Compensatory Technology

Assistive technology designed primarily to offset or make up for a person's functional limitations, focusing on what the person cannot do rather than building on their existing abilities. While compensatory approaches have historically dominated AT design, there is a growing movement toward ability-based and empowerment-focused models that leverage users' strengths and support agency. Critics of purely compensatory approaches argue they can reinforce deficit-based views of disability and may overlook opportunities to design technologies that enhance rather than merely substitute for human capabilities.