Impact on Students - Equity of Access: Adaptive Technology - The Research Center on Computing & Society

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Frances S. Grodzinsky

Impact on Students

One of the most frustrating aspects of teaching disabled students is the difficulty of convincing them that adaptive technology is a key to an independent educational experience. Students who have become dependent upon human support services often find independence frightening.(8) For example, a wheelchair-bound student who had cerebral palsy relied upon his mother to type his papers for him. One semester, the faculty was considerate enough to give him examinations with yes/no questions that he could answer with a nod. When he was referred to the adaptive technology laboratory at his school, he did not want to go and had to be forced to go by his mother. The director set him up with an Intellikeys keyboard with sensitivity adjustment and large letters and coupled it with Co-Writer for word prediction and word processing. He then became so enthusiastic that he went to the ATL regularly of his own accord because he realized that he could function independently in his schoolwork.(15)

Another student with cerebral palsy had to be convinced by his professor that in his computer class, which was 50% hands-on, the student should perform the computer work by himself, using the available adaptive devices. The student thought that it would be just as meaningful for him to tell someone which key to push on the keyboard. He never believed that anyone would be interested in fostering his independent learning skills.

In another case, a female student with cerebral palsy had no ability to speak. She had a computer on her wheelchair, but could only be a passive student in class. She had no desire to use a voice synthesizer because the voices were all robotic or male. It was only when female voices were developed that she agreed to use voice output. This enabled her to actively participate in classroom discussions and created an interesting social dynamic for the rest of the class who waited while she typed in her thoughts, which were then translated by her computer as voice. She could also talk to her friends on the telephone, something most people take for granted.(15)

Another case involved a low-vision student of mine who was delighted that suddenly she could read all of her texts using Spectrum Jr. and that she could use screen enlargers to interface with her word processing programs. She became totally independent in schoolwork and could do unassisted research.

Two other students of mine, computer science majors with severe learning disabilities, used adaptive software to function independently with reading and writing assignments. They felt better about themselves and their ability to compete in the job market. One was employed to maintain the computer system in a prestigious establishment. The other began to teach courses at Sacred Heart University, continuing to use adaptive tools to organize her lectures and structure her courses.

Because adaptive technology is a relatively new field of research and development, the adaptive technology laboratory at Sacred Heart University affords computer science majors an opportunity to develop some research projects. In addition, the impact of the ATL has extended to other programs in the university. For example, it is used by the education department to train primary and secondary school teachers in the use of adaptive technology for their students with special needs, and it provides opportunities to graduates for in-service-related careers and an on-site laboratory for internships.

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