Assistive Technology

So, I was trying to understand more about Assistive Technology (AT) today, and I received a well written definition followed by examples on what AT is.  My professor for my AT class uses the analogy of a kid falls into a well, teaching the student to climb out of the well is just teaching the student to climb, to place a ladder in the well is AT.

I was thinking about this analogy today, and I was stuck in a rut trying to figure out: "What happens when the student falls into the well again and there is no ladder this time?"  Should we not, as special educators, teach these students to climb out of the well because they may not always have the AT that we implement.  But then I thought about it a little more, and I don't know if this would also be AT, but add to the analogy that once the student gets out of the well using the ladder, you board up the well with metal and wood so that nobody falls in again (or at least the student).

I am interested, confused, and torn about what the difference between AT and Teaching Aid.  I am beginning to understand it better with the list of examples of AT, but I still just wonder: Isn't it better to teach the students to do something without AT.  I feel like I am betraying everything that I stand for by believing this, so I feel very torn.  Because I feel that it is important to teach the student to do something without AT if they can.  If the student cannot do something without AT, then definitely implement it because it will help the student, but see if the student can do it without AT.

For those of you who may be disgusted by me right now, sorry, but that's the way that I feel.  I feel that AT and Teaching Aids are basically one in the same in the long run.  Or that it should be.

I think the reason that I am torn is because I am finding that I view AT as a crutch that we need to help students get off of as soon as possible.  I think that it is important to get them off as soon as possible in order to assess whether they can actually do the activity which we are giving them AT for.  For instance, a tape recording for a literature section.  Will their work in the future give them a tape recording of the manual for the job?  Probably not, so shouldn't we help teach them to read so that in the future they can read that manual?

I am really biased about this topic, and I really wish that my arguments made sense and that I would not feel that I am so horrible about thinking this way.  Teaching Aids I think are integral to education, so is AT just as integral, right now I am not thinking so.  But I want to understand this better.