This session positions AI tools as an essential mechanism for supporting students with learning and attention differences, grounded in theories from Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development to distributed cognition. It distinguishes cognitive barriers arising from peripheral demands from those related to conceptual understanding. Drawing on scaffolding, cognitive offloading, and translation, the session argues for equity through intentional task design rather than individual exception. It concludes by examining the pedagogical trade-offs between AI-supported cognition and the pursuit of tool-independent mastery.
