Adapting toys to be accessible for local families

December 20, 2024

At HuskyADAPT‘s holiday toy adaptation event in November, about 80 volunteers adapted toys, ranging from a baseball pitching machine and spinning art kit to lava lamps, remote control cars and a bilingual play drum.

The volunteers connected the toys to a switch that can make it easier for children with disabilities to interact with the object in a way that’s accessible to them, such as pressing a button, moving their head or blowing air. For example, a child with spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disease that impacts muscle strength, could activate an adapted toy by moving a finger or tilting their head instead of pressing a small button on the toy.

A female student wearing a Santa hat and a hearing aid, demonstrates how to add a switch to make a toy more usable by a child with a disability. She and the male student are focused on the detailed work. — Students learned how to adapt toys to make them accessible for local children with disabilities. *Photo courtesy of HuskyADAPT.*

HuskyADAPT’s toy adaptation workshops, held at the UW and across the greater Seattle area, are open to both students and community members, including parents, educators and physical therapists. Working across campus and with organizations such as Microsoft and the King County Library System, they teach participants across all skill levels the entire process of adapting toys, including disassembly, soldering, basic circuit analysis and how to troubleshoot broken toys.

HuskyADAPT, a UW student organization sponsored largely by CREATE, is dedicated to supporting accessible design and inclusive play technology. November’s toy adaption event was also funded by AccessComputing. Learn more about getting involved with HuskyADAPT.

Excerpted from the UW News article by Lyra Fontaine.