Can Assistive Technology Help Us to Not Leave Any Child Behind?

Abstract

Although there is excellent evidence for the efficacy of using various technologies to enhance emergent literacy skills in young children with disabilities, society, including parents and professionals, has been slow in acknowledging these positive findings. The authors of this article demonstrate the dichotomous position that places preschool children with disabilities at risk for not becoming literate members of communities along with their typically developing peers. There are profound implications for children with special needs who do not develop literacy skills. The authors provide practical recommendations to enable parents and professionals to enhance their literacy-related activities using assistive technology.

Key Words:

• assistive technology
• disability
• early childhood
• literacy
• parents

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Azar Hadadian

Bobbie Weikle is an instructor at Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Azar Hadadian is a professor at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.