From the first wheel chair in the 17th century to braille in the 19th century, hearing aids and the type writer in the 20th century to the invention of the Chromebook in the 21st century, assistive technology has adapted. The inventors and users of AT have done their best to grow, develop, and change with the resources, mindset and culture of an area to help the needs that the community has. We can see in this timeline that each invention serves a purpose and evolves (for example from functioning manually to automatically or electronically).
Let's have a walk down memory lane shall we...
1655- The first self-propelled wheel chair (three wheels that could move using a rotary handle on the front wheel)
1829- Creation of Braille
1876- The First Hearing Aid
1898- First Electronic Hearing Aid
1935- Talking Books
1936- First Electronic Speech Synthesizer
1948- First Transistor Hearing Aids
1951- First Braille Typewriter
1960's- Sip and Puff Wheelchair (this new technology controls the device through air pressure, such as puffing through a straw)
1976- Kurzweil Reading Machine (first computer that recognized and read printed letters)
1980- Sturdy wheel-chairs, also useful for athletes, now reached speeds up to 30 km/hr.
1992- Computer Operating Systems Include Speech Synthesizers (first computer text-to-speech programs)
1996- FM Amplification Hearing Aids (a microphone connected to a receiver, usually attached to a hearing aid, that picks up on the sound coming from a person, usually the teacher, wearing a wireless device)
2006- Original "Smart" products
2009- Original apple products and applications
2012- First 3D print of a prosthetic limb was successful
Do any of these years surprise you? When have you noticed AT starting to be implemented in your classrooms or schools?
Can you think of anymore influential or "game changing" inventions? What do you think will be invented next? Are the possibilities of AT endless? If not, what do you believe are its limitations or barriers?
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