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Assistive technology (AT) is a generic term that includes assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities
Disability

Disability is a lack of ability relative to a personal or group standard or norm. In reality there is often simply a spectrum of ability. Disability may involve physical impairment such as sense impairment, cognitive impairment or intellectual impairment, mental disorder , or various types of chronic disease....
 and includes the process used in selecting, locating, and using them.

AT promotes greater independence by enabling people to perform tasks that they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing, by providing enhancements to or changed methods of interacting with the technology
Technology

Technology is a broad concept that deals with an animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects an animal species' ability to control and adapt to its Natural environment....
 needed to accomplish such tasks.

Likewise, disability advocates point out that technology is often created without regard to people with disabilities, creating unnecessary barriers to hundreds of millions of people.

ersal (or broadened) accessibility, or universal design
Universal design

Universal design is a relatively new paradigm that emerged from "barrier-free" or "accessible design" and "assistive technology." Barrier free design and assistive technology provide a level of accessibility for people with disability but they also often result in separate and stigmatizing solutions, for example, a wheelchair ramp that leads...
 means greater usability
Usability

Usability is a term used to denote the ease with which people can employ a particular tool or other human-made object in order to achieve a particular goal....
, particularly for people with disabilities.

Universally accessible technology yields great rewards to the typical user as well; good accessible design is universal design.






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Assistive technology (AT) is a generic term that includes assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities
Disability

Disability is a lack of ability relative to a personal or group standard or norm. In reality there is often simply a spectrum of ability. Disability may involve physical impairment such as sense impairment, cognitive impairment or intellectual impairment, mental disorder , or various types of chronic disease....
 and includes the process used in selecting, locating, and using them.

AT promotes greater independence by enabling people to perform tasks that they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing, by providing enhancements to or changed methods of interacting with the technology
Technology

Technology is a broad concept that deals with an animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects an animal species' ability to control and adapt to its Natural environment....
 needed to accomplish such tasks.

Likewise, disability advocates point out that technology is often created without regard to people with disabilities, creating unnecessary barriers to hundreds of millions of people.

Assistive technology and universal accessibility

Universal (or broadened) accessibility, or universal design
Universal design

Universal design is a relatively new paradigm that emerged from "barrier-free" or "accessible design" and "assistive technology." Barrier free design and assistive technology provide a level of accessibility for people with disability but they also often result in separate and stigmatizing solutions, for example, a wheelchair ramp that leads...
 means greater usability
Usability

Usability is a term used to denote the ease with which people can employ a particular tool or other human-made object in order to achieve a particular goal....
, particularly for people with disabilities.

Universally accessible technology yields great rewards to the typical user as well; good accessible design is universal design. One example is the "curb cut
Curb cut

A curb cut , curb ramp, dropped kerb , or pram ramp, Kerb ramp is a ramp leading smoothly down from a sidewalk to a street, rather than abruptly ending with a curb and dropping roughly 4?6 inches ....
s" (or dropped curbs) in the sidewalk at street crossings. While these curb cuts enable pedestrians with mobility impairments to cross the street, they also aid parents with carriages and strollers, shoppers with carts, and travellers and workers with pull-type bags.

As an example, the modern telephone
Telephone

The telephone is a telecommunications device that is used to transmitter and receive electronically or digitally encoded sound between two or more people conversing....
 is inaccessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Combined with a text telephone (also known as a TDD Telecommunications device for the deaf
Telecommunications device for the deaf

A telecommunications device for the deaf is an electronic device for text communication via a telephone line, used when one or more of the parties has hearing impairment or Speech disorder....
 and in the USA generally called a TTY[TeleTYpewriter]), which converts typed characters into tones that may be sent over the telephone line, a deaf person is able to communicate immediately at a distance. Together with "relay" services, in which an operator reads what the deaf person types and types what a hearing person says, the deaf person is then given access to everyone's telephone, not just those of people who possess text telephones. Many telephones now have volume controls, which are primarily intended for the benefit of people who are hard of hearing, but can be useful for all users at times and places where there is significant background noise. Some have larger keys well-spaced to facilitate accurate dialling.

