California Health Professional Student Alliance (CaHPSA)

This review explores the role of emerging technologies in advancing disability inclusion across education, healthcare, and daily life. Assistive technologies (AT) can provide greater independence and customized forms of support, yet their availability does not necessarily ensure meaningful access or inclusion. Relevant research on artificial intelligence (AI) and brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) demonstrates the potential of technological systems to expand communication and improve rehabilitation for individuals with severe neurological disabilities. However, access to these innovations is constrained by high costs, limited institutional support, and ethical challenges, including the risks of relying on systems that clinicians and users may not fully understand. Beyond these practical barriers, disability technologies may overlook individual needs or reinforce existing assumptions about disabled populations, potentially limiting their effectiveness in meeting users’ needs. Taken together, this paper emphasizes that the value of disability technology cannot be measured solely by advances in development, but also by how it is implemented and whether the technology meaningfully responds to the needs of disabled individuals.