities for further education and profitable full-
time employment also became a reality for the first time”. This scheme allows people to rent
cars at £500 a week or rent it for a maximum of three years with an advance payment.
Thanks to enormous, car manufactures can provide cars though this scheme at crazy low
prices.

 Prosthetics are false eyes or limbs to enable
people to live a normal life, wear clothes, and be able to
balance and walk around if someone had to get half or
their whole leg amputated.

 Hoists are used to get people in and out of bed. It is an aid which someone has to be helped
into to lever someone up or down. These are for people who cannot move and need the
ability to
 Stairlifts allow disabled people to move up and downstairs for people who have trouble
walking.
 Wheelchair Ramps allow people to move down vertical falls independently without falling
over.
 Wheelchairs are a common aid to enable people who have been paralysed, and people who
are physically impaired so they can move around. There are electric
wheelchairs for people who cannot push themselves.
 Communication Aids
 Hearing Aids are used to amplify the sounds around
someone them so someone with mild hearing loss can hear
things clearly.
 Induction Loops are an extension to an existing
hearing aid. The setting M stands for microphone and
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amplifies sound and the setting T filters out background noise for people who have had a
range of sound cut of.
 Textphones are used to enable deaf phones. Text Relay (previously called Typetalk) is a
service run by the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID) and funded by BT using
textphones and Text Relay Assistants. It helps deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing and speech-
impaired people make and receive calls to and from hearing people by. Sometimes BT
operators are used to relay the voice to speech. Any phone number can be used with a
Textphone by dialling a prefix before the telephone number, however a third party will be
listening in on the call.
 Cochlear implants fit into the ear to replace a
natural cochlear in the ear but is not as good.
 Speech Synthesizers are used by people in
wheelchairs who have difficulty in speaking to the extent
that they need a keyboard to be able to type whatever they
wish to say. Such things allow people with intelligence to
communicate despite being physically impaired.
 Sign Language is used by deaf people in order to communicate visually which is helpful as
deaf people have difficulty in speaking to others and learning to speak due to the fact that
they cannot hear themselves to know if they are pronouncing words
properly.
 Telephone and Video Conferencing can be used by people who are
deaf to enable them to communicate with family and friends who have
learnt sign language specifically to speak to their friends.
 Voice Activated Systems or Motion Activated Systems allow blind
people to operate computers or people to switch the lights on and off by clapping.
 Palm Pilots is a pda which can be used for people with memory problems.
 Other aids to daily living
 Macintosh Computers have a feature called Voiceover which provides a text to
speech function to highlighted text, and a spoken user interface, as well as the ability
to zoom in using a magnifier and use high contrast for people with sight difficulties.
Microsoft Windows has the same features but accessibility on a Mac is much better.
Laptops can also be used for typing for people with poor motor control.
 Food Preparation Aids
o Bottle Openers can be used for people with arthritis to aid them opening
bottles.
o Can openers can be made to be automated and electronic which open the
can safely with one button press.
o Bottle grips can be used for people with arthritis which slot in place over
bottles so they have handles.