Also, a person with a mobility impairment can have difficulty using calculator
Calculator

A calculator is a device for performing mathematical calculations, distinguished from a computer by having a limited problem solving ability and an interface optimized for interactive calculation rather than programming....
s. Speech recognition
Speech recognition

Speech recognition converts spoken words to machine-readable input . The term "voice recognition" is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to speech recognition, when actually referring to speaker recognition, which attempts to identify the person speaking, as opposed to what is being said....
 software recognizes short commands and makes use of calculators easier.

People with learning disabilities like dyslexia
Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a learning disability that manifests itself primarily as a difficulty with Writing, particularly with Reading . It is separate and distinct from reading difficulties resulting from other causes, such as a non-neurological deficiency with vision or hearing, or from poor or inadequate reading instruction....
 or dysgraphia
Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia is a deficiency in the ability to writing, regardless of the ability to Reading , not due to intellectual impairment.People with dysgraphia usually can write on some level, but often lack motor coordination, and may find other fine motor skill tasks such as tying shoes difficult....
 are using text-to-speech (TTS) software for reading and spelling
Spelling

Spelling is the writing of a word or words with the necessary Letter and diacritics present in an accepted standard order. It is one of the elements of orthography and a prescriptive element of language....
 programs for assistance in writing texts.

Computers with their peripheral devices, editing, spellchecking and speech synthesis
Speech synthesis

Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human Speech communication. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or Computer hardware....
 software are becoming the core-stones of the assistive technologies coming for relief to the people with learning disabilities and to the people with visual impairments. The assisting spelling programs and voice facilities are bringing better and more convenient text reading and writing experience to the general public.

Toys which have been adapted to be used by children with disabilities may have advantages for non-disabled children as well. The Lekotek
Lekotek

Lekotek, Swedish for "play library" is an international program to lend Assistive Technology, toys and expertise to disabled children. The first lekotek opened in 1963 in Stockholm, Sweden....
 movement assists parents by lending assistive technology toys and expertise to families.

Occupational Therapist
Occupational therapist

An occupational therapist is a health professional who is trained in the practice of occupational therapy. The role of an occupational therapist is to work with a client to help them achieve a fulfilled and satisfied state in life through the use of "purposeful activity or interventions designed to achieve functional outcomes which promote...
s are a professional group skilled in the assessment for and support of assitive technology for people with disabilities.

Assistive technology products


Telecare


Telecare
Telecare

Telecare is the term given to offering remote care of elderly and vulnerable people, providing the care and reassurance needed to allow them to remain living in their own homes....
 is a particular sort of assistive technology that uses electronic sensors connected to an alarm system to help caregivers manage risk and help vulnerable people stay independent at home longer. An example would be the systems being put in place for senior people such as fall detectors, thermometers (for hypothermia
Hypothermia

Hypothermia is a condition in which an organism's temperature drops below that required for normal metabolism and bodily functions. In warm-blooded animals, core body temperature is maintained near a constant level through biologic homeostasis....
 risk), flooding and unlit gas sensors (for people with mild dementia
Dementia

Dementia is the progressive decline in cognition due to damage or disease in the body beyond what might be expected from normal aging. Although dementia is far more common in the geriatric population, it may occur in any stage of adulthood....
). Notably, these alerts can be customized to the particular person's risks. When the alert is triggered, a message is sent to a carer or contact centre who can respond appropriately.

Technology similar to Telecare can also be used to act within a person's home rather than just to respond to a detected crisis. Using one of the examples above, gas sensors for people with dementia can be used to trigger a device that turns off the gas and tells someone what has happened.

Designing for people with dementia is a good example of how the design of the interface of a piece of AT is critical to its usefulness. People with dementia or any other identified user group must be involved in the design process to make sure that the design is accessible and usable. In the example above, a voice message could be used to remind the person with dementia to turn off the gas himself, but whose voice should be used, and what should the message say? Questions like these must be answered through user consultation, involvement and evaluation.

Accessible computer input


Sitting at a desk with a QWERTY keyboard and a mouse remains the dominant way of interacting with a personal computer. Some Assistive Technology reduces the strain of this way of work through ergonomic accessories
Ergonomics

Ergonomics is the scientific discipline concerned with designing according to human needs, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance....
 with height-adjustable furniture, footrests, wrist rests, and arm supports to ensure correct posture. Keyguards fit over the keyboard to help prevent unintentional keypresses.

