IPads as Assistive Technology for Students with Disabilities

Abstract

Disabilities can be viewed in one of two ways: either as insurmountable misfortunes or as mere challenges to be overcome. Justin Graves, a senior majoring in sociology , has allowed the latter view to guide him in his research on assistive technologies for disabled students: ”Even though some people in life—like me, for example—are inherently dealt challenges, those things really aren’t in your control … I don’t think they should hold you back.” Graves’s research aims to overcome the social stigma sometimes attached to assistive technologies—aiming to introduce new opportunities for disabled students to use popular devices such as the iPhone and iPad to overcome the challenges they face on a day-to-day basis. Even something as simple as the iPad’s “iBooks” app, Graves points out, can be helpful to a student who might have difficulty carrying a heavy load of textbooks and would prefer to download them electronically in a single lightweight device. The potential of these gadgets for addressing the needs of disabled students, however, extends far beyond e-books. To date, Justin has reviewed more than 80 assistive technology applications designed for the Apple operating system, incorporating peer information from colleagues as well as Internet searches to locate useful applications, then speaking with disabled students and faculty members to determine how they were using them to overcome their disabilities. Graves groups these programs into different sections by the type of aid provided—titled See, Look, Hear, Think, or Speak—then reviews them for their intended functions.