Institutional Gatekeeping

The practices through which institutions such as insurance companies, healthcare providers, school districts, and government agencies control access to assistive technology and disability services by defining eligibility criteria, evaluation processes, and funding boundaries. Gatekeeping determines what qualifies as AT, who is deemed deserving of support, and what forms of disability are recognized as legitimate. These processes tend to favor familiar, well-recognized access needs while excluding those with less conventional needs. For low-income and racially diverse families, gatekeeping creates additional barriers through language inaccessibility, complex paperwork, restrictive categorization of devices (e.g., classifying therapeutic tools as "toys"), and institutional timelines misaligned with families' urgent needs.