Assistive technology and adaptive equipment basics for OT, PT, and SLP
Assistive technology ranges from a built-up spoon handle to an eye-gaze computer. OTs, PTs, and SLPs evaluate for it, recommend it, fit it, and train people to use it. This page covers the federal definitions and where to borrow or try devices.
Quoted from official pages checked November 12, 2026. Confirm current requirements and dates on those sites. This page is not legal, tax, or compliance advice.
What counts as assistive technology
The Administration for Community Living’s assistive technology page states: “Assistive Technology (AT) is any item, device, or piece of equipment used to maintain or improve the independence and function of people with disabilities and seniors, in education, employment, recreation, and daily living activities.” It adds that AT devices can be “low tech,” like a built-up handle on a spoon to improve the ability to grasp, to “high tech” computers controlled with eye movement.
In schools: the IDEA definitions
Under IDEA regulation 34 CFR 300.5: “Assistive technology device means any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability.” It excludes surgically implanted medical devices and their replacement (paraphrased).
Under 34 CFR 300.6: “Assistive technology service means any service that directly assists a child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology device.” Listed services include “The evaluation of the needs of a child with a disability, including a functional evaluation of the child in the child’s customary environment” and “Selecting, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting, applying, maintaining, repairing, or replacing assistive technology devices”. See IEPs and IFSPs.
Try before you buy: state AT programs
ACL says the State Grant for Assistive Technology Program “provides one grant to each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the outlying areas”. It describes four state-level activities (paraphrased):
- Device demonstration: comparing devices hands-on with a knowledgeable professional.
- Device loan: “AT Device Loan activities allow individuals to borrow AT for a limited time period to try out and determine if a device will meet their needs before a purchase is made.”
- Reuse: passing on AT no longer needed by its original owner.
- State financing: including alternative financing loan programs.
Contact information for each state program is listed on the AT3 Center site, which ACL funds.
By discipline on this site
- Communication: AAC and speech-generating devices.
- Mobility and seating: Medicare wheelchair and power mobility coverage.
- Credential: the RESNA ATP credential; driving: driver rehabilitation.
What this page does not do
It does not recommend devices or vendors and does not cover payer rules beyond the linked pages.