This book provides an extremely comprehensive review of recent applications in the field of technology and education of the disabled, and it will be of general interest to all those working in the field. Between them, the authors, with help from the Open University and the Nuffield Foundation, have surveyed an impressively wide range of research and "everyday" applications both here and in the USA. There are references to both simple and highly sophisticated technology. The tightly-packed 13-page reference section at the back of the book must be one of the most full and valuable available. Although the subject matter is such a rapidly expanding field, this book provides information and insights which are very up-to-date and relevant.The book is divided into five sections. The first part is concerned with the communication and learning problems of disabled people, with separate chapters on the physically disabled, blind and partially sighted, deaf and speech-impaired. Part Two covers the basic principles of Information Technology itself and this is a useful introduction for the relatively non-technical to what new Information Technology systems consist of and what functions they can serve.The third section of the book describes a variety of ways in which computer technology is actually being used with disabled people. The section draws from experience, from published and unpublished sources, technical details from researchers, and from advice and opinions from workers in the field. A number of interesting case studies are introduced to indicate how some disabilities of communication and learning may be overcome by the use of technology. This section contains an enormous amount of descriptive information, but seems less analytical than the first section of the book and not closely connected to it. It would have been welcome if the authors had been more critically evaluative of the technology they describe, in the light of their own insights on learning problems. Some readers will be disappointed that the full range of special needs is not addressed: there is no reference to mentally handicapped or emotionally disturbed learners. Furthermore, the distinction between "physically disabled" and the "speech-impaired" as made here seems a rather artificial one, hingeing mainly on issues of text output or voice output. But no reference is made to language disordered learners as such and this may disappoint speech therapist readers.I found the fourth section fascinating food for thought. It discusses educational, social, political, economic and technical issues surrounding new Information Technology for disabled learners, and, taken together with the insights of Part One of the book, offers a wealth of interesting ideas for therapists and teachers. This is not 258 a book offering glorious, or miraculous "technical fixes": the authors, though cautiously optimistic, stress that new Information Technology brings with it questions and problems as well as opportunities.The fifth part of the book looks to the immediate and to th...

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