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Lily Wiesler

Professor Rodrick

English 115

September 26 2018

Helpful Technology for Students with Disabilities

Kevin O’Brien is a seventh grader who heavily relies on assistive technology to function

throughout the school day because he is mentally handicapped. Thanks to Tobii Technologies

eye-gaze device, Kevin is able to do things a neurotypical student does like communicate, type

papers, and participate in class. In his article, “Understanding Neurocognitive Developmental

Disorders Can Improve Education for All” Brian Butterworth explains the importance of

understanding disabilities so that people who have them are able to have a successful school

career. In his article he writes,“​SLDs are thought to affect approximately 10% of the population

and have a profound effect on educational outcomes”. Brian is stating the fact that it’s a

prevalent issue for people with SLDs (special learning disabilities) and that it truly does affect

their school careers. ​This new technology helps disabled students communicate, socialize, and

become more independent in their studies. Although people say technology may be too

distracting, it is making education easier for those who are handicapped while also giving them

an identity.

Communication is a major key to success in the classroom, so how is someone who isn’t

able to communicate expected to do succeed? The answer; technology. Depending on the

disability, kids that have mental disabilities are either afraid to talk, refuse to talk, or don't

understand how to write and spell. Heather B. Hayes explains in her article “How Technology Is
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Helping Special-Needs Students Excel” that technology is a very helpful resource for students

with disabilities since it helps them do things that they wouldn't be able to do on their own.

Hayes states, “​Students with motor and mobility disabilities also can use speech recognition tools

to turn speech into shareable text, e-books to eliminate page turning and portable eye-gaze

devices that are powered by blinks”. She is saying that students who experience problems with

communication, whether it is speaking or writing, now have a plethora of softwares to choose

from. Without these softwares, school would be very difficult for these specific children. One

software in particular is called Nuance’s Dragon NaturallySpeaking that assists students by

typing out whatever they say. This makes it more convenient for them to communicate by

texting and emailing fellow students and teachers. Another company, (that specifically focuses

on tools for) those who cannot speak, is called VocaliD. This company is basically an online

“voicebank”, meaning it provides multiple unique voices to choose from for this demographic.

They type out what they want to say, and VocaliD translates for them. The fact that those who

don’t have a voice can choose from different human voices versus being stuck with a monotone,

robot voice is giving them an identity while helping them communicate and be able to ask and

answer questions in a classroom. As technology continues to advance, more software, companies

and websites will continue to impact the lives of those who need them.

There are some disabilities that affect a person's way to socialize, which then affects their

ability to do well in a school setting. Take Autism for example; while some kids on the spectrum

can socialize just fine, others have a very hard time with it. As Ann Griswold, an acclaimed

health and biotechnology writer for ​The Spectrum​ states, “In 2011, researchers reported that

children with autism tend to linger on the edges of social groups at school and have fewer
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friendships than those without the condition”. Her article “Support helps some children with

autism socialize at school” connects the dots between success at school with socialization.

Autistic kids who feel as though they don’t belong or feel that they’re too different don’t do as

well as the kids who do. Kids with autism usually tend to not have as many friends, therefore that

directly correlates with how they do in a school setting. Not understanding basic social skills can

make it hard for kids with autism to properly learn since it stops them from gaining relationships

with classmates and other teachers. That’s where technology steps in.

Google Glass, for example, is a headset that pairs with a mobile app to help kids with

autism socialize. After a trial run, they had significant improvement on their social skills. The

headset looks like a pair of glasses but has a camera on it to record

other people. When interacting with someone, the headset pairs with

the app to help determine what emotion they’re expressing at the

time using emoticons. On the left is a picture of Alex wearing the

Google Glasses who is now a 9 year old with autism and was part of

the Google Glass trial when he was just 7 years old. His mom,

“noticed within a few weeks that Alex, who was 7 years old at the

time, was meeting her eyes more often — a behavior change that’s

stuck since treatment ended”. She had noticed an almost immediate

difference thanks to the use of technology. Nonetheless, autism isn't

the only disability that struggles with socialization. Social communication disorder often don't

want to talk to other people simply because they don’t understand the basic concepts of

interaction. Google Glass would help people with SCD (Social communication disorder)
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determine emotions of others they’re talking to which helps them know how to react. In school,

where emotions are very high and all over the place, it can be really hard for students with

disabilities to properly function and socialize. With this kind of technology assisting them, they

would truly be on the path to success.

Learning how to become independent is another huge struggle for kids with disabilities.

While in elementary and middle school, disabled children have parents, teachers, and special

helpers with them in their classes. Yet, as they get older, becoming independent gets harder and

harder for they won’t have anyone with them when or if they go to college. Independence is

especially important when they’re done with school so it’s important to learn when surrounded

by people and technology who can help them. There are so many programs out there that are

used to help disabled students with time management, organization and self identification. Memo

To Me is a program that helps with basic reminders throughout the day while Plan Plus is a time

management program. Using programs such as this is teaching students with disabilities how

they can help themselves versus someone else doing it for them. It gives them a sense of

responsibility and helps them identify with themselves and what they’re capable of. Another way

to obtain independence and confidence is self identification. For a disabled student to understand

his or her own strengths and weaknesses means they know what they need to do to compensate

for that. If they know they struggle with math, they can then use the right softwares to help them

with it. Or, if they know it’s hard for them to be around loud noises, they know to keep noise

cancelling headphones with them at all times. When they know what their weakness is, then they

know there’s a possible solution. Technology holds much importance when it comes to

independence.
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Some people may say that technology is actually hindering students with disabilities

rather than helping them. Technology can definitely be distracting, especially for someone who

is on the spectrum or has ADHD. Plus, if students are using ipads or other softwares to socialize,

maybe that could possibly hinder their ability to socialize with humans even more. Here’s the

thing, there’s too much good and too much improvement happening with technology to say that

it’s a bad thing. As Great Schools Staff puts it, “over the past decade, a number of studies have

demonstrated the efficacy of AT for individuals with LD.” Assistive Technology (AT) will

continue to develop and help those who truly rely on it. While you cannot cure a disability,

technology is there to help cope and make the education system that much easier for them to

conquer. In conclusion, technology is giving students with disabilities a chance to communicate,

socialize and become independent.

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Works Cited

Butterworth, Brian, and Yulia Kovas. "Understanding Neurocognitive Developmental Disorders

Can Improve Education for All." ​Science Mag,​ vol. 340, no. 6130, 19 Apr. 2013, pp.

300-05, science.sciencemag.org/content/340/6130/300. Accessed 25 Sept. 2018.

Fisch, Steve. ​Savvy Specs​. JPEG file, 2 Aug. 2018. Accessed 25 Sept. 2018.

GreatSchool Staff. "Assistive Technology for Kids with LD: An Overview." ​Great Schools​, 19

Dec. 2016,

www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/assistive-technology-for-kids-with-learning-disabilities

-an-overview/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2018.

Hayes, Heather B. "How Technology Is Helping Special-Needs Students Excel." ​EdTech

Magazine,​ 28 Mar. 2013,

edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2013/03/how-technology-helping-special-needs-students

-excel. Accessed 25 Sept. 2018.

Temming, Maria. "Google Glass Could Help Children with Autism Socialize with Others."

Science News​, 2 Aug. 2018,

www.sciencenews.org/article/google-glass-could-help-children-autism-socialize-others​.

Accessed 25 Sept. 2018.