Alternatively, Assistive Technology may attempt to improve the ergonomics of the devices themselves:
  • Ergonomic keyboards reduce the discomfort and strain of typing.
  • Chorded keyboard
    Chorded keyboard

    A keyset or chorded keyboard is a list of input devices that allows the user to enter characters or commands formed by pressing several keys together, like playing a "chord " on a piano....
    s have a handful of keys (one per digit per hand) to type by ‘chords’ which produce different letters and keys.
  • Expanded keyboards with larger, more widely-spaced keys.
  • Compact and miniature keyboards.
  • Dvorak
    Dvorak Simplified Keyboard

    The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard is a keyboard layout patented in 1936 by August Dvorak, an educational psychologist and professor of education at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, and William Dealey....
     and other alternative layouts may offer more ergonomic layouts of the keys. There are also variants of Dvorak in which the most common keys are located at either the left or right side of the keyboard.


Input devices may be modified to make them easier to see and understand:
  • Keyboards with lowercase keys
  • Keyboards with big keys.
  • Large print keyboard with high contrast colors (such as white on black, black on white, and black on ivory).
  • Large print adhesive keyboard stickers in high contrast colors (such as white on black, black on white, and black on yellow).
  • Embossed locator dots help find the ‘home’ keys, F and J, on the keyboard.
  • Scroll wheels on mice remove the need to locate the scrolling interface on the computer screen.
  • Footmouse
    Footmouse

    A footmouse is a type of computer mouse that gives the users the ability to move the Cursor and click the mousebuttons with their feet.It is primarily used by users with Disability or with high-back or neck problems....
     - Foot-operated mouse.


More ambitiously, and quite crucially when keyboard or mouse prove unusable, AT can also replace the keyboard and mouse with alternative devices such as the LOMAK
LOMAK

Lomak is an acronym for Light Operated Mouse And Keyboard. It is the name of an assistive technology device designed for use by people who cannot use a standard computer keyboard and mouse....
 keyboard, trackball
Trackball

A trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball housed in a socket containing sensors to detect rotation of the ball about two axes—like an upside-down computer mouse with an exposed protruding ball....
s, joysticks, graphics tablet
Graphics tablet

A graphics tablet is a computer input device that allows one to hand-draw images and graphics, similar to the way one draws images with a pencil and paper....
s, touchpad
Touchpad

A touchpad is a pointing device consisting of specialized surface that can translate the motion and position of a user's fingers to a relative position on screen....
s, touch screens, foot mice
Footmouse

A footmouse is a type of computer mouse that gives the users the ability to move the Cursor and click the mousebuttons with their feet.It is primarily used by users with Disability or with high-back or neck problems....
, a microphone with speech recognition
Speech recognition

Speech recognition converts spoken words to machine-readable input . The term "voice recognition" is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to speech recognition, when actually referring to speaker recognition, which attempts to identify the person speaking, as opposed to what is being said....
 software, sip-and-puff
Sip-and-puff

Sip-and-puff technology is a method used to send signals to a device using air pressure by "sipping" and "puffing" on a device called a "straw" or "wand." It is primarily used by people who do not have the use of their hands....
 input, switch access
Switch Access

Many people with severe physical or cognitive impairment use one or more switches to access computers. A switch is an assistive technology device that replaces the need to use a computer keyboard or a mouse ....
, and vision-based input devices.

Software can also make input devices easier to use:

  • Keyboard shortcuts and MouseKeys allow the user to substitute keyboarding for mouse actions. Macro recorder
    Macro recorder

    A macro recorder is a piece of software that "records" user actions for "playback at a later time". The main advantage of using a macro recorder is that it allows a user to easily perform complex operations over and over that may not be feasible without custom computer programming / scripting....
    s can greatly extend the range and sophistication of keyboard shortcuts.
  • Sticky keys
    Sticky keys

    Sticky keys is a feature of computer Desktop Environments. It is an accessibility feature to aid users who have disabled. Sticky keys allows the user to press a modifier key, such as Shift, Ctrl, Alt, or the Windows key, and have it remain active until another key is pressed....
     allows characters or commands to be typed without having to hold down a modifier key (Shift, Ctrl, Alt) while pressing a second key. Similarly, is a Microsoft Windows
    Microsoft Windows

    Microsoft Windows is a series of software operating systems and graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces ....
     feature that remembers a mouse button is down so that items can be highlighted or dragged without holding the mouse button down throughout.
  • Customization of mouse or mouse alternatives' responsiveness to movement, double-clicking, and so forth.
  • is a feature of Microsoft Windows
    Microsoft Windows

