| Abstrakt: |
Assistive technology (AT), an essential accommodation for postsecondary students with disabilities (SWD), is intended to increase equitable access to physical and virtual educational environments. Limited evidence exists to demonstrate who is using AT or its impact on objective measures of academic performance, such as GPA. The purposes of this study were to (1) identify predictors of AT service utilization amongst postsecondary SWD, and (2) determine the extent to which AT service utilization or personal/contextual factors (e.g., first-generation status, disability category, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, academic major) predict GPA. Results of this study indicate first-generation students were 52% more likely to seek AT services, while students with cognitive and psychological disabilities were 35% and 51% less likely, respectively. SWD who utilized AT services earned a 0.14 higher GPA than their peers who did not use AT. These findings have implications for institutions and disability service providers to strategically and proactively promote their services to students who need and benefit from using AT services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
