Funding is a huge issue in school districts today. Districts must budget there state and government money carefully. Assistive technology (AT) funding can come from two major places: Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or Medicaid. Both have guidelines that must be met and considered before trying to get funding from them. One guideline medicaid has is that the AT device must be medically necessary for the child. Other funding options can come from The Developmental Disabilities assistance and Bill of Rights Act Amendment of 1987 (Kemp, Hourcade, Parette, 2000). Each state has its own plan for this. Of course they all have certain requirements such as "the developmental disabilities must have arose prior to age 22 (18 in some states)" (Kemp, Hourcade, Parette, 2000, 20). Lastly, AT devices could be funded by private insurance companies. When this occurs the device then belongs to the family instead of the district.
AT can be very expensive. IEP teams must evaluate whether or not a student needs AT. This came about from the IDEA Amendment of 1997. If a student should need an AT, most funding for this should come from IDEA. This funding does not always cover the cost though. Lack of funding can not be a reason for not purchasing AT that a student needs if it is written on there IEP (Kemp, Hourcade, Parette, 2000). I believe this would force districts to be careful of what AT they do put on the IEP because whatever is on there must be done by the district.
Resources:
Kemp, C., Hourcade, J., & Parette, H. (2000). Building an initial information base: Assistive technology funding resources for school-aged students with disabilities. Journal of Special Education Technology, 15(4), 15- 24.
