COMPUTERS, ASSISTIVE DEVICES, AND AUGMENTATIVE COMMUNICATION AIDS - TECHNOLOGY FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION

Assistive technology, in the form of both devices and services, can si gnificantly improve the lives of children with disabilities following traumatic brain injury. a powerful goal of assistive technology is soc ial inclusion, defined as full meaningful inclusion of the child into the social fabric of the culture. A series of recently enacted legisla tion has made assistive technology for these children more readily obt ainable. A needs assessment by a competency-based assistive technology team that includes the family, is environmentally and task specific, and relates to social roles will be more meaningful to the child and f amily and enhance social inclusion for children with traumatic brain i njuries.