Since the early 1950's persons with disabilities have gained community integration through civil rights movements with the most notable being the American Disabilities Act (ADA). In addition to great strides toward social acceptance of such individuals, assistive technology has significantly increased their opportunities toward quality of life and "normalization." Imagine the power given to someone that has been nonverbal their entire life who is afforded a voice, a means of communicating their needs, through the use of a technological device that speaks for them when prompted by pushing buttons or in the instance of Christopher Reeve, blowing through a tube!
An article posted on http://www.futureofchildren.org/usrdoc/vol10no2Art5.pdf discusses the dramatic impact that assistive technology and adaptive equipment has on educational opportunities for children with special needs (emotional, speech or language impairments, specific learning disabilities, etc.). Technology has made it possible for these children to learn in the classroom alongside traditional students. The most shocking detail, in my opinion, from this report is that approximately 1 out of 6 students in 2000 could not fully participate in classroom activities due to their disability. The Centers for Disease Control recently announced that, “the number of children living with autism is even higher than previously thought. According to the latest and most comprehensive study, as many as one in 150 children in the United States have an autism spectrum disorder.” (www.BarberInstitute.org)
Technology has not only “flattened the world,” it has also made what was once deemed impossible for many a dream come true!
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