The terms adaptive (ADT) or assistive (AT) technology are often used interchangeably. For the purposes of this manual, the term ADT is used to describe computer software programs that help students maximize their abilities at school, at work and in daily life. The term AT is used to describe devices that help people negotiate physical barriers in their environment. Trackball mice and enlarged keyboards are examples of AT.
Adaptive technology can benefit people with a variety of learning needs and challenges in many areas of their lives. These benefits cross age, ability, language level and health challenges. Computer based technology can assist with challenges that may include; learning disabilities, blindness or low vision, hearing loss or deafness, or chronic health issues. When ADT is well matched to the learner’s needs, it increases independence and provides people with tools that improve learning and job opportunities. Many people find that using ADT improves their self-esteem, their ability to function independently and ultimately their quality of life.
Learning difficulties are not always outgrown. Learning difficulties may persist into adulthood, despite years of intervention. These learning difficulties may include; reading, writing, math, organization and social skills. While ADT often serves to augment interventions that are already in place, they may in fact offer a compensatory means of addressing specific learning difficulties.
This software can now go anywhere the user goes. The availability of easily portable AT devices (many of which are pocket-sized) allows individuals to transport a compensatory tool which may be used for organizing a class report, writing a letter to a friend at home with the assistance of a word processor, checking for spelling errors in a memo to a co-worker, or using a calculator to help keep score in a card game. Laptop computers allow adults to take their own software into workplaces and schools to assist with functions they could not do independently.