    Microsoft Windows is a series of software operating systems and graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces ....
     95 onwards. A high sound is heard when the CAPS LOCK, SCROLL LOCK, or NUM LOCK key is switched on and a low sound is heard when any of those keys are switched off.
  • Customization of pointer appearance, such as size, color and shape.
  • Predictive text
    Predictive text

    Predictive text is an input technology most commonly used on mobile phones, and for accessibility. The technology allows some common words to be entered by a single keypress for each letter, as opposed to the multiple keypress approach used in the older generation of mobile phones....
  • Spell checker
    Spell checker

    In computing, a spell checker is an application software that flags words in a document that may not be spelling correctly. Spell checkers may be stand-alone capable of operating on a block of text, or as part of a larger application, such as a word processor, email client, electronic dictionary, or search engine....
    s and grammar checker
    Grammar checker

    In computing terms, a grammar checker is a Computer program, or part of a program, that attempts to verify written text for grammatical correctness....
    s


Durable Medical Equipment (DME)


  • Seating products that assist people to sit comfortably and safely (seating systems, cushions, therapeutic seats).
  • Standing products to support people with disabilities in the standing position while maintaining/improving their health (standing frame
    Standing frame

    A standing frame is assistive technology used by a child or adult who uses a wheelchair for mobility. A standing frame provides alternative positioning to sitting in a wheelchair by supporting the person in the standing position....
    , standing wheelchair
    Standing wheelchair

    A standing wheelchair is Assistive technology, similar to a standing frame, that allows a Wheelchair user to raise the chair from a seated to a standing position....
    , active stander).
  • Walking products to aid people with disabilities who are able to walk or stand with assistance (canes, crutches, walkers, gait trainers).
  • Advanced technology walking products to aid people with disabilities, such as paraplegia or cerebral palsy, who would not at all able to walk or stand (exoskeletons).
  • Wheeled mobility products that enable people with reduced mobility to move freely indoors and outdoors (wheelchairs/scooters)
  • Robot-aided rehabilitation is a sensory-motor rehabilitation technique based on the use of robots and mechatronic devices


Learning difficulties


  • Age-appropriate software
  • Cause and effect software
  • Hand-eye co-ordination skills software
  • Diagnostic assessment software
  • Mind map
    Mind map

    A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generation, visualization, structure, and taxonomic classification ideas, and as an aid in study skills, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing....
    ping software
  • Study skills software
  • Symbol-based software
  • Text-to-speech
  • Touch typing
    Touch typing

    Touch typing is typing without using the sense of visual perception to find the keys. Specifically, a touch typist will know their location through muscle memory....
     software


Visual impairment


Choice of appropriate hardware and software will depend on the user's level of functional vision.

  • RIAS (Remote Infrared Audible Signage)
    RIAS (Remote Infrared Audible Signage)

    Remote Infrared Audible Signage was developed by so that print-handicapped people would be able to access the same type of information available through textual print signs that are in the built environment....
     has the potential to help both low vision and the blind navigate outside and indoors.


Hardware

  • Large monitors.
  • Adjustable task lamp, using a fluorescent bulb, shines directly onto the paper and can be adjusted to suit.
  • Copyholder
    Copyholder

    A copyholder is a device that holds written material for typing. They have been used with typewriters or more often on a computer word processor like WordPad or Microsoft Office Word....
     holds printed material in near vertical position for easier reading and can be adjusted to suit.
  • Closed circuit television (CCTV) or video magnifiers
    Video magnifier

    Video magnifiers are electronic devices that use a camera, LCD screen, lenses and/or digital magnification....
    . Printed materials and objects are placed under a camera and the magnified image is displayed onto a screen.
  • Modified cassette recorder. To record a lecture, own thoughts, ideas, notes etc.
  • Desktop compact cassette dictation system. To allow audio cassette playback with the aid of a foot pedal.
  • Fusers produce tactile materials, for example diagrams and maps, by applying heat to special swell paper.
  • Scanner. A device used in conjunction with OCR software. The printed document is scanned and converted into electronic text, which can then be displayed on screen as recognisable text.
  • Standalone reading aids integrate a scanner, optical character recognition (OCR) software, and speech software in a single machine. These function together without a separate PC.
  • Refreshable Braille display
    Refreshable Braille display

