Introduction: Assistive Technology for Students with Mild Disabilities

How Can Assistive Technology Help Learners with Mild Disabilities?

Students with mild disabilities often struggle to develop automaticity in basic skills such as decoding and mathematics. Lack of basic-skill mastery affects their use of higher-order skills in such as reading comprehension, written composition, and mathematical problem solving (Goldman & Pellegrino, 1987; Graham, Harris, & Larsen, 2001; Torgesen, 1984). In addition, students with mild disabilities may lack the background knowledge and vocabulary necessary for success in content-area subjects such as science and social studies (Cognition and Technology Group, 1990). Over the course of their school careers, poor reading skills, inefficient learning strategies, and decreased motivation to learn act to increase the gap between the experiential knowledge of students with disabilities and their nondisabled peers.

Students with disabilities may also encounter difficulties with organization and memory, which has an increasingly negative impact on student's success in school as teachers expect them to become more self-initiated and responsible for organizing their homework, projects, and study habits. We also know, as discussed earlier, that students with mild disabilities often require explicit instruction in order to develop effective cognitive strategies that can be applied to complex learning tasks (e.g., Ellis, Deshler, Lenz, Schumaker, & Clark, 1991; Simmons & Kameenui, 1996). Finally, students with mild disabilities often feel discouraged by repeated failure at school tasks and may appear unmotivated and have negative beliefs about themselves as learners (e.g., Okolo, Bahr, & Gardner, 1995).

The following table outlines ways in which assistive technology can help address the challenges that are often faced by learner with disabilities: