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What does an assistive technology specialist do?

Updated January 8, 2025
9 min read
Quoted expert
Babak Beheshti Ph.D.

An Assistive Technology Specialist helps clients to obtain assistive devices that fit their needs. They facilitate access to these devices by maintaining an open communication line with clients and staff, handling calls and correspondence, arranging appointments, answering inquiries, and explaining services to potential clients. Besides helping clients obtain equipment and services, they also provide technical support and assistance to meet their needs, making them feel at ease every step of the way. Moreover, an Assistive Technology Specialist must keep extensive records and implement standards and policies.

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Assistive technology specialist responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real assistive technology specialist resumes:

  • Design and deliver safety training to achieve desire business safety outcomes; create PowerPoint presentations for individual electronic delivery of content.
  • Attend and report at IEP and progress meetings.
  • Standardize monitoring agent deployment procedure and software distribution bundles for Unix / Linux servers, improving installation consistency and product support.
  • Resolve technical problems with and involving Citrix and clinical applications.

Assistive technology specialist skills and personality traits

We calculated that 21% of Assistive Technology Specialists are proficient in Rehabilitation, Adaptive, and Technical Support. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Listening skills, and Problem-solving skills.

We break down the percentage of Assistive Technology Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Rehabilitation, 21%

    Remained current with changing IT technologies via sponsored Army, Vocational Rehabilitation training and through personal education.

  • Adaptive, 12%

    Designed adaptive technology programs to enable student access to curriculum goals.

  • Technical Support, 6%

    Acted as job coach for client, and provided technical support for client equipment.

  • Autism, 5%

    Aided in daily operations in a STARS Autism Classroom.

  • IEP, 4%

    Complete related areas of the IEP and responsible for progress reports.

  • Technology Devices, 4%

    Teach students how to use braille and other technology devices so that they can advance in their careers.

"rehabilitation," "adaptive," and "technical support" are among the most common skills that assistive technology specialists use at work. You can find even more assistive technology specialist responsibilities below, including:

Customer-service skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an assistive technology specialist to have is customer-service skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "computer support specialists must be patient and sympathetic." Assistive technology specialists often use customer-service skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "experience with customer support, data entry and able to learn new computer database software quickly. "

Listening skills. Many assistive technology specialist duties rely on listening skills. "support workers must be able to understand the problems that their customers are describing and know when to ask questions to clarify the situation.," so an assistive technology specialist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways assistive technology specialist responsibilities rely on listening skills: "acted as technical liaison between directv and new to ensure all technical issues were expediently and effectively communicated and resolved. "

Problem-solving skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of assistive technology specialists is problem-solving skills. This skill is critical to many everyday assistive technology specialist duties, as "support workers must identify both simple and complex computer problems, analyze them, and solve them." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "design, install, and repair custom tailored technology solutions to help individuals with disabilities. "

Speaking skills. A big part of what assistive technology specialists do relies on "speaking skills." You can see how essential it is to assistive technology specialist responsibilities because "support workers must describe the solutions to computer problems in a way that a nontechnical person can understand." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical assistive technology specialist tasks: "assess, install programs, train individuals on zoomtext/dragon naturallyspeaking, adaptive input/outputs. "

Writing skills. A commonly-found skill in assistive technology specialist job descriptions, "writing skills" is essential to what assistive technology specialists do. Assistive technology specialist responsibilities rely on this skill because "strong writing skills are useful for preparing instructions and email responses for employees and customers, as well as for real-time web chat interactions." You can also see how assistive technology specialist duties rely on writing skills in this resume example: "authored procedure and guideline handbook for quality writing iep's for the special education department. "

Most common assistive technology specialist skills

Compare different assistive technology specialists

Assistive technology specialist vs. Technical support technician

Technical support technicians are skilled professionals who resolve computer or information technology-related concerns. They may do installations, repairs, or maintenance activities of various applications or computer hardware. They are sometimes assigned specific issues or concerns to resolve so that they will not be bombarded with various issues. This means that they can now specialize in a specific family of concerns. Technical support technicians may provide on-site support, going directly to the person who needs help and doing what needs to be done or troubleshoot the problem in person. They may also be offsite and would usually be manning helpdesk hotlines. Offsite technical support technicians walk the caller through the steps they should do to fix the issues. As such, when a technical support technician is offsite, they are expected to be good communicators and will be able to provide clear instructions.

