ABSTRACT
The World Health Organization and the United Nations Global Disability report estimates that individuals with disabilities account for 15% of the world population, and there are approximately 150 million children with disabilities in the world (WHO 2010). The definition of special education varies worldwide because many countries use a social classification system similar to the International Classification System addressing the child’s ability to participate across the educational domain, whereas other counties focus on a medical model for education that is based on specific categories of impairment or disabilities. Assistive technology (AT) has long been recognized as a tool for enabling independence and access for individuals with disabilities (Bowe 1995; Østensjø et al. 2005; Watson et al. 2010). Although changes in legislation have provided a positive shift to include the consideration of AT in the student’s educational plan/setting, there still remains a deficiency in many developing countries for children with disabilities to have access to needed AT to assist with meeting their educational plan and participation in daily activities. The World Health Organization reports that only 5-15% of individuals with disabilities have access to AT in many developing countries. The United Nations Standard and World Health Organization Rule 4 (WHO 2010) promotes the training of personnel at various levels in AT to improve access for technology. The special educator can play a vital role in providing technology access and implementation of tools to be used with students in the educational setting.
