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Purpose: The study aimed to determine the impact of communication disorders on discrimination against people who are deaf in the workplace, as well as to find the differences in study participants’ opinions.

Method: The study sample consisted of 171 respondents from different industries in Bosnia-Herzegovina- 57 workers who were deaf, 57 workers who could hear, and 57 managers. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used in the survey. The opinions of the respondents were elicited through a questionnaire which consisted of 15 statements. The interviews of workers and managers focussed on the presence of discrimination against deaf workers in the workplace. Responses of respondents were converted to quantified values using analysis of discrimination group. The significance of statistical differences among the samples tested is defined at 0.01 level of significance using F-Test.

Results: Discriminant analysis tested the null hypothesis that respondents’ answers do not differ regarding discrimination against deaf workers in the workplace. However differences were found between the groups that felt deaf workers did not have equal position at work in comparison to their hearing co-workers. Participants mentioned a number of barriers in workplaces. Workers were of the opinion that there was significant discrimination in the workplace (p>0.01) between groups of participants.

Conclusion: There are statistically significant differences in the opinions of respondents regarding statements that workers who are deaf cannot hold positions equal to their co-workers who have regular hearing.

Purpose: Reading and writing applications (with text-to-speech, TTS and speech-to-text, STT functions), used as assistive technology (AT) for students with reading difficulties are increasingly used in education, however, research has not sufficiently enough evaluated its potential. The purpose of this study was to explore how assistive reading and writing applications were perceived to function with regard to students’ possibilities to assimilate (i.e., “read”) and communicate (i.e., “write”) text.

Methods: Following a six-week app intervention, this follow-up survey contained 54 special education teachers’ perceptions of how the use of apps impacted student motivation, learning, and its usability in special education. A total of 59 students with reading difficulties from Grade 4, Grade 8 and from high school, were assessed. Analyses included quantitative and qualitative analyses of teachers’ responses and written material.

Results: The results showed individual differences in how teachers perceived app usage for text-interaction purposes, including how app usage affected student motivation and autonomy for text-based learning. Eighty-two per cent of the younger and forty-seven per cent of older students continued to use the technology after the intervention, but in various degrees.

Conclusions: Based on these findings, students with reading difficulties seem to be able to use AT in order to assimilate text (i.e., to read) and to communicate text (i.e., to write), and, thus, AT has the potential to promote participation in regular education. Future research should focus on how to customize assistive technology support in order to better utilize the potential.

Background: Advancements in wireless technology (e.g. cell phones and tablets) have opened new communication opportunities and environments for individuals with severe communication disabilities. The advancement of these technologies poses challenges to ensuring that these individuals enjoy equal access to this increasingly essential technology. However, a paucity of research exists.

Objectives: To describe the nature and frequency with which South African adults with severe communication disabilities have access to and use wireless devices, as well as the types of activities for which wireless devices are used.

Method: Survey research was conducted with 30 individuals who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technology using the Survey of User Needs Questionnaire developed in the United States, and localized to the South African context.

Results: All participants, despite their limited education, unemployment and low economic status, owned and/or used mainstream wireless devices. Slightly more than half of the participants (53.3%) needed adaptations to their wireless devices. Advantages of using wireless devices were highlighted, including connecting with others (through using text messaging, social networking, making plans with others, sharing photos and videos with friends), for leisure activities (e.g. listening to music, watching videos, playing games), and for safety purposes (e.g. to navigate when lost, using the device when in trouble and needing immediate assistance).

Conclusion: These wireless devices offer substantial benefits and opportunities to individuals with disabilities who rely on AAC in terms of independence, social participation, education and safety/security. However, they still do not enjoy equal opportunity to access and use wireless devices relative to the non-disabled population.