# Amid School Techlash, Accessibility Advocates Worry About Exclusion
Keri Rodrigues, a mother of five boys, relies on school technology that others increasingly question. Four of her sons receive formal school accommodations, and for them, digital tools are not luxuries but necessities that level the playing field.
The tension is sharp. While parents and educators push back against classroom screen time, citing concerns about attention spans, mental health, and device overuse, accessibility advocates warn that removing technology risks leaving students with disabilities behind. For students with dyslexia, ADHD, autism, mobility limitations, and other disabilities, assistive technology and digital learning tools provide critical support that paper-based alternatives cannot replicate.
Text-to-speech software converts written material into audio, benefiting students who struggle with reading. Customizable fonts, colors, and spacing help others process information. Voice-to-text tools remove barriers for students with fine motor challenges. These features live in devices and platforms increasingly seen as problems.
The "techlash" reflects real concerns. Excessive screen time correlates with sleep disruption and anxiety in some students. Schools across the country have limited phones, removed smartboards, and adopted digital minimalism policies. Some districts explicitly market themselves as "low-tech" environments.
But blanket restrictions threaten students for whom technology is accessibility equipment, not distraction. A student using a speech-generating device or an iPad running specialized reading software depends on what the school techlash targets for removal.
Rodrigues and other parents of disabled students argue the conversation misses a fundamental distinction: not all tech use is the same. Entertainment scrolling differs from adaptive learning software. The challenge now centers on whether schools can thoughtfully distinguish between tools that distract and tools that enable.
Educators and administrators face pressure from multiple directions. Parents demand reduced screen time. Advocacy groups demand