Editing Assistive technology (section)

==In education==
In the United States there are two major pieces of legislation that govern the use of assistive technology within the school system. The first is Section 504 of the [[Rehabilitation Act of 1973]] and the second being the [[Individuals with Disabilities Education Act]] (IDEA) which was first enacted in 1975 under the name The Education for All Handicapped Children Act.  In 2004, during the reauthorization period for IDEA, the National Instructional Material Access Center (NIMAC) was created which provided a repository of accessible text including publisher's textbooks to students with a qualifying disability.  Files provided are in XML format and used as a starting platform for braille readers, screen readers, and other digital text software.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nimac.us/ |title=National Instructional Materials Access Center }}</ref>  IDEA defines assistive technology as follows: "any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of a child with a disability. (B) Exception.--The term does not include a medical device that is surgically implanted, or the replacement of such device."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/,root,statute,I,A,602,1, |title=Building the Legacy: IDEA 2004}}</ref>

Assistive technology listed is a student's IEP is not only recommended, it is required (Koch, 2017).<ref name="Koch 82">{{Cite journal|last=Koch|first=Katherine|date=2017-11-08|title=Stay in the Box! Embedded Assistive Technology Improves Access for Students with Disabilities|journal=Education Sciences|volume=7 |issue=4|pages=82|doi=10.3390/educsci7040082|issn=2227-7102|doi-access=free}}</ref> These devices help students both with and without disabilities access the curriculum in a way they were previously unable to (Koch, 2017).<ref name="Koch 82"/> Occupational therapists play an important role in educating students, parents and teachers about the assistive technology they may interact with.<ref name="Koch 82"/>

Assistive technology in this area is broken down into low, mid, and high tech categories. Low tech encompasses equipment that is often low cost and does not include batteries or requires charging. Examples include adapted paper and pencil grips for writing or masks and color overlays for reading. Mid tech supports used in the school setting include the use of handheld spelling dictionaries and portable word processors used to keyboard writing. High tech supports involve the use of tablet devices and computers with accompanying software. Software supports for writing include the use of auditory feedback while keyboarding, word prediction for spelling, and [[speech to text]]. Supports for reading include the use of text to speech (TTS) software and font modification via access to digital text. Limited supports are available for math instruction and mostly consist of grid based software to allow younger students to keyboard equations and auditory feedback of more complex equations using MathML and Daisy.