Disability, or handicap, is usually associated with conditions such as blindness, Spina-Bifida and Cerebral Palsy. Individuals with such conditions were considered to be 'dis-abled'. Within what has become known as the 'medical mode' of disability, such people were considered to be outside of the norm, with an emphasis on 'treating', 'curing' or 'rehabilitating' them. Barriers to normal functioning were viewed as deficiencies within the person concerned. The label 'handicapped' tended to define the person as a whole and such people were viewed as a different element of society, often being socially excluded and separately educated.

The emerging 'social model' of disability has a different perspective. Within this concept, disability is seen as a specific attribute and not defining the person as a whole. The loss of function resulting from this is often caused, or at least compounded by, the constructed environment and attitudinal barriers. Thus, the term 'impairment' is often preferred, as it suggests the individual being impaired from normal functioning because of factors outside of the person, rather than within.

A simple example may serve to illustrate. Supposing that a pupil who uses a wheelchair - a pupil with a disability, cannot participate normally in a Home-Economics class, because the wheelchair cannot move under a worktop. Thus, it might be viewed that the pupil cannot take part in the activity because he or she is disabled. This loss of function is therefore ascribed to the individual. However, if the worktop is modified so that the pupil can use it, that particular handicapping situation no longer exists. It can be viewed that the individual was impaired, not by his or her particular trait, but because her or she had been impaired from normal functioning by the constructed environment.

Access to buildings, transport and services raises similar issues and the concept of 'Universal Design' suggests that new developments should be accessible to all from the beginning. Because of a lack of universal design, the development of technology, in a perverse way, can increase the handicapping condition, as many of the technical advances that are normally taken for granted are not accessible to people with disabilities.

Within the educational setting, therefore, assistive technology must not be viewed as a 'fix' for the 'problem'. The pupil's impairment should be accepted as normal to that person and the technology as an attempt to provide an alternative or compensatory approach that works around the impairment. In this regard, assistive technology is sometimes referred to as 'work-around' technology. An integral part of this process must be an acceptance that traditional ways of doing things may be creating unnecessary barriers for the pupil and assistive technology will be just one element in making schooling a more inclusive experience.

The "Universal Design" concept means that the design of products and environments should be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation.

Technological developments however can often increase the handicapping condition because many technical advances are not easily accessible to people with disabilities.