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How did each law set the stage for assistive technology to be made available for children with disabilities in public schools?

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How did each law set the stage for assistive technology to be made available for children with disabilities in public schools?

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1. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973
The Rehabilitation  Act of 1973 did two specific major changes for the positive development of assistive technology. First, it required that nobody be excluded from a federally funded program, including school, due to a disability. It continued to say that the individual is entitled to educational accommodations to ensure an equal education to that of their peer. This includes assistive technology, if that is necessary to make the education equal. Secondly, this law requires all federal agencies to have websites and computer systems accessible, which encouraged the development of more accessible technology that could be used for other purposes as well (Dell, Newton,& Petroff, 2017, pp. 1-13).
2. Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 set the stage for assistive technology to be made available for children with disabilities because specified physical and mental disabilities which helps to ensure special education services are provided to all who might need them. It also put in measures to help make decisions fair and appropriate by requiring evaluations for all children with disabilities and the creation of an education plan which includes parent input to make the school experience as close to typical developing peers as possible, which set the stage for assistive technology to come in and bridge the gap that might be preventing a student from having a school experience like their peers. It also gave efforts to continuing to give fair and appropriate education by stating that individuals need to be in the least restrictive environment , meaning they should be with typically developing peers as much as possible, which allowed for future legislation to define assistive technology has a necessary way to give student the opportunity to learn in the least restrictive environment. (S.6 (94th), 2004)
3. Technology Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988
This law provided a definition of what assistive technology is and discussed adaptations. This set the stage by clearly defining what exactly assistive technology means. It also provided funding to help with the training and information about assistive technology, allowing for easier access to assistive technology. ("Technology related assistance", 2006)
4. Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act is a civil rights legislation which tries to prevent discrimination based on disability. This law extends protection to include public places such as schools, jobs, transportation, and communication services regardless of federal funding. This is especially important when individual go on to college. While assistive technology is not specifically mentioned, it falls under the umbrella of "auxiliary aids and services" which has prompted many colleges to provide assistive devices as a reasonable accommodation (Dell, Newton,& Petroff, 2017, pp. 1-13) ("Americans with Disabilities", 2020).
5. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990
In 1990, an amendment was passed to change the name of this piece of legislation from Education for All Handicapped Children Act to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This change changed children to individuals and changed handicapped to disabilities. These changes can have a big impact on the reader in making sure that the individual being spoken about is being referred to in positive and politically correct way. This helps access to assistive devices because it helps to change the way the individual is viewed, which can change what someone thinks they are capable of doing. ("What is the...", 2019)

6. Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1997
IDEA 1997 clearly defined assistive technology by adopting the Tech Act's definition. It also required the assistive technology needs of every student that requires special education services be assessed, which is a huge step towards allowing more access to assistive technology. This increased the number of students and the range of disabilities who are now considered for assistive technology (Dell, Newton,& Petroff, 2017, pp. 1-13).

7. Individuals with Disabilities Act 2004
IDEA 2004 excludes surgically implanted medical devices from the list of assistive technology devices. The law kept the requirement that assistive technology must be considered for every IEP. It also reiterates the importance of assistive technology in the education of children with disabilities by giving priority funding to the development and use of assistive technology devices and services that help to provide an equal education and support the least restrictive environment for children with disabilities. Increased funding is always helpful in ensuring access to assistive technology (Dell, Newton,& Petroff, 2017, pp. 1-13).

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How do individuals like Sady benefit today from the progress made with each law?

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How do individuals like Sady benefit today from the progress made with each law?

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Individuals with disabilities, such as Sady, have been able to grow and have an improved education and quality of life due to the progress in the laws that have made assistive technology more accessible to individuals with disabilities.

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 has helped by providing Sady and people like her access to school. It also gives individuals like Sady access to websites and computer systems that are accessible and usable for education.

