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CHAPTER 1 What Is Assistive Technology? According to the Assistive Technology Act of 1998, „assistive technol- ogy‰ (AT) is any „product, device, or equipment, whether acquired com- mercially, modified or customized, that is used to maintain, increase, or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.‰ Cut- ting through the legal language, this means that an assistive technology is any device that allows a person with a disability to perform the tasks that nondisabled people are able to do without it. What is interesting about this definition is that it does not specify that a device be intended to improve the function of a person with a disability, only that it have that function. Many of the most effective assistive tech- nologies, in fact, did not start as devices to serve the needs of those who depend on them. They began as tools for „lazy able-bodied‰ users. In the chapter on control of the environment (Chapter 2), we will see that remote controls were designed for people who didnÊt want to get out of a chair to change television channels or turn on a light, and they became power- ful tools for those who could neither reach nor manipulate a light switch. Today, there are many hundreds of products that are manufactured, marketed, and sold as assistive technologies to people with disabilities. Some of these products are created specifically for this market. Others are modifications of mainstream products, which are then sold to people with disabilities. And, sometimes, the modification is that someone figured out that an obscure product has assistive technology applications, purchased it in bulk, relabeled it, and sells it as AT at a substantial increase in price. One example of this are the supports used to hold assistive technology devices or switches in place on a wheelchair. Many of these are actually