Making That Matters: Soldering Skills for Accessible Play

Description

Are you looking for projects that your school's STEAM program or club can use to develop and hone basic making skills? Are you curious about additional, real-life applications for the tools and skills your students are learning? Are you wondering how toys can be hacked to make them more accessible to children with physical disabilities?

This hands-on workshop will introduce participants to assistive technology making skills to create usable access products. Participants will learn basic soldering to join wire segments and assemble electrical components for use in a variety of assistive technology applications. 

Those skills - along with some 3D-printed parts - will be applied to create a mechanical switch that could be used by an individual with physical disabilities. Each participant will also make a battery interrupter and switch-adapt an electronic toy that can be used with the scratch-built switch. 

Participants are encouraged to bring a reusable shopping bag to carry completed projects home at the end of the day.

Background | The AIU is a proud contributor to the 412 Ability Tech Ecosystem

What to Bring | A reusable shopping bag to carry completed projects home

Who Should Attend | General education teachers, special education teachers, assistive technology specialists, occupational therapists, and other accessibility-minded individuals (Beginners are welcome - no previous making experience is required)