    A refreshable Braille display or Braille terminal is an electro-mechanical device for displaying Braille characters, usually by means of raising dots through holes in a flat surface....
    . An electronic tactile device which is placed below the computer keyboard. A line of cells which correspond to Braille text move up and down to represent a line of text on the computer screen.
  • Electronic Notetaker. A portable computer with a Braille or QWERTY keyboard and synthetic speech. Some models have an integrated Braille display.
  • Braille embosser
    Braille embosser

    A Braille embosser is a computer printer, necessarily an impact printer, that renders text as Braille. Utilizing special Braille translator software, a print document can be embossed with relative ease, making Braille production much more efficient and cost-effective....
    . Embosses Braille output from a computer by punching dots onto paper. It connects to a computer in the same way as a text printer.
  • Perkins Brailler
    Perkins Brailler

    The Perkins Brailler is a simple machine used to write braille. The Perkins Brailler is a "braille typewriter" with a key corresponding to each of the six dots of the braille code....
    . To manually emboss Grade 1 or 2 Braille.


Software

  • Customization of graphical user interfaces to alter the colors and size of desktops, short-cut icons, menu bars and scroll bars.
  • Screen magnifier
    Screen magnifier

    A screen magnifier is software that interfaces with a computer's graphical output to present enlarged screen content. It is a type of assistive technology suitable for visual impairment people with some functional vision; visually impaired people with little or no functional vision usually use a Screen reader....
    s
  • Screen readers
  • Self-voicing
    Self-voicing

    A self-voicing application is an application that provides an aural interface without requiring a separate screen reader. Self-voicing applications can be an important form of assistive technology, useful to those who have difficulty reading or seeing....
     applications
  • Optical character recognition
    Optical character recognition

    Optical character recognition, usually abbreviated to OCR, is the mechanical or Electronics translation of s of handwritten, typewritten or printed text into machine-editable text....
    . Converts the printed word into text, via a scanner.
  • Braille translation. Converts the printed word into Braille, which can then be embossed via a Braille embosser.
  • Text-to-speech and Speech-to-text
  • Spell checkers and Grammar checkers


Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

Augmentative and alternative communication
Augmentative and alternative communication

Augmentative and alternative communication refers "to an area of research, clinical, and educational practice. AAC involves attempts to study and when necessary compensate for temporary or permanent impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions of individuals with severe disorders of speech-language production and/or comp...
 is a well defined specialty within AT. AAC devices vary widely with respect to their technological sophistication:

  • Low-tech systems. Simple paper or object based systems, i.e. do not require a battery.
  • Light-tech systems. Typically consisting of a digitized speech recorder with a touch-sensitive display pad and sometimes switch access. Lite-tech systems require a battery.
  • High-tech systems. Computerized VOCAs that vary from single purpose appliance-like systems to multipurpose computer-based communication aids. Typically high-tech systems require training and ongoing support to operate the devices.


Deafness and hearing loss

  • Audiometer
    Audiometer

    An audiometer is a machine used for evaluating hearing loss. The invention of this machine is generally credited to Dr. Harvey Fletcher of Brigham Young University....
  • Fire alarm paging
    Paging

    In computer operating systems that have their main memory divided into page , paging is a transfer of pages between main memory and an auxiliary store, such as hard disk drive....
     system
  • Loop
    Audio induction loop

    Audio Induction Loop systems, also called audio-frequency induction loops are an aid for the hard of hearing. They are a loop of cable around a designated area, usually a room or a building, which generates a magnetic field picked up by a Hearing aid#Telecoil....
     system (portable and fixed)
  • Radio aids
  • Telecommunications device for the deaf
    Telecommunications device for the deaf

    A telecommunications device for the deaf is an electronic device for text communication via a telephone line, used when one or more of the parties has hearing impairment or Speech disorder....
  • Teletext
    Teletext

    Teletext is a television information retrieval service developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. It offers a range of text-based information, typically including national, international and sporting news, weather and TV schedules....
  • Video cassette recorders that can read and record subtitles (Closed Captioning
    Closed captioning

    Closed captioning is a term describing several systems developed to display Written language on a television or video Display device to provide additional or interpretive information to viewers who wish to access it....
    ).
  • Vibrating fire alarm placed under pillow when asleep.
  • Door bell lighting system.


