ABSTRACT
Microtechnology is an indispensable tool for many children and young people with disabilities in school, further and higher education. In this chapter Christopher and Rowena Onions examine the ways in which microtechnology can give learners access to the curriculum, enhancing their ability to acquire, record, manipulate and communicate information. They focus on the three National Curriculum core subjects: English, Mathematics, Science and Technology. To be used effectively in widening the choices available to learners with disabilities, there need to be well organised support systems to provide training and practical advice. Later in the chapter, the authors discuss problems of equity, participation and control raised by the use of microtechnology to give people with disabilities access to the mainstream. Schools and colleges need to deal with attitudes which see microtechnology as conveying an unfair advantage to its users, and need to ensure that it does not serve to isolate rather than integrate children and young people.
