Assistive Technology and Students With High-incidence Disabilities

Abstract

Assistive technology use in secondary school and postschool has been shown to improve the educational attainment and life outcomes of students with high-incidence disabilities. This study used data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study–2—collected in the early to mid-2000s—to explore the relationship between receipt of assistive technology in school and postschool outcomes. Few students in this study reported receiving assistive technology in high school (7.8%) and fewer still after high school (1.1%). In general, students with high-incidence disabilities who reported receiving assistive technology in school had more positive postschool outcomes in terms of a paid job, wages, and participation in postsecondary education. Yet assistive technology receipt was not a statistically significant factor in the logistic regression model for any dependent variable (i.e., postschool outcome). Although positive implications for receipt of assistive technology in school were suggested, receipt was not a predictor for positive postschool outcomes.