Feng, Jinjuan HeidiHu, Ruimin2015-12-172015-12-172013-01-152012-08DSU2012Huhttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/2097(D. Sc.) -- Towson University, 2012.This dissertation reports studies on information input and retrieval by people with Down syndrome and other types of cognitive disabilities. The first study investigated the use of three input techniques (keyboard/mouse, word prediction, and speech recognition) by individuals with Down syndrome and neurotypical children. The results suggest that the performance of participants with Down syndrome vary substantially. The high performing participants with Down syndrome are capable of using the keyboard or the word prediction software to generate text with performance similar to that of the younger neurotypical participants. The second study investigated the use of different search methods and content structure during information retrieval by people with various types of cognitive disabilities. The results suggest that of the three conditions (narrow/deep structure, broad/shallow structure, and search engine), the participants were most efficient and successful when using the search engine, while the broad/shallow structure resulted in the longest time and highest failure rate.application/pdfix, 152 pagesengCopyright protected, all rights reserved.Text