The performance of deaf children with cochlear implants was assessed using measures standardized on hearing children. To investigate nonverbal cognitive and sensorimotor processes associated with postimplant variability, five selected sensorimotor and visuospatial subtests from "A Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment" (NEPSY) were compared…

Recently, the government has issued legislation on disability discrimination (the UK "Disability Discrimination Act" 2005) that is silent on the issue of access to technology for those adults and minors with special needs/disabilities either in the classroom or out of the classroom. At the same time, commercial legislation from Europe…

Purpose: To construct a table for upper and lower limits of the 95% critical range for changes in word recognition scores obtained with monosyllabic word lists (of lengths 10, 25, 50, and 100 words) using newly available methods. Although such a table has been available for nearly 30 years (A. R. Thornton & M. J. M. Raffin, 1978), the earlier…

Purpose: This study investigated the acoustic characteristics of pediatric cochlear implant (CI) recipients' imitative production of rising speech intonation, in relation to the perceptual judgments by listeners with normal hearing (NH). Method: Recordings of a yes-no interrogative utterance imitated by 24 prelingually deafened children with a CI…

To gain meaningful access to the curriculum, students with reading difficulties must overcome substantial barriers imposed by the printed materials they are asked to read. Technology can assist students to overcome these challenges by enabling a shift from printed text to electronic text. By electronic text it means textual material read using a…

This study examined stress, attitudes, and expectations among mothers of deaf children who underwent cochlear implantation (CI), as related to time elapsed since surgery. Participants were 64 mothers of such children at different points in the implantation process: candidates, 0-3 years postimplantation, and more than 3 years later. Expectations…

Despite the expansion of Deaf people's use of communication technology little is published about how they use electronic communication in their social and working lives and the implications for their concepts of identity and community. Australia is an ideal research base because the use of a range of technologies is widespread there. To gain…

The teletypewriter, or TTY, is a device that lets deaf and hearing people type back and forth using regular telephone lines. The teletypewriter has been called by several names, including Telecommunication Device for the Deaf (TDD) or Text Telephone (TT). However, a national organization, Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc. (TDI), has taken a…

Technology has changed the world. Unfortunately, for many adults with learning disabilities (LD), the literacy demands of technology are beyond their reach. Since most adults with LD struggle in the area of reading, they are frequently not able to understand higher levels of written language or remember multi-sequence procedures often necessary…

Describes how Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio has become a U.S. leader in accommodating students with disabilities. (EV)

This brief article describes eight resources for using assistive technology to support the development and participation of young children with disabilities. Resources include fact sheets, guides, Web sites, organizations, videotapes, special projects. (DB)

Addresses assistive technology concepts as they relate to education. Provides an overview of the NCATE (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education) and ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) guidelines concerning assistive technology and proposes a model for a course concerning assistive technology and universal…

Purpose: This study systematically reviews approaches that national surveys have used to measure the use of assistive devices and examines the implications of these different approaches for prevalence estimates of device use and disability in late life. Design and Methods: Cross-sectional data from six national surveys are used to compare rates of…

This article reviews the literature on the various components of long canes and reports on a study of the knowledge and preferences of 100 adults with visual impairments regarding the various components and types of canes. Results indicated that the terrain of a route, weather conditions, mobility demand, and purpose of an outing are important…

This study examined the role of visual imagery in the centripetal execution principle (CEP), a graphic rule that is related to the drawing of complex figures that are composed of embedded geometric shapes. Sighted blindfolded children and children with early-onset low vision and early-onset blindness copied raised-line drawings (using only the…