Description: What is IDEA? The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the federal law that provides services for children whose disability negatively affects their educational performance and/or ability to benefit from the general education. For school-aged children and youth (age 3 to 21), supplemental education and related services are provided through the public school system. A written Individualized Education Program (IEP) is required with specific content about services to be provided. If the child is in school, IDEA specifies that assistive technology is any “item, piece of equipment of product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified or customized, that is used to increase, maintain or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities” Assistive technology devices and services are to be made “available to a child with a disability if required as part of the child’s special education, related services, or supplemental aids and services.”