If we compare the average assistive technology specialist annual salary with that of a technical support technician, we find that technical support technicians typically earn a $12,401 lower salary than assistive technology specialists make annually.Even though assistive technology specialists and technical support technicians are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require technical support, technical assistance, and mac in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between assistive technology specialists and technical support technician. For instance, assistive technology specialist responsibilities require skills such as "rehabilitation," "adaptive," "zoom," and "autism." Whereas a technical support technician is skilled in "customer service," "patients," "customer support," and "os." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Technical support technicians earn the highest salaries when working in the finance industry, with an average yearly salary of $52,365. On the other hand, assistive technology specialists are paid more in the internet industry with an average salary of $52,645.On average, technical support technicians reach lower levels of education than assistive technology specialists. Technical support technicians are 26.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Assistive technology specialist vs. Lead technician

Lead technicians are technicians who oversee the technical needs of a specific project or department. They are usually tenured employees, and their familiarity with the company's technical and technological processes, software, and hardware would be a great advantage in succeeding in their role. Lead technicians are responsible for installing, updating, and maintaining various software and hardware components in the office. They often manage a group of technicians, and they ensure that the group they manage is properly trained and well-versed on the processes of the company. Lead technicians are expected to have strong analytical skills and decision-making skills.

Lead technician positions earn higher pay than assistive technology specialist roles. They earn a $38,004 higher salary than assistive technology specialists per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both assistive technology specialists and lead technicians have skills such as "technical support," "troubleshoot," and "pc. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, assistive technology specialist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "rehabilitation," "adaptive," "zoom," and "autism." Meanwhile, a lead technician has duties that require skills in areas such as "java," "architecture," "digital transformation," and "customer service." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

On average, lead technicians earn a higher salary than assistive technology specialists. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, lead technicians earn the most pay in the retail industry with an average salary of $109,487. Whereas assistive technology specialists have higher pay in the internet industry, with an average salary of $52,645.lead technicians earn lower levels of education than assistive technology specialists in general. They're 16.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for assistive technology specialists in the next 3-5 years?

Babak Beheshti Ph.D.Babak Beheshti Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Dean, Professor, New York Institute of Technology

-The enormous growth of IoT and wearables. The number of connected devices is expected to be more than 26 billion in 2020. That includes things like household appliances, controllable lighting, and much more. This trend is likely to continue as it is expected to see the industry grow to 661 billion dollars by 2021.

-We will be witnessing a more widespread commercial deployment of 5G in 2020. With the implementation of the Standalone 5G devices based on the 3gpp release 16, we should be seeing the more robust mobile broadband deployment of 5G, wider availability of 5G smartphones, and a push towards an all 5G Network in select urban areas around the world.

-Significant growth in AI-based technologies, from face recognition and voice recognition to business intelligence and market predictions. As machines and deep learning algorithms get integrated into many applications, many industries will undergo substantial changes. AI systems will continue to interact with our phones; cars will interpret and analyze their surroundings and intelligently drive themselves. Online vendors will monitor our browsing habits, and Google decides what kind of search results to give us, based on who it thinks we are.

Assistive technology specialist vs. Computer technician

Computer technicians are skilled information technology professionals who handle concerns related to computers. They are responsible for assisting clients in software installations, troubleshooting needs, and repair needs. Computer technicians handle the maintenance and repair of both software and hardware of computers. They should be able to quickly pinpoint the causes of computer problems that the client encounters. They should also be able to answer the clients' computer-related inquiries and provide advice on proper computer handling. Computer technicians should have good analytical skills and decision-making skills.

On average, computer technicians earn lower salaries than assistive technology specialists, with a $12,844 difference per year.By looking over several assistive technology specialists and computer technicians resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "technical support," "technical assistance," and "mac." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, assistive technology specialists are more likely to have skills like "rehabilitation," "adaptive," "zoom," and "autism." But a computer technician is more likely to have skills like "customer service," "desk support," "network printers," and "laptop computers."

Computer technicians earn the best pay in the government industry, where they command an average salary of $48,277. Assistive technology specialists earn the highest pay from the internet industry, with an average salary of $52,645.When it comes to education, computer technicians tend to earn lower degree levels compared to assistive technology specialists. In fact, they're 27.0% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Assistive technology specialist vs. Help desk specialist

The primary role of help desk specialists is to maintain relationships between the company and its customers. Their duties and responsibilities include responding to guests' queries, providing technical computer support, and maintaining computer systems' performance. Help desk specialists are also responsible for following up with customers to resolve issues and train computer users. There are several requirements to be qualified for this position, which include having relevant customer service experience, problem-solving and analytical skills, and the ability to prioritize vital tasks.

Help desk specialists average a lower salary than the annual salary of assistive technology specialists. The difference is about $1,546 per year.While both assistive technology specialists and help desk specialists complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like technical support, technical assistance, and mac, the two careers vary in some skills.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between assistive technology specialists and help desk specialists, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an assistive technology specialist might have more use for skills like "rehabilitation," "adaptive," "zoom," and "autism." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of help desk specialists require skills like "customer service," "desk support," "phone calls," and "client facing. "

In general, help desk specialists earn the most working in the technology industry, with an average salary of $60,916. The highest-paying industry for an assistive technology specialist is the internet industry.help desk specialists reach lower levels of education compared to assistive technology specialists, in general. The difference is that they're 25.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of assistive technology specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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