Lauren Lee | January 2, 2025 - Atlanta, GA

Transitioning from high school to college is a challenge for every student. The structure of living at home, with a set schedule and expectations, to living in a dorm with vague academic requirements, can be a difficult transition for everyone. For students with disabilities, whose education is legally required to be guided by an Individualized Education Program (IEP) up through high school, going to a university, where no such guidance is provided, is a much more ambiguous educational plan.  

That’s what Ben Satterfield noticed when he first started at CIDI. 

“Ever since CIDI was AMAC, we have provided qualifying students in the University System of Georgia with accessible educational materials. After about a year of following trends in student success, we noticed that some students who hadn’t had a chance to 'master' their AT in high school and had to address everything else a typical university student must manage, were faltering academically. We found that other students with disabilities excelled when they had mastered their assistive technology (AT) before they came to university.”

Like any good researcher, Satterfield turned to the literature to see what could be done. But there was very little research about AT in high school and its impact on post-secondary education to be found at that point.  

Satterfield, ever the pioneer, set to work creating some of the first research on this topic. 

“To start, we looked at three years of student data in our system,” says Satterfield. “We asked students with high incidence disabilities to tell us about their background and what AT they used. Did they master their AT in high school? Do they feel comfortable using their AT?” Satterfield then compared their high school GPA to the GPA of their first year of college. 

The evidence was straightforward. Students who mastered their AT before they got to college had much better academic outcomes than those who had not (Assistive Technology Outcomes and Benefits, PDF). 80% of those students noted that their AT made a difference in their success.

The next step was to study what AT mastery is. Satterfield assembled “power users” of AT, practitioners, and researchers to conduct a Delphi study to better understand the stages of mastery and what factors into mastery. 

“Another piece of the puzzle came from talking with two administrators with learning disabilities about their experiences with AT,” says Satterfield. “They were both using the same software but had used the features differently – adapting it precisely to their preferences. That’s a huge piece—when the individual customizes the technology to work for them.” Satterfield and the experts found twenty predictors of mastery, sorted into four constructs: experience, proficiency, knowledge, personal connection.

“When you take the locus of control from external forces to internal forces—when the kid is driving the bus, so to say, instead of a teacher or a parent —that’s when we truly see people start to excel.”

From this research came an important measurement tool: the Continuum of AT Mastery—a tool that you, too, can help test. 

“The important thing to realize, is that [the tool shows you where] you’re strong and where you have room to grow. You can then derive a goal for low score areas, and now you have individual learning goals that can include learning assistive tech. It’s universal design!”

When asked why this work is important, Satterfield pauses to reflect. “The research base for the field of AT has been slow to emerge. There are several reasons for this. One is that many AT companies are small and don’t have budget space for research. Another reason is that larger companies have remained private and hold their innovations and the data they have gathered close to the vest. But now schools are being forced to justify purchases of things like AT. If we can show people data that AT makes a difference, that it helps people, we’re in a much better position to influence things like purchasing decisions. And we want people to make evidence-based decisions!”

He pauses again and continues. “AT outcomes research has focused primarily on performance measures. Performance is important, but our research suggests that there is more to it. The individual's connection to their AT...it’s about increasing their self-advocacy skills. Helping them have more control, more self-determination, more confidence, and being more involved in the decisions being made around them. Because being human involves being engaged and connecting with the world around you.” 

To help with this research, please feel free to take the CATM for a test-drive. You can report any feedback on this survey here. You can also email Ben Satterfield.