This study investigates whether children give different questionnaire-assessed hearing aid benefit scores than their parents. Sixteen children (age seven to 11 years) who wear hearing aids completed the child version of the Listening Situations Questionnaire while their parents completed the parent version. The mean difference between parent and…

The City of Lisbon, Portugal, is working to better integrate children with disabilities at primary school level. It recently has undertaken an accessible school programme and has restored an historic building as part of this effort.

Assistive technologies (AT) give special needs students the ability to access computer resources. AT can be life-changing for kids with significant communication, mobility, literacy, visual, and hearing challenges. But implementing AT in schools is a complex issue. There are various categories of commercial and open-source products, each with…

Current educational policies require the participation of students with disabilities in state assessments. Their participation has raised a number of issues, among them the need for accommodations. In this article we consider the role that assistive technology (AT) can play to alleviate current accommodations demands, and highlight research and…

Nine online workshops developed by the Early Childhood Technology Integrated Instructional System (EC-TIIS) at Western Illinois University meet the need for training for educators and families on evidence-based practices related to assistive technology (AT) and young children. Results of a research study conducted by EC-TIIS indicate that the…

This paper summarizes the results of a review of the empirical literature (1990-2005) focusing on use of assistive technology as a self-management tool for persons with intellectual disabilities. Forty investigations were identified which provided information on assistive technology to assist persons with disabilities to initiate and complete…

This paper describes a project undertaken as an interdisciplinary effort among four science departments, two disabilities services offices, and special education personnel to investigate the use and success of assistive technology devices as well as other equipment modifications in an attempt to transform science laboratories into environments…

PEPNet's "Perspectives" is the collaborative newsletter of the four PEPNet regional centers. This newsletter combines each centers individual strengths into a single resource that can be used on a national level. This issue focuses on the following topics: (1) PEPNet FAQs on Web, in Print; (2) Some Speech-to-Text FAQs; (3) Speech-to-Text…

A two-day conference on Emergency Evacuation of People with Physical Disabilities from Buildings, sponsored by the Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR), Interagency Subcommittee on Technology (IST), was held on October 13-14, 2004, in Rockville, Maryland. This document is meant to summarize the conference's presentations and…

Different materials that are used in manufacturing long cane shafts were assessed for their ability to transmit vibration and their sensitivity to tactile information, flexibility, and durability. It was found that the less flexible a cane shaft is, the better it transmits vibrations that are useful for discriminating surface textures and that…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA-PL 101-478) of 1990 assures the right to assistive technology for individuals with disabilities. Later versions of the law increased spending, support, and consumer decision making and encouraged research and development for a range of assistive instructional technologies. As a result, the…

Purpose: The purpose of this tutorial is to describe 10 criteria that may help clinicians distinguish between scientific and pseudoscientific treatment claims. The criteria are illustrated, first for considering whether to use a newly developed treatment and second for attempting to understand arguments about controversial treatments. Method:…

This study examined the relative benefit of three interventions (i.e. physiological, behavioural, and pragmatic) designed to facilitate speech recognition software use. Participants were 15 adults with dysarthria associated with a variety of aetiological conditions, including cerebral palsy, Parkinson's disease, and motor neuron disease. Results…

Approximately 5% of people in most countries have deafness or significant hearing loss. This significant minority is underrepresented in mainstream universities across the world. Background information about deafness, relevant technology and its drawbacks, and the use of interpreters are discussed. The barriers to equitable representation of…

In their specialized schooling, blind children are now frequently presented with raised line figures and maps. However, there is still much to do in evaluating the cognitive effects of training using these displays. The purpose of this research is to determine if the level of expertise in the haptic exploration, and the perception of the raised…