Others

  • Wakamaru
    Wakamaru

    Wakamaru is a Japanese domestic robot made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, primarily intended to provide companionship to elderly and disabled people....
     provides companionship, reminds users to take medicine and calls for help if something is wrong.
  • CARE (Call Reassurance) community based program that calls seniors at home ensuring their well-being .
  • Cosmobot
    Cosmobot

    CosmoBot is a child-friendly, interactive remote controlled telerehabilitation robot designed by AnthroTronix, Inc.. CosmoBot is part of an overall assistive technology system that includes the CosmoBot robot, Mission Control input device, and accompanying software....
     is part of a play therapy system designed to motivate children to participate in therapy.


See also

  • Computer accessibility
    Computer accessibility

    In human-computer interaction, computer accessibility refers to the accessibility of a computer system to all people, regardless of disability or severity of impairment....
  • Web accessibility
    Web accessibility

    Web accessibility refers to the practice of making websites usable by people of all abilities and disabilities. When sites are correctly designed, developed and edited, all users can have equal access to information and functionality....
  • Occupational Therapy
    Occupational therapy

    File:Occupational therapy psychiatric hospital.jpgOccupational Therapy, often abbreviated as "OT", incorporates meaningful and purposeful occupation to enable people with limitations or impairments to participate in everyday life....
  • Robot-aided rehabilitation


Further reading

  • Behrmann, M. & Schaff, J.(2001). Assisting educators with assistive technology: Enabling children to achieve independence in living and learning. Children and Families 42(3), 24-28.


  • Bishop, J. (2003). The Internet for educating individuals with social impairments. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 19(4), 546-556. Available as a free


  • Cain, S. (2001). Accessing Technology - Using technology to support the learning and employment opportunities for visually impaired users. Royal National Institute for the Blind. ISBN 1-85878-517-0.


  • Cook, A., & Hussey, S. (2002). Assistive Technologies - Principles and Practice, 2nd Edition. Mosby. ISBN 0-323-00643-4


  • Franklin, K.S. (1991). Supported employment and assistive technology-A powerful partnership. In S.L. Griffin & W.G. Revell (Eds.), Rehabilitation counselor desktop guide to supported employment. Richmond, VA: Virginia Commonwealth University Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Supported Employment.


  • Van der Heijden, D. (2005). How Does Alternative Access to Computers Work? Available as an .


  • Lahm, E., & Morrissette, S. (1994, April). Zap 'em with assistive technology. Paper presented at the annual meeting of The Council for Exceptional Children, Denver, CO.


  • Lee, C. (1999). Learning disabilities and assistive technologies; an emerging way to touch the future. Amherst, MA: McGowan Publications.


  • McKeown, S. (2000). Unlocking Potential - How ICT can support children with special needs. The Questions Publishing Company Ltd. ISBN 1-84190-041-9


  • Nisbet, P. & Poon, P. (1998). Special Access Technology. The CALL Centre, University of Edinburgh. Available as a free The CALL Centre. ISBN 1-898042-11-X


  • Nisbet, P., Spooner, R., Arthur, E. & Whittaker P. (1999). Supportive Writing Technology. The CALL Centre, University of Edinburgh. Available as a free The CALL Centre. ISBN 1-898042-13-6


  • Rose, D. & Meyer, A. (2000). Universal design for individual differences. Educational Leadership, 58(3), 39-43.


  • Orpwood, R. Design methodology for aids for the disabled. J Med Eng Technol. 1990 Jan-Feb;14(1):2-10. |


  • Scherer, M. J. (2005). Living in the State of Stuck: How Assistive Technology Impacts the Lives of People with Disabilities, Fourth Edition. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books: ISBN 1-571-29098-2.


  • Scherer, M.J. (2004). Connecting to Learn: Educational and Assistive Technology for People with Disabilities. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association (APA) Books: ISBN 1-557-98982-6.


  • Scherer, M.J. (Ed.). (2002). Assistive Technology: Matching Device and Consumer for Successful Rehabilitation. Washington, DC: APA Books: ISBN 1-557-98840-4.


  • Swann, J.I. (2007) Promoting independence and activity in older people Quay Books: ISBN 9781856423342


  • Adlam, T. et al. The installation and support of internationally distributed equipment for people with dementia." IEEE transactions on information technology in biomedicine (1089-7771) yr:2004 vol:8 iss:3 pg:253-257 |