Assistive Technology is "any product especially produced or generally available for preventing, compensating for, monitoring, relieving, or neutralizing impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions" (Bernd, 2009, p. 147).
Assistive technology is used for people with disabilities that normally to perform a certain function that normally it would be very difficult or even impossible.
The assistive technology that i am focusing on is iPad.The Apple iPad is 20 x 24.5 x 2.5 cm in dimension, it is very light and a good product. IPads are the latest obsession at the moment and have very good recommendations. The ipad has become very popular in schools over time. They make reading, writing and communicating easier, all you have to do is download specific applications for the students needs.
A mother of a child with Down syndrome talks about a communication application she found rewarding, she says “Dragon Dictate, a voice-recognition program. For those who have trouble speaking, Proloquo2 has text-to-speech capabilities, communications symbols, and a vocabulary of more than 7,000 words. It’s been hailed by the autism community as a great piece of assistive technology.”(Jen 2012) It is more of an attraction to children to want to touch it rather than them touching a computers keyboard or a book. If you learn how to use the iPad at an early stage it can be a piece of equipment that will stay with you for years to come so they could use one when they get older and want to be more independent.
Bernd, T., D, & De Witte, L. (2009). Existing models and instruments for the selection of assistive technology in rehabilitation practice. Scandinavian Journal Of Occupational Therapy, 16(3), 146-158.
youtube. (2011, March). youtube. Retrieved
2012, from Autism/ Occupational therapy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDnTgJJxVjQ
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