Toy Adaptation: Bridging Academia, Healthcare, and Industry
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Date
2018-04
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ohio State University. Office of Outreach and Engagement
Abstract
The Toy Adaptation Program (TAP), developed within The Ohio State University College of Engineering, is a prime example of an organization that recognizes the significance of engagement. TAP has sought to bridge academia, health care, and industry to relieve financial burden and advocate for families of children with special needs. Toy adaptation is the process of modifying an electronic toy for a child with special needs. By facilitating workshops and creating repeatable curriculum to instruct others on methods of toy adaptation, TAP has donated more than 1,000 adapted toys to toy-lending libraries and families, fostered service-learning growth for students, and welcomed numerous industry partners into creating tangible contributions to the development and well-being of children with special needs through play. TAP hopes to share its methodology and aid other organizations that seek to build partnerships for the advancement of health care and wellness.
Description
The Toy Adaptation Program (TAP) addresses all five focus areas of the Community Engagement Conference: awareness, integration, stewardship, accountability, and advocacy. For this presentation session, we will describe and discuss how TAP addresses these focus areas through an interactive and discussion-based session. We will also describe the origins of TAP and the basics of toy adaptation including providing hands-on experiences for participants. We will present on the first partnerships that were formed with TAP, in addition to the challenges encountered in the engagement process. Finally, we will discuss future directions for the program which we hope can be informed by session participants. There are numerous ways through which TAP's goals exemplify the focus areas. For example, TAP's mission includes addressing social issues through experiential learning and connecting academia with community (awareness). TAP is structured to create mutual benefit for all disciplines participating (integration), has partnerships that encourage improvement, and welcome the exchange of new ideas (stewardship). Additionally, members of TAP conduct research to quantifiably gauge its success and impact on students adapting the toys (accountability). TAP thrives in a vast array of disciplines and has created a ripple effect from which other programs have designed their own toy adaptation causes or realized the need for toy adaptation (advocacy). TAP seeks to reach all accessible areas of engagement. The program strives to include educators and develop sustainable and repeatable curriculum, allowing previous adaptors to teach new adaptors efficiently. Qualitative improvements are made through research evaluating how integrated course curriculum impacts undergraduates and the surrounding community. From the service perspective, TAP operates largely on a volunteer platform, and invites all areas of expertise to get involved for the common goal of providing cost-eliminated means of play for children with disabilities. TAP aims to reach students, industry professionals, faculty, families of children with special needs, allied and primary health care providers, and all other unaffiliated organizations that could stimulate discussions about increasing successful engagement with TAP for the benefit of health care. The presentation will be given by all current members of TAP which includes faculty, staff, and students. The expertise of the presenters include toy adaptation, engineering education, academic advising, and student development. Ultimately, TAP desires to share and receive feedback concerning its objectives highlighting ways for future engagement. Additionally, TAP wishes to emphasize the importance of their partnerships and thank those organizations that have eagerly joined and propelled the initiative forward.
AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Rachel Kajfez, Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering Education, kajfez.2@osu.edu (Corresponding Author); Elizabeth Riter, Academic Advisor, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geodetic Engineering; Samantha Young, Intern, Toy Adaptation Program.
AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Rachel Kajfez, Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering Education, kajfez.2@osu.edu (Corresponding Author); Elizabeth Riter, Academic Advisor, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geodetic Engineering; Samantha Young, Intern, Toy Adaptation Program.
Keywords
toy adaptation, engineering education, community partnerships
Citation
Engaged Scholars, v. 6 (2018).