Assistive Tool Reflection

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Assistive technology reflection.

The current scope of the digital environment has transformed at an astronomical rate in the recent century. The digital scope, fuelled by the advent of the internet has now become a global environment, making it so that ever member of every community from every corner of the world is connected. Technology has evolved over the centuries and has become an integral aspect of human evolution. Thus, technology and the digital world has become the core essential of the 21st century world. One of the key element of technology and the digital world is the opportunity for inclusivity that it has opened up for a number of general population. In the traditional world setting, people with disabilities were often shunned as a hindrance to the society and regarded as burdensome, especially students who struggled with sight, hearing and speaking. However, this vision has changed with the advent of assistive technology. Assistive technology, as defined by the United Kingdom government, refers to “products or systems that support and help individuals with disabilities, restricted mobility or other impairments to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or impossible” (Winchester, 2023). Assistive technology has been a major breakthrough, especially in the field of education where the technology has allowed students with disabilities an avenue with equal opportunity for learning as a normal child. Assistive technology has not only allowed the students to partake in learning but also allowed a number of people with disabilities to use the technology as an instrument to create, transform and even educate a number of people. Prominent people like Stephen Hawking, Helen Keller, Nick Vujicic, Frida Kahlo etc. are a few examples of people who used/uses assistive technology as a tool to assist them in their daily functions. However, the most common place assistive technology is implemented is at the school setting. The educational philosophy underlines how every children must have access to education but in many major circumstances, disabilities poses as a severe challenge in learning for the students. But assistive technology aids these students in creating and experiencing learning. Although there are a number of assistive tools available in the current digital infrastructure, I will focus on two of the most quintessential assistive technology; the text to speech software and augmented and alternative communication tool (AAC).

Text to speech software is a type of technology that converts text on a digital interface into natural-sounding audio (Downie & Hu, 2024). The software is trained on machine learning to recognize and synthesize the relationship between words and their acoustic feature, and more recently with the rise of AI, deep machine learning has made the overall process of linguistic matching with words and phrases much easier and faster. Text to speech has a huge educational impact, especially for the students who struggle with speaking or are visually impaired. The software functions as a modality where each word you type is read aloud by a narrator inbuilt in the computer. This is especially beneficial for students who struggle with speaking or students who are visually impaired and with the use of software, it contributes towards creating an inclusive classroom setting. Text to speech has existed as long as 1950’s and many people have found the technology as a vital benefactor. Personally for me, I believe the use of text to speech software will really contribute towards not only building an inclusive classroom setting but also creating an environment where students feel included and appreciated which I believe as a teacher is the most important element.

The second assistive technology that I would like to reflect on is a recently introduced technology that is built to combat the growing cases of autism within the primary students of the world. Based on health and education records, from 2000 to 2022, autism prevalence in the US increased from 1-in-150 to 1-in-31 (Ro, 2025). Augmentative and Alternative Communication involves different communication methods that are used by people who can’t rely on their speech. These individuals use AAC by incorporating abilities other than speech to communicate permanently or temporarily (Felton, 2024). Even though autism is not a big concern in Bhutan as of yet, there is a rising concern especially since “The Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital (JDWNRH) recorded 30 cases of autism as of April 2021” (Rai, 2024). Thus, in the near setting of the future, it is possible that a student might be diagnosed with autism and the responsibility of nurturing and educating the child falls upon on none other the teacher. Augmented and alternative communication can be best defined as using a wide variety of tools and technology to communicate with an autism diagnosed student. The tools incorporate of using a wide variety of digital tools such as white boards, text to speech apps, single message devices, speech generating devices, visual schedules etc. Moreover, it also incorporates a number of physical strategies such as hand gestures, facial expressions and sign languages. Augmented and alternative communication tool will be a necessary step in the future if the rising case of autism within the students doesn’t decline in the future. Moreover with autism becoming more prevalent among the children, it is important that we as the teachers are well equipped with understanding how to communicate with the students.

In conclusion, the assistive tools are a great benefactor especially in the field of education where inclusivity is top concern and goal for every educational institution. Assistive tools such as text to speech and augmented and alternative communicative tool help students with various disabilities to be included in the learning progress along with their peers without the retrospective on their limitations. Thus, as the name implies, assistive technology assists learners who struggle to learn and I think it’s a beautiful technology.

                                                            Thank you.

 

 

References.

 

European Commission . (2024, November 4). Assistive technology for accessible education | European School Education Platform. Europa.eu. https://school-education.ec.europa.eu/en/discover/news/assistive-technology-accessible-education

 

Felton, A. (2022, October 3). AAC: Augmentative and Alternative Communication for Autism. WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/aac-augmentative-and-alternative-communication-for-autism

 

Hu, C., & Downie, A. (2024, December 2). Text to speech. Ibm.com. https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/text-to-speech

 

Rai, M. (2024, December 7). Rising Autism cases detected in Bhutan: Experts stress urgent need for early intervention and specialized care. The Bhutanese. https://thebhutanese.bt/rising-autism-cases-detected-in-bhutan-experts-stress-urgent-need-for-early-intervention-and-specialized-care/

 

Ro, C. (2025, May 10). Autism diagnoses are on the rise – but autism itself may not be. Bbc.com; BBC. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250509-why-autism-diagnoses-are-on-the-rise

 

Winchester, N. (2023, May 19). Assistive technology in education and employment. House of Lords Library. https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/assistive-technology-in-education-and-employment/

 

 


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