Resumo A Tecnologia Assistiva é pouco disseminada no Brasil. Avanços têm ocorrido gradativamente por meio de conquistas na área jurídica e do fomento à pesquisa e desenvolvimento. A proposição de políticas nessa área pode contribuir para superar as desigualdades sociais de um significativo segmento da população que representa um mercado real e em expansão. No entanto, a baixa otimização desses recursos por seus usuários e a dificuldade em buscá-los no mercado e nos órgãos públicos são fatores preocupantes. Este estudo vem, portanto, abordar a repercussão da demanda por Tecnologia Assistiva nas políticas públicas brasileiras com o objetivo identificar a relação existente entre a otimização desses recursos e serviços e a formulação de políticas direcionadas no país. Por meio de pesquisa bibliográfica, com característica exploratória e abordagem qualitativa, foi realizado um levantamento da legislação brasileira e ações existentes na área da Tecnologia Assistiva, bem como a análise de políticas públicas brasileiras com base nos critérios da avaliação normativa, aplicando-se o método dedutivo e a técnica de análise de conteúdo de Bardin. Verificou-se na literatura científica que, apesar do avanço gradativo da legislação e das iniciativas de fomento a projetos nessa área, fatores de entrave ao acesso, utilização e aproveitamento dos produtos assistivos, como a escassez na oferta de tecnologias inovadoras, acarretam dificuldades para a formatação de políticas eficazes e a configuração adequada às ações de fomento na área de Tecnologia Assistiva – essenciais ao processo de inclusão social.

Assistive Technology is not widespread in Brazil. Advances have occurred gradually through achievements in the legal area and the promotion of research and development. The proposition of policies in this area can contribute to overcoming the social inequalities of a significant segment of the population that represents a real and expanding market. However, the low optimization of these resources by their users and the difficulty in finding them in the market and public agencies are worrying factors. This study addresses the impact of the demand for Assistive Technology on Brazilian public policies aiming to identify the relationship between the optimization of these resources and services and the formulation of targeted policies in the country. Through bibliographic, exploratory and qualitative research, a survey was conducted on the Brazilian legislation and the existing actions in the area of Assistive Technology, as well as an analysis of Brazilian public policies based on the normative evaluation criteria, applying the deductive method and the Bardin’s content analysis technique. The scientific literature shows that, despite the gradual advancement in legislation and initiatives to promote projects in this area, factors that hinder the access, use, and application of assistive products, such as the scarcity of innovative technologies, entail difficulties for the formatting of effective policies and the adequate configuration of fostering actions in the area of Assistive Technology, which is essential to the process of social inclusion.

The present study carried out a technological prospecting in order to present and discuss the main Assistive Technology patents focused on the mobility aid category. This is an exploratory research, with documental and applied research procedures, with a quali-quantitative approach, based on searches carried out in the international database Questel Orbit Intelligence for investigation in patent documents. The results found made it possible to map and analyze the evolution of technological production in the world market for assistive products. From this analysis, the growing interest in the development and protection of resources related to mobility was identified, as well as inventors with greater productivity; the main patent applicants, such as the prominent academic institutions; the leading countries in patent protection requests, such as China and the United States; the related and most cited terminologies in patent documents and the selection of technologies related to the scope of the research, in order to discuss the main technological trends in these products