This study examines parents' perspectives on the role of technology in the daily functioning of their adult children with intellectual disabilities (ID). Responses from 91 parents were analysed to explore technology access, usage patterns, and perceived opportunities and risks. Approximately half of the parents reported noticeable changes in their children's functioning due to technology use, with perceived impacts being both positive (e.g., enhanced autonomy, skill development, and social engagement) and negative (e.g., addiction, safety risks, and exploitation). Significant differences in technology-related activities emerged based on gender and degree of disability. Daughters and individuals with moderate disabilities were more frequently reported to use technology for educational purposes, while those with severe disabilities primarily used it for leisure activities like listening to music and taking photos. Parents observing changes were more likely to impose restrictions, often citing safety concerns. The findings highlight the dual role of technology as a facilitator of development and a potential risk factor. The study emphasises the need for targeted interventions to support safe and effective technology use by adults with ID, alongside caregiver training to enhance digital mediation. These insights contribute to understanding the complex dynamics of digital inclusion for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Background A range of barriers are preventing people with intellectual disabilities from accessing and using technology, resulting in significant digital inequalities. We need to understand how best to eliminate these inequalities. Objective The aim of the current study is to examine whether and how adults with intellectual disabilities in Poland access and use technology. Methods A total of 104 caregivers of adults with intellectual disabilities completed a questionnaire that addressed four key areas; use of technology, effectiveness of technology, factors facilitating or hindering effective technology use and evaluation of the importance of these factors. Results Participants identified significant benefits in communication, knowledge acquisition, and well-being, though challenges persist in accessing healthcare and social services. The degree of intellectual disability significantly influenced technology use and its perceived effectiveness, with caregivers of individuals with moderate intellectual disabilities reporting higher usage and effectiveness compared to those supporting individuals with severe intellectual disabilities. Key facilitating factors included the readiness of both caregivers and individuals with ID to engage with technology and access to suitable devices. Barriers included difficulties in teaching the person(s) with intellectual disabilities to use technologies and motivation to use it. Conclusions The results of this study help to address significant gaps in knowledge regarding the influence of geographical region and level of intellectual disabilities on the digital inclusion of adults with intellectual disabilities.

Introduction: In the scientific community, there is growing interest in citizen science as an approach to involving non-experts in scientific research. However, currently there are very few examples of citizen science projects that involve people with disabilities, particularly those with intellectual disabilities. There is a need therefore to explore whether and how citizen science projects can become more inclusive. Research Aim: This commentary paper draws on literature and research examples to explore whether inclusive research methods and processes have a role to play in increasing the participation of people with intellectual disabilities in citizen science projects. Evidence-based Facts: In order to develop a case for the potential role that inclusive research methods and processes might play in enhancing the inclusivity of citizen science, this paper: 1) provides an overview of the characteristics, methods and principles of citizen science; 2) compares citizen science to inclusive research and 3) provides an example drawn from a small pilot study of how inclusive research methods and approaches were employed to support people with intellectual disabilities to engage in a citizen science project. Summary: The authors conclude that it is possible to use inclusive methods and processes to engage people with intellectual disabilities in citizen science projects, but that professional scientists will need to be willing to be more flexible in their understanding of what citizen science is. The adoption or adaptation of inclusive research methods and processes offers citizen science an opportunity to expand engagement and create more inclusive research environments for people with intellectual disabilities.

Background People with disabilities do not always successfully transition to and from postsecondary education. Although technology has the potential to play a role in supporting these transitions, there has been very little in-depth exploration of how exactly technologies can be incorporated into transition-support programs and the impact this has on transition outcomes.Objective This paper aims to provide an in-depth analysis regarding how transition support programs for students with disabilities might effectively incorporate technology.Methods A comprehensive and critical review of research was conducted.Results Just six technology-enriched transition programs have been developed and evaluated between 2000 and 2023. Within these programs technology has been employed or integrated in four main ways. All the transition programs were able to report a positive influence on at least one of their chosen primary outcomes, although these were not always statistically significant. The outcomes of these 'proof of concept' technology-enriched transition support programs have had a limited impact on the postsecondary education community.Conclusions In order to overcome concerns regarding unequivocal results, cost, feasibility and relevance further debate and research is required involving all relevant stakeholders including those responsible for resourcing and delivering student support systems within postsecondary education.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overarching review of the issues that needs to be considered in the scoping of a future research agenda for disability and technology. It begins by considering two key global drivers for disability and technology research: digital exclusion and digital inequalities and capturing and understanding the outcomes of technology use. In considering what should be researched in the future, two key areas are identified: the design, provision and impact of new technology, and the history of technology design provision and use. With regards to how we need to research in the future, the need for more involvement of people with disabilities is highlighted. The chapter will conclude by highlighting how the rest of the contributing chapters will relate or expand on the issues that have been identified through the review.

