iPads, Computer Technologies Help People with Disabilities

Technology is making it possible to live a full life in spite of disability.

Did you know that technology is greatly benefitting people with disabilities? It is easy to see that technology is coming to the rescue in many ways. This is particularly true in the case of individuals with combined or multiple disabilities.

What piece of technology has been most helpful to you? What are some other forms of technology that you think benefit people with multiple disabilities?

How is technology helping people with multiple disabilities?

Adaptive Computer Technology is helping people with multiple disabilities by making communication easy and efficient. It accomplishes this through a variety of mediums. Here are just a few:

• Screen Readers – These are “software programs that provide either speech or Braille output.”
• Optical Character Recognition (OCR) – OCR software scans written materials into a computer. This is ideal software for someone with multiple disabilities, as it “accommodates many types of disabilities.”
• Magnification Software – This type of software can make graphics and text large enough to be seen by the PC user who is visually impaired.

These as well as other technology mediums can be mixed, matched, and personalized for each individual. This personalization can cater to an individual’s unique ability level.

While technology has many tools through which it accomplishes ease of communication, perhaps none is more efficient than the handheld computer. The iPad is proving to be particularly efficient.

The iPad can be a vital tool 

iPads and other handheld computers are becoming more and more common in Learning Disability/Special Needs classrooms. Why is this? Because “the personal computer (PC) can be the backbone of independence for millions of individuals with sensory, physical, and learning disabilities.”

The handheld PC literally puts this independence at a person’s fingertips.

Is iPad the Ideal Technology for Disability?

The iPad appears to be an ideal piece of technology for people with combined disabilities due to its unique capabilities, functions, and applications.

The iPad is great for people with multiple disabilities because of its many functions enabled via applications. “Text to speech applications” on the iPad, for example, can literally “give voice” to those who are unable to speak.

Other iPad applications can teach children with autism basic self-care skills. New iPad applications such as “Ariadne GPS” and “Color ID Free” are giving new levels of independence to those who are visually impaired.

The fact that the iPad is highly portable makes it even more accessible to those with numerous disabilities.

Learn more about technology as it relates to disability

Interested in learning more about technology’s positive effects upon persons with combined disabilities? Visit http://teachinglearnerswithmultipleneeds.blogspot.com/ to see a helpful blog about assistive technology.