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 helped to ensure that people like Sady could still receive special education services, even if their disability is only physical. It also helps people like Sady because it gives parents the right to have a say and help fight for their child to receive the best education possible with the help of the administration. However, possibly the biggest way this law helps, is by requiring the least restrictive environment, which allows people like Sady to have the right to be in the classroom as much as possible with their typically developing peers.

Technology Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988 provides further assistance by breaking down exactly what assistive technology is and how to adapt them to help make it more accessible and known. The funding from this law helped to give educators and administration knowledge on how to use and teach with assistive technology which made learning more accessible to people like Sady.

The Americans with Disabilities Act continued to improve the lives of individuals like Sady by providing more access to jobs and transportation and college. This act makes it possible for Sady and others like her to get the assistive devices they may need to be successful in college.

Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1990 helps individuals like Sady by changing the language which is used when talking about them. It can help make sure that the help continues once they are no longer a "child" like the legislation's name used to state.

In 1997, IDEA continued to help by adding that assistive technology needs to be assessed for every student receiving special education, making it more likely that people like Sady will be considered for assistive technology in their education.

In 2004, IDEA continued by giving priority funding to assistive technology, making to easier to obtain the devices for people like Sady.

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What are the barriers schools experience in implementing the current federal statutes affording students with disabilities equal access to public schools?

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What are the barriers schools experience in implementing the current federal statutes affording students with disabilities equal access to public schools?

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One barrier schools experience in implementing the current federal statutes affording students with disabilities equal access to public schools is the lack of training and education for general education teachers. Since general education teachers do not have the most up to date or extensive knowledge on assistive technology, it can reduce access to the least restrictive environment since the general education teacher cannot work smoothly with the student.

Another barrier is in the general lack of funding to public schools. Budget cuts tend to heavily affect things like access to assistive technology.

Lack of time is a huge barrier in the way of implementing the current federal statutes. Since teachers are short on time and resources, unless the device already exists or can be thought of easily, many opportunities can be passed up on. For example, our textbook talks about Bernie and how he was able to use a metal dowel to be able to type on a typewriter (Dell, Newton,& Petroff, 2017, pp. 3). This idea took time to think of and I'm sure some troubleshooting. While every teacher wants to do and be this person for their students, the large caseloads can prevent this from being possible.

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What could be included in future legislation to improve access to a free and appropriate education for students with disabilities?

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What could be included in future legislation to improve access to a free and appropriate education for students with disabilities?

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Current legislation states that assistive technology should be considered for every student but it does not stated that each child is entitled to the assistive technology. This wording can create a work around that could potentially prevent a student from receiving the assistive technology because they are not entitled to it, it just needs to be considered. Future legislation could improve this by changing the wording to ensure that every student is entitled to assistive technology.

Another way that future legislation can help is by providing more education on assistive technology in the general education classrooms. While special education teachers receiving some training and knowledge on assistive technology, general education teachers do not, which can impede with access to the least restrictive environment.

Another area that would benefit from future legislation is for students who are not receiving special education services but could benefit from assistive technology. The current legislation only states that assistive technology needs to be considered when dealing with an IEP, which excludes students who do not have or require an IEP. In future legislation, it would help to add that all students can have access to assistive technology, regardless of if they are receiving special education services.

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A Guide to Disability Rights Laws. (2020, February 24). Retrieved June 08, 2020, from https://www.ada.gov/cguide.htm

Dell, A. G., Newton, D. A., & Petroff, J. G. (2017). Introduction to Assistive Technology. In Assistive Technology in the Classroom: Enhancing the School Experiences of Students with Disabilities (3rd ed., pp. 1-13). Columbus, Ohio: Pearson.

S. 6 (94th): Education For All Handicapped Children Act. (2004). Retrieved June 08, 2020, from https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/94/s6/text

Technology Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act. (2006, August 11). Retrieved June 08, 2020, from https://www.naset.org/index.php?id=techassist2

What is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act? (2019, April 30). Retrieved June 08, 2020, from https://www.washington.edu/doit/what-individuals-disabilities-education-act