Article Review:Impact on education, employment, and independence of individuals with disabilities

By: Norma J. Stumbo, Jay K. Martin, Brad N. Hedrick
Ebscohost
Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation
Year: 2009, April 1 Vol. 30 Issue 2, p. 99-110


According to Stumbo, "the research questions being addressed in this article brings about three questions. How criticial is assistive technology to the achievement of individuals with disabilities in education, employment, and achieving independence? What essential needs are met by the use of assistive technology in these three areas of concern? What are the unsolved issues and questions concerning the use of AT by disabled individuals as they work toward post-secondary education, careers, and self-sufficient living"? "The U.S. is experiencing increasing rates each year for individuals with disabilities. "50% of individuals 65 years and older have some sort of disability. These individuals are experiencing the highest rates of survival ever recorded with spinal cord injury being at the top of the list." Cost and reliability are current issues concerning AT.
With these rising issues, it is vital to provide effective assistance to individuals with disabilities as they pursue post-secondary education and careers in math, science, technology, and engineering fields. Assistive technology is essential in helping these individuals have a better chance to compete in the workplace. They should be able to feel a sense of equality with the educational curriculum, and have the same accessibilty to tools as that of their non-disabled peers. They should also have the opportunity to maximize their potential in order to better their overall quality of life and become active members in society. Assistive technology on a low-tech to high-tech continnum can help individuals who have limited ability to perform certain educational and daily task. AT can provide adaptations for writing for individuals with fine poor motor contol. Portable notetakers or word processors can serve as alternatives to laptops which can be expensive, and cause affordability problems. The notetakers allow students to gain more independence in keeping up with lectures or class discussions. They provide full size-keyboards and longer batter life. AT can help provide a voice with portable devices such as Touch Talkers. They provide a computer-generated voice that can serve as assistive communication for individuals with cerebral palsy, limited speech ability, or no speech at all. This give students something that they can rely on instead of depending on others. AT helps provide and opportunity for essential needs to bet met. Limited speech ability, fine motor skills, spinal cord injury, or even visual impairment with appropriate and effective assistance of low-to high-tech devices. When these needs are met, students feel a sense of ownership and motivation which can help them achieve educational success. Students are capable of learning the same skills of their non-disabled counterparts. A scenario that addresses the AT goal for example includes a young lady who is paralyzed from the waist down. She has just completed her undergraduate degree in business with a minor in computer technology. Although her disability limits her ability to walk, she has the educational background from her course work to apply for jobs and compete against non-disabled candidates for a clerical position. This position requires an abundance of typing. Out of all of the candidates, her wpm (Words Per Minute) is the fastest out of all of the candidates. She gets the job with a competitive salary in order to support herself and grow into her independence. This is why AT serves as an equal opportunity enegizer, and answers the question of its importance to education, imployment and independence.