By Dr. Lisa Zaretsky
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the way we live, work, and connect. One of its most meaningful impacts is happening quietly in homes, classrooms, and therapy spaces: it’s empowering people with disabilities to communicate, learn, and thrive.
At Zaretsky Wellness, we have expertise in supporting Neurodiverse, Gifted, and Twice Exceptional (2e) individuals, including those living with traumatic brain injuries (TBI), Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and other learning or cognitive differences. As these individuals navigate a world not quite built with their brains in mind, AI can be a vital tool for accessibility and equity.
AI and Accessibility: How Technology Is Breaking Barriers
For individuals with physical, cognitive, or learning disabilities, AI isn’t just a convenience; it’s an entry point to fuller participation in life. Here are just a few ways it’s making a difference:
- For individuals with Dysgraphia or writing challenges, AI writing assistants help generate and organize text, remove the pressure of spelling or grammar, and offer editing support in real time.
- For individuals with Dyslexia, AI reading tools and text-to-speech technology improve reading comprehension and fluency by reading aloud, highlighting, decoding, and customizing text presentation.
- For people with TBI or executive functioning issues, AI-powered productivity tools can help manage schedules, prioritize tasks, and create reminders, reducing overwhelm and improving follow-through.
- For non-verbal individuals or those with speech delays, AI chat interfaces and speech-generating devices can provide powerful communication alternatives.
- For neurodivergent learners, AI tutoring and learning platforms can adapt in real time to different processing speeds and learning styles.
- For individuals with vision or mobility impairments, voice-controlled AI assistants and image recognition technology support greater independence and ease in daily life.
- For those struggling with emotional regulation, AI-driven apps and biofeedback tools offer real-time calming strategies, mood tracking, and personalized coping techniques to support self-management.
Living with a Traumatic Brain Injury, Dysgraphia, and Dyslexia
After sustaining a traumatic brain injury in car accidents, I faced significant challenges with cognitive functions, such as visual scanning, short term memory, processing speed, word retrieval, and written expression. These difficulties compounded lifelong Dysgraphia, a neurological difference that makes both the physical and mental aspects of writing unusually complicated, and Dyslexia, which affects how I decode and process written text. As a result, tasks like visual scanning, reading printed or digital text, and expressing myself in writing became considerably more complex.
As a high-level professional, these obstacles could have been limiting. Instead, they became a catalyst for innovation in how I work. I utilize assistive technology that scans, highlights, and reads text aloud as well as AI-powered writing and editing tools. They enhance reading and writing functions while also enabling me to work more efficiently. Far from being a crutch, these tools serve as an extension of my cognitive toolkit, empowering me to optimize my intellectual strengths and potential. They support me in synthesizing complex material, communicating clearly in writing, and consistently performing at a level that aligns with my aptitude across multiple domains.
How I Use AI to Communicate and Create
Here are a few ways I personally use AI:
- Writing Support: I use AI writing technology to assist with structure emails and educational materials. These tools organize my thoughts, suggest words when I’m stuck, and enable me to edit more efficiently. Tasks that once took hours, or for a time after car accidents, even days, I can now accomplish in minutes.
- Reading Support: I rely on AI tools that scan, highlight, track, and read text aloud. These assistive technologies improve my reading endurance, assisting me in navigating long and complex texts more effectively despite lifelong Dyslexia and challenges following traumatic brain injuries (TBI) after car accidents.
- Speech-to-Text: Voice recognition software on my phone allows me to speak thoughts aloud that are instantly transcribed. For someone with Dysgraphia who has experienced TBI, this is a liberating experience.
- Mental Efficiency Tools: AI can summarize articles, organize to-do lists, and provide reminders, streamlining mental workload and supporting high-level performance across multiple tasks.
Supporting the Whole Person: AI and Neurodiverse Wellness
Technology alone isn’t the answer yet when paired with expert, informed, holistic support; it can enhance self-confidence and autonomy. At Zaretsky Wellness, we help individuals and families:
- Explore assistive technologies that support cognitive skills and emotional needs across all aspects of life.
- Develop tailored wellness strategies rooted in neurodiversity-affirming practices
- Integrate tools like AI into educational, therapeutic, and home environments
- Reframe challenges as opportunities by recognizing the brain’s unique strengths
The Future Is More Inclusive—With the Right Tools and Support
AI is not a cure-all. It must be used ethically and intentionally. However, for people with disabilities, it can mean the difference between silence and expression, isolation and participation, frustration, and fulfillment.
At Zaretsky Wellness, optimal wellbeing grows from honoring and supporting the whole person, creating harmony and flow. As technology evolves, so does the potential to build more inclusive, accessible, and compassionate systems. We’re here to help our clients make sense of these changes and to use them in ways that align with their needs, values, and goals.
Discover how assistive technology can empower your growth, or that of your child or loved one.
Contact Zaretsky Wellness to schedule a consultation. We offer tailored services including consulting, coaching, and counseling, with holistic support designed specifically for gifted, twice exceptional (2e), and neurodiverse individuals and their families.