This chapter considers the extent to which multistakeholder collaborations can address the main challenges that future research in the field of disability and technology needs to address. It examines how the field defines multistakeholder collaborations as either interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary research and what the barriers to successful multistakeholder collaborations are. The chapter concludes by discussing whether implementing the principles of Wenger's (1998) Communities of Practice will enable the field to build capacity for more effective interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research that is capable of addressing the challenges of the future.

This innovative Research Agenda offers a comprehensive analysis of the role of assistive technology (AT) in the lives of people with disabilities. Contributors representing a diverse range of stakeholders including researchers, practitioners and people with disabilities suggest avenues for research over the next 10 years.

Policy actors and researchers have called for more user involvement in the design of assistive technologies. This chapter will examine the extent to which a shared understanding exists in the disability and technology community regarding what greater 'user involvement' means and how to achieve it. In particular, the chapter will report on the results of a critical review of studies that have involved people with disabilities in the design of new technologies. This review seeks to identify what approaches are commonly used to involve people with disabilities in the design of new technologies; the factors that influence the decisions regarding which design approach to adopt; whether evidence exists to suggest that one particular approach to involving users in design is more effective than another and how AT developers can be supported to enhance the involvement of users with disabilities. The chapter concludes by considering implications for a future research agenda.

Disability and technology are not neutral concepts. In the disability and technology community they provoke a range of responses. Therefore, in order for us to produce an agenda for future research that is going to be meaningful, relevant and accepted by this community it is important to demonstrate an awareness of the tensions and sensitivities around how disability and technology are defined and constructed. This chapter will provide an overview of the main tensions and sensitivities in the field including paradigm shifts in models of disability; contested disability assumptions and language; shifts between specialist and mainstream technologies; tensions between techno-centric and techno-sceptic constructions of technology; and variations in technology terms and labels. The chapter will conclude by considering the implications for scoping a future research agenda and how the rest of the contributing chapters will relate to or illuminate the tensions and sensitivities in the field.

Spanish face-to-face universities experience constant challenges that threaten the inclusion of students with disabilities. Adopting inclusive pedagogies can support universities to develop a more inclusive approach. This paper explores the extent to which the use of technology influences the inclusive pedagogies of Spanish university lecturers. In particular, we focus on how lecturers use technologies to promote student participation and accessibility in Spanish institution. A qualitative methodology involving semi-structured in-depth interviews with 42 Spanish face-to-face universities experience constant challenges that threaten the inclusion of students with disabilities. Adopting inclusive pedagogies can support universities to develop a more inclusive approach. This paper explores the extent to which the use of technology influences the inclusive pedagogies of Spanish university lecturers. In particular, we focus on how lecturers use technologies to promote student participation and accessibility in Spanish institution. A qualitative methodology involving semi-structured in-depth interviews with 42 Spanish university lecturers regarding their inclusive practices and use of technology was employed. The results contribute four fundamental findings: (a) Lecturers who practise inclusive pedagogy can be differentiated as proactive or reactive; (b) University lecturers place greater emphasis on the use of technology as a promoter of accessibility rather than as a tool to promote participation; (c) There is a disconnect between knowledge of universal design for learning and the use of the technologies; and (d) The full transformative potential of technologies to facilitate the inclusion of learners with disabilities is not being harnessed. All these results allow us to highlight some key points about the use of technological tools in the application of inclusive pedagogy in university classrooms. Implications for practice or policy: • Spanish face-to-face universities still need to harness the full transformative potential of technologies to facilitate student inclusion. • There is a need for more professional development programmes within higher education institutions that focus on the potential of technologies to promote inclusion. • Universities have an important role to play in promoting the use of technological tools to ensure accessibility and participation of all students, especially students with disabilities.

Student mental wellbeing is increasingly a priority for universities, and this is particularly critical in a distance learning context. Studies have found that studying, academic pressure, university culture and systems can affect students' mental health. There are increasing calls for universities to take a compassionate, holistic approach to supporting student wellbeing, and identify the barriers that are created by university cultures, systems, pedagogies, curricula, tuition and assessment practices. This study aimed to identify barriers and enablers to student mental wellbeing in distance learning, and students' recommendations for changes to be made. Using a student survey (N = 584), we identified that assessment and life circumstances were the most significant barriers, while the greatest enablers were building study skills, the people in students' lives, and curriculum and module content. The study revealed significant demographic differences in how students experience barriers and enablers, and how likely they feel they are to benefit from solutions. Students with disclosed mental health difficulties were consistently more likely to experience barriers than students without a disclosure, while enablers were experienced by all demographic groups. The study concludes that assessment should be prioritised as an area for action.

