A survey of eight U.S. school districts by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that their deployments of assistive technologies to help students with disabilities are facing problems, including a lack of awareness of those products and services and the training required to use them.
According to GAO – which is the nonpartisan investigative arm of the U.S. Congress – some school districts are turning to strategies including forming assistive technology teams to help provide training to schools, while others are getting help from lending libraries which loan out assistive tech device for schools to use.
In its report, made public on Jan. 29, GAO said that assistive technology tools can run the gamut from modified scissors to apps that read aloud content on computer screens.
“Limited knowledge about assistive technology was a key challenge, according to staff from all eight school districts GAO visited,” the agency said.
“Staff in many school districts said that teachers often only think of high-tech devices and may not consider simpler low-tech devices that could meet students’ individual needs”, GAO continued.
“In addition, rapidly changing technology can make it difficult for school district and school staff to keep abreast of current assistive technology options,” GAO said, adding that funding and staffing shortages are also getting in the way of assistive technology use.
