A field-level reflection on how AT work is changing

Human-Centered Expertise as the Stabilizing Core Competency in a Quietly Shifting AT Field

December 28, 2025.

As assistive technology moves into more dynamic, adaptive, and increasingly AI-driven environments, I sense that our profession is beginning to change in ways we haven’t fully named yet. Tools now evolve faster than service models, systems update faster than policies, and expectations expand faster than job descriptions. In my day-to-day work, I feel this tension growing, not as a crisis, but as a quiet pressure that asks something different of us than it did even a few years ago.

One pattern I keep noticing is an emerging divide in how AT work actually happens. I don’t see this as a formal split or a judgment about competence. I see it as a functional difference that already exists in practice. On one side, much of the work focuses on implementation, procedures, and tool operation. On the other, the work centers on interpretation, coaching, systems thinking, and decision-making in contexts where answers do not stay stable for long. We often talk about these roles as if they are interchangeable, but in practice, they ask for different kinds of expertise, time, and responsibility. I think the profession will eventually need to name this difference, even though doing so feels uncomfortable.

This shift makes sense when I look at how technology now behaves. AI-influenced systems adapt, learn, and change over time. Decisions that once felt final now require revision. Implementation no longer ends at setup or training. Service delivery increasingly depends on coaching, partnership, co-regulation, and the ability to revisit decisions as new information emerges. In this environment, certainty does not last very long. What lasts longer is the relationship between people and the way we support meaning-making around tools that keep changing.

Because of this, I believe human-centered expertise is moving from a soft skill to the core stabilizing competency of the AT profession. When technology changes this quickly, the only true constants are the human using the system and the human supporting them. Technical knowledge still matters deeply, but it no longer stands on its own. Without strong human judgment, interpretation, and ethical reasoning, even the most advanced tools lose their effectiveness.

In my own work, I see certain skills becoming less central, not because they lack value, but because they cannot carry the work by themselves anymore. Tool-specific expertise, static feature matching, one-time trainings, and procedural compliance still matter, but they no longer define success. At the same time, I see other forms of expertise becoming essential. These include the ability to read people as carefully as systems, to reassess and recalibrate over time, to coach adults without overwhelming them, to translate complexity into usable understanding, and to make ethical decisions in fast-moving, AI-influenced environments. I also see growing value in designing supports that tolerate uncertainty and evolve rather than aiming for perfect implementation from the start.

What I keep coming back to is a larger question about readiness. Are we preparing assistive technology teams and school systems to recognize, value, and develop this kind of human-centered expertise, or do we still treat it as optional and informal compared to technical skill? If the profession continues to change without naming these differences, we risk placing unrealistic expectations on people while leaving them without the structures or recognition they need to do this work well.

I don’t see this as an argument for hierarchy or exclusion. I see it as an invitation to be more honest about what the work now asks of us. Naming what is shifting gives us a chance to redesign roles thoughtfully, support growth rather than burnout, and align training with the reality of AT practice as it exists today. I am curious how others are experiencing this change in their own settings and roles, and which skills they find themselves relying on more than they did before.