Assistive Technology and Students with Mental Retardation: Utilization and Barriers

The Arc, a national organization on mental retardation, conducted a national survey to determine the degree to which students with mental retardation use assistive technology and to identify barriers to this outcome. Findings from the survey support earlier suggestions that students with mental retardation underutilize assistive technology. The survey found that in most cases, the number of students who could benefit from devices but did not have access to them exceeded the number who actually had devices. The discussion examined barriers to device utilization.