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Article
Utility and Professional Attitudes toward Assistive Technology in UAE Special Needs Centers
International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education
  • Mohammad Fteiha, Abu Dhabi University
  • Deena Elsori, Abu Dhabi University
  • Ashraf Khalil, Zayed University
  • Ghanem AlBustami, Abu Dhabi University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2021
Abstract

The attitude of teachers about the use of technology is critical. As a result, when teachers have a constructive outlook toward a new type of assistive technology, they are more likely to make meaningful efforts to successfully integrate it into the teaching-learning process. The way assistive technology is used in the teaching and learning environment is heavily influenced by a special education teacher's attitude. Therefore, the study explored the availability of assistive technology and explored the attitudes of professional of special education towards the use of assistive technologies in special needs centers of United Arab Emirates (UAE). Questionnaires were distributed and 100 responses were received from special education professionals. No statistically significant differences were observed in the attitudes of special education teachers and therapists with respect to their experiences, profession, gender, academic qualification, or locality. Assistive technologies were mostly used in different areas of special education including computer access, spelling, learning, recreation, environmental control, vision and hearing, writing, communication, mathematics, mobility, and positioning and seating. There is a constructive impact on the learning process of the children with special needs considering the expertise of specialist teachers and therapists on assistive technology linked to positive educational outcomes of students with special needs.

Publisher
Anadolu University
Disciplines
Keywords
  • Assistive Technology,
  • Attitudes,
  • Special Education,
  • Special Needs Centers,
  • Teachers
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International
Indexed in Scopus
No
Open Access
Yes
Open Access Type
Gold: This publication is openly available in an open access journal/series
Citation Information
Mohammad Fteiha, Deena Elsori, Ashraf Khalil and Ghanem AlBustami. "Utility and Professional Attitudes toward Assistive Technology in UAE Special Needs Centers" International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education Vol. 13 Iss. 2 (2021) p. 23 - 32 ISSN: <p><a href="https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/issn/1308-5581" target="_blank">1308-5581</a></p>
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/ashraf-khalil/8/