As schools increasingly impose limits or outright bans on cellphones and other devices, disability advocates are warning that the moves could impede access to much needed assistive technology.

Students with disabilities often rely on smartphones, tablets and smart watches to assist them with communication, scheduling, note taking, calming and more. These students have the right to access needed assistive technology under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, according to the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, or COPAA, a nonprofit that advocates for the rights of students with disabilities and their families.

However, in a statement issued this month COPAA is warning that these rights are at risk if policymakers aren’t careful when they implement restrictions on the use of devices at school.

“When federal, state and/or local governments develop and finalize policies intending to limit student screen time on a computer or use of a cellular phone or other electronic devices, these entities must take care to ensure that no policy or its provisions directly conflict or interfere with a student’s rights and opportunities under IDEA, Section 504 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act,” the statement reads. “All federal, state and local policies regarding the use of education technology that may also be deemed AT for a student with a disability must be supportive of each student’s rights including their access to educational curricula, materials and/or instruction, or participation in the educational process with support from AT or other accommodation/auxiliary aid.”

The concerns come as restrictions on cellphones and other devices in schools are proliferating nationwide. Seven states have approved policies banning or restricting cellphone use in schools and another 14 states are considering legislation to do the same, according to a report issued early this month by KFF, a nonprofit that conducts health policy research.

“As many of these bills or policies are new and or not yet in effect, we are trying to make a preemptive statement that encourages taking a good look at the policies to be (sure) that they are not going to result in the unintended consequence of limiting access to assistive technology,” said Denise Marshall, CEO of COPAA.

Even before this wave of device restrictions at schools, there have been concerns about assistive technology being underutilized. This prompted the U.S. Department of Education to issue guidance earlier this year detailing schools’ obligations to regularly consider the assistive technology needs of each student with a disability.

COPAA’s statement says that parents should not be left responsible for ensuring that any assistive technology called for in their child’s IEP or 504 plan be in compliance with new laws or policies. The group also does not want parents burdened with making sure that their children continue to receive the accommodations they need free from any discipline included in new rules.

What’s more, COPAA notes that students with disabilities should not be segregated from their peers because their use of assistive technology is counter to the rules in place for other students.

Dan Stewart, managing attorney for education and employment at the National Disability Rights Network, said he is not aware of any legal claims related to assistive technology use under the new school device restrictions yet, but he’s concerned.

“The legal claims come into play most prominently when a student with a disability has the phone, assistive technology or apps written into their IEP or Section 504 plans as a necessary or related service,” Stewart said. “Bans effectively remove the students’ legal entitlements to those disability-related needs. Further, if a school has a ban, the student’s IEP or Section 504 team would not be able to consider, include or implement those low-cost and effective strategies into a new student’s IEP/504 plan or in a revised IEP/504. In other words, the ban stops an IEP team or 504 team from considering a full range of options to support a student with a disability.”

Beyond the legalities, however, Stewart said school staff should consider the social factors at play.

“If a student with a disability is able to actually use a phone or AT device even where there is a ban and other students are unable to use them because of the ban, the student with a disability may feel ashamed, singled out, harassed because of using it, or reluctant to use the phone/AT device,” he said. “This dynamic could also reduce a student’s use of the phone/AT device, which is specifically included as a tool for the student to succeed.”