Background The aim of this study was to examine whether and how people with learning disabilities were being supported to use technologies to keep connected and stay well during the pandemic. Methods Thirty-eight people in a range of support roles were interviewed about their experiences of trying to support people with learning disabilities to use technologies during the pandemic with a particular focus on the difficulties experienced by learning disabilities and the practices that supporters developed to try to overcome these difficulties. Findings Findings revealed examples of digital exclusion, where people with learning disabilities were not able to use technology. The three main barriers to digital inclusion were cost, access and environment. The findings also revealed examples of digital inclusion, where those in support roles worked to overcome these barriers. These digitally inclusive support practices can be characterised as 'possibility focused'. Possibility focused support has four key components: creativity, resilience, risk-management and shared decision-making. Conclusion The pandemic has shown us that it is important to support people with learning disabilities to use technologies. It is important that we learn from the experiences of those supporters who helped people with learning disabilities access and use technologies during the pandemic, so that digitally inclusive support practice is shared more widely and more people with learning disabilities are supported to be digitally included beyond the pandemic.

British Journal of Learning DisabilitiesVolume 51, Issue 2 p. 279-282 BOOK REVIEW Supporting people with learning disabilities to use technology, frameworks and toolkits, By Jane Seale Julie Eshleman, Corresponding Author Julie Eshleman [email protected] University of Stirling, Stirling, UK Correspondence Julie Eshleman, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorJane Seale, Jane Seale orcid.org/0000-0002-4279-7463 The Open University, Milton Keynes, UKSearch for more papers by this authorKate Lunness, Kate Lunness Mencap, Chelmsford, UKSearch for more papers by this authorEllie Blackburn, Ellie Blackburn Mencap, Chelmsford, UKSearch for more papers by this authorJane Gaunt, Jane Gaunt Mencap, Chelmsford, UKSearch for more papers by this authorAlistair Hammond, Alistair Hammond Mencap, Chelmsford, UKSearch for more papers by this authorSean Waldron, Sean Waldron Mencap, Chelmsford, UKSearch for more papers by this author Julie Eshleman, Corresponding Author Julie Eshleman [email protected] University of Stirling, Stirling, UK Correspondence Julie Eshleman, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorJane Seale, Jane Seale orcid.org/0000-0002-4279-7463 The Open University, Milton Keynes, UKSearch for more papers by this authorKate Lunness, Kate Lunness Mencap, Chelmsford, UKSearch for more papers by this authorEllie Blackburn, Ellie Blackburn Mencap, Chelmsford, UKSearch for more papers by this authorJane Gaunt, Jane Gaunt Mencap, Chelmsford, UKSearch for more papers by this authorAlistair Hammond, Alistair Hammond Mencap, Chelmsford, UKSearch for more papers by this authorSean Waldron, Sean Waldron Mencap, Chelmsford, UKSearch for more papers by this author First published: 04 May 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/bld.12533 https://www.seeability.org/resources/supporting-people-learning-disabilities-use-technology Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Volume51, Issue2Special Issue: Digital Inclusion and People with Learning DisabilitiesJune 2023Pages 279-282 RelatedInformation

This chapter examines a museum access project called Accessible Resources for Cultural Heritage EcoSystems (ARCHES), which used an emancipatory paradigm and participatory methodology to inform arts technologies and information in an effort to make cultural heritage in Europe more accessible, this will be referred to as emancipatory participatory methodology for convenience. The first era, from the end of the eighteenth century until the middle of the twentieth century, was that of teachers breaking with tradition and accepting the abilities of their students. The second era of this access and inclusion was that of scientists starting to challenge the accessible practices of art institutions, schools, colleges, and museums. The ARCHES sessions looked at the feasibility of creating a web platform, interactive and multi-media touch technologies, a sign language avatar and an app for smartphones and tablets, and several on-site activities with the final purpose of making museums more accessible for people with sensory and learning disabilities.

The involvement of all participants within all aspects of the research process is a well-established challenge for participatory research. This is particularly evident in relation to data analysis and dissemination. A novel way of understanding and approaching this challenge emerged through a large-scale international, 3-year participatory research project involving over 200 disabled people. This approach enabled people to be involved at all stages of the research in a manner that was collectively recognised to be participatory and also delivered high-quality findings. At the heart of this emergent approach to participatory research is an engagement with risk. This research note explores the types of risks involved in delivering research that seeks to be authentically participatory.