"The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a law that makes available a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to eligible children with disabilities throughout the nation and ensures special education and related services to those children." (https://sites.ed.gov/idea)
The purpose of IDEA includes the following:
to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education (FAPE) that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living;
to ensure that educators and families have the necessary tools to improve educational results for children with disabilities by supporting system improvement activities; coordinated research and personnel preparation; coordinated technical assistance, dissemination, and support; and technology development and media services;
to assess, and ensure the effectiveness of, efforts to educate children with disabilities.
Assistive technology and related assistive technology services are some of the tools that are essential to ensuring FAPE. Individual Educational Plan (IEP) teams are responsible for the consideration of how assistive technologies and related services can be used to improve the educational results for children with disabilities.
This website includes information and resources to assist educators, therapists, parents, and students in understanding how assistive technology can make a difference in a child's life.