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Technology for individuals with autism spectrum disorders

Published on August 31, 2026   23 min

A selection of talks on Neurology

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0:00
Hello. My name is Bogdan Zamfir and I am the Director of the Center for Educational and Assistive Technology at Southern Connecticut State University. The subject of this talk is technology for individuals with autism spectrum disorders. This talk is a broad overview of the many assistive technology supports available. Rather than focus on specific technology, which changes almost daily, we'll look at the broad categories of technology that can help an individual with ASD.
0:32
As we start talking about the definition of assistive technology, this approach will become a little bit more clear. But we'll start by talking about assistive technology, what it is, and how to best implement it. We'll talk about visual supports, executive function skills, and behavior. We'll then switch topics a bit and move into the world of literacy and talk about technology for reading, technology for writing, and notetaking. We'll wrap up by addressing some of the emerging technology.
1:05
Assistive technology has been around for quite a while, maybe longer than most of us realize. Back in 1988, the Technology Related Assistance Act defined assistive technology as any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified or customized is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. This is a definition that has essentially stayed the same since then regardless of the major changes that have taken place in the field of technology. The reason it hasn't changed is that it's a broad definition focused not on specific technology but rather on what the technology does, which is help an individual accomplish something that would otherwise be too hard or impossible. Because of this, assistive technology can include everything from a simple pencil grip all the way to a sophisticated computer system. Today, AI is playing a large role in how we interact with technology. Now, the broad definition of

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Technology for individuals with autism spectrum disorders

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