About Kerala State Centre For Assistive Technologies

Census 2011 has revealed that over 26,810,557 people in India as suffering from one or the other kind of disability. This is equivalent to 2.21% of the population. Among the total disabled in the country, 14,986,202 are males and 11,824,355 are females. Among the five types of disabilities on which data has been collected, People with difficulty in seeing is 5,032,463 and emerges as the top category. Out of this 2,638,516 are male and 2,393,947 are female .

Kerala State Centre For Assistive Technologies strongly believes that technology has the potential means of offsetting the limitations caused by disability, especially to the persons with visual disability. Hence,we are focusing to start facilities imparting training in the use of assistive technologies, basic computer skills,along with imparting suitable soft skills.

Difference between Assistive / Conventional educational system

New innovations and growth in technology is making it less excusable to ignore the needs of those who are disabled. Researchers are developing sophisticated hardware and software which help disabled individuals to do their work successfully in the society. The demand for assistive technologies is increasing significantly, because more disabled students are studying in normal educational settings.

Assistive technologies are highly essential for helping students with various disabilities to succeed in their studies. These also can enable disabled students to socially interact with their non-disabled peers. Individuals with disabilities who use these technologies usually select a combination of conventional and assistive technologies .There is a very fine line between educational and assistive technology and are often interrelated. Looking at the difference is that assistive technology is more personal to the student, whereas educational technology is more classroom-based.The current focus is on "Universal Design for Learning",which incorporates basic principles of teaching through different modes. It involves using technology that allows students to access educational materials through their strongest learningmode. Universal design provides equal access to learning and gaining information. It does not remove academic challenges; it removes barriers to access. For example,a student with visual disability access information about a specific topic using screen readers.