Assistive Technology for Executive Functioning: Tools for Note-Taking and Organization
Updated: December 13, 2025. Reviewer: Dr. Rose Sebastian, Ed.D.
IEP Guides & Help
How to read, get, understand, and evaluate IEPs
Teaching & Leading
How to create, teach, and thrive in inclusive classrooms
Assistive Technology to Support Executive Functioning
How many of us can remember our appointments for the day without a calendar reminder? Or our friend’s birthday without a notification? Most of us rely on technology to enhance and support our memory and organization.
Same goes for note taking. In the old days, we would put in accommodations like seeing peer’s or teacher’s notes. Now we can that and have a student take a picture of the whiteboard so that they have their own note records too.
Most of these programs are available to all students– or like Google calendar are used by most of us. We are still classing them as assistive technology here, however, because they can help meet the particular needs of students with disability.
To learn more about types of assistive technology, check out our other pages on the topic including our page on what AT is and our pages on types of assistive technology, including AT for communication (including AAC devices), AT for writing, and AT for reading.
Understanding Technology for Executive Functioning
What is assistive technology for executive functioning?
According to IDEA, the federal law that governs special education, assistive technology is, “any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability.” (34 C.F.R. § 300.5 )While assistive technology is often thought of as programs for communication, it includes any program that can improve the capabilities of a child with disabilities. That includes for academic skills like organization or note taking!I had a student with a traumatic brain injury once who had short term memory challenges. To be successful, she needed a homework planner and a tool to take photos of notes because she couldn’t write fast enough. Because her need was related to her disability, she qualified for tools for each of these– assistive technology doesn’t just mean a speech tool! It includes the tools that children need, because of their disabilities, to succeed at school.
How do students qualify for assistive technology?
Districts vary in how students qualify for assistive technology. Larger districts often have a formal assessment process that includes an application. Smaller districts often handle the process more informally. No matter what, what happens is that the assistive technology gets written into the student’s IEP!
In the IEP, most districts include a check box in Special Factors that asks, “Does the child need assistive technology?” If a child needs homework organizers, iPad apps for notes, photos of notes, or any other tools for organization, check yes! Write in the type of program that helps the student. Note that you don’t want to write in the name of a program– write in the TYPE of program (like the name of an app). Programs are always changing and you want to be able to give the student the latest and greatest!
What counts as assistive technology for executive functioning?
These include programs you might write into the IEP as assistive technology, but also programs that you might put in as an accommodation. Some examples include:
- Google or Apple calendar for organization
- Keep, Evernote, or notepad for making to do lists and building note taking skills
- Camera and docs or slides to integrate photos and written class notes
- Students can take photos, draw, handwrite, and type on their notes. Noteability is one of the apps that lets you write/draw your notes.
- Google Presentations or Google Docs are good places for students to type their notes and add photos. The problem is that they can’t really draw on either and that makes taking math or science notes a lot harder.
- Students can also write or dictate their notes using the Read & Write extension .
Are assistive technology programs for executive functioning expensive?
The answer is that some of these programs are free, some are cheap, and some are pricy. Every time you put an appointment in your google calendar so you don’t forget it, you are using assistive technology to supplement your faulty memory. Google calendar can be assistive technology– and it is free! However, other programs do carry a cost.
If programs cost money and a student needs them as part of their disability, the district NOT the family or the teacher needs to buy them. That is why it is incredibly important to write AT into students’ IEPs! When you do, the district and not the teacher or parent has to pay! And districts are good about billing out the Medicaid so don’t feel too bad 🙂
