Cutting-edge tech providing 'platform for accessibility and inclusion'
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A Kingston non-profit is one of the first in Canada to offer two different types of cutting-edge accessible technology to people with disabilities.
Extend-A-Family Kingston is a local organization that offers day programs and respite for children and adults with disabilities and their families. They serve up to 40 people per day during their day programs, and up to 150 kids at their summer camp programs.
The organization has some brand new technology in their Kingston location that is making learning, playing and interacting more fun and more accessible for a wide range of users.
Extend-A-Family was recently selected to win several thousand dollars’ worth of equipment from Microsoft that make their gaming platforms accessible to people with limited mobility.
Scott Taylor is the director of data, systems, intake and day programs at Extend-A-Family Kingston.
“We had been researching last year about an initiative that Microsoft was doing around adaptive controllers, developed in partnership with people with disabilities,” Taylor said. “That was launched in late November last year.”
In his research Taylor learned that the company was holding a competition and seeking video entries to choose a recipient of some of the adaptive controllers that they had been developing.
Extend-A-Family staff created a 60-second video and made it to a shortlist within the competition.
In January, they found out that they had won approximately $6,000 worth of gear from Microsoft as part of its Empower Possibility campaign.
“It was exciting for us,” Taylor said. “We were certainly one of the first agencies to adopt this kind of technology in our day programs in Canada.”
The organization received game systems but also adaptive remotes that can be connected to various accessories which can be fully customized.
Ian Cholmondeley is a community coach and liaison with Extend-A-Family Kingston. He uses the adaptive controllers every day with clients.
“The design and the build for them is for total customization, in terms of tailoring it specifically to individuals who have certain disabilities or challenges, whether it be fine motor skills, lack of range of movement or function,” Cholmondeley said.
Accessories include hand and foot pedals and modified single-use joysticks that simplify controls from the standard format, which requires both hands and multiple actions to operate the games on the screen.
“The individuals who can’t use the regular controller are also able to join in with that group and still be able to participate, and get those things out of it that everyone else does,” Cholmondeley said.
The other exciting development at Extend-A-Family Kingston is the acquisition of a device called TAPit (Touch Accessible Platform Interactive Technology), an interactive learning station that has several features that make it accessible for people with a broad range of intellectual or physical disabilities.
The device is an interactive screen similar to an iPad, but on a magnified scale — 42 inches wide, on a movable base and with the ability to be raised, lowered and angled from vertical to horizontal to allow users to sit in a chair or wheelchair, on the floor, or stand.
It’s the first device of its kind in use in Canada.
The TAPit cost the organization close to $17,000. Taylor and staff say that it brings daily enhancement to the clients.
“A lot of research has gone into it from the staff in terms of the applications they can use, and the individuals it can be tailored to,” Taylor said. “It’s been a really successful piece of technology.”
“The focus of this whole project and moving forward with this is to use it, first of all, as a platform for accessibility and inclusion,” Cholmondeley said. “We just want to be able to have everyone have the ability to participate in these activities. They focus on a lot of social development and social skill development, but also there’s a recreation component. We use it for gaming, for fun, for social interaction, for that social skill development but there’s a learning component as well. We use it as an engaging, new and accessible way to teach different things. Obviously life skills are a big important piece for that.”
The TAPit has been helping clients with fine motor skills and sensory development, and gives them the chance to explore learning games and exercise their creativity, Cholmondeley says.
“The TAPit is really great because it’s basically just a blank canvas that we can use for anything,” he said. “There are sensory applications, and that’s a big thing we are using it for currently, for some of our individuals who have higher sensory needs. This has been a really great tool for helping them, and incorporating them into the day program.”
“We’ve have a lot success with people who have anxiety, whether it’s autism or other disability, that when they’re engaged in an activity, they can actually relax and engage in conversation, or just feel a comfort level being with each other,” Maria Cordeiro, manager of community services, said. “Their personal space needs can be a little bit better. There’s that whole interaction and social development.”
The TAPit can be used by multiple users at once and has features that make it extremely user-friendly, including the ability to sense the difference between a hand making a selection on the screen or an arm resting to bear weight against it. It features military-grade glass so that it’s extremely durable.
Extend-A-Family staff will also be using their new technology in conjunction with virtual reality, introducing real-life situations like cooking, grocery shopping, or household chores to develop skills before taking them into the real world.
“The intention there is to introduce environments of learning, safe environments, for individuals,” Taylor said. “(We can bring these scenarios) into the virtual reality world and they could learn some life skills in a safe and unique environment.”
Extend-A-Family is hoping to draw in more people who could benefit from the technology they’re implementing daily. They’re holding an open house on May 29 to allow members of the public to see behind the scenes at their location on Montreal Street.
“The good thing is, we have this technology and we want people to know this is an option,” Cholmondeley said. “If they can’t spend $17,000 on a TAPit, they can come here and experience it.”
Taylor says that Extend-A-Family Kingston would like to become a destination of choice for individuals with disabilities, but also to other populations who could benefit from the use of its technology. The organization is interested in networking with other community groups as well as schools to offer a learning opportunity for young people to interact with people with disabilities.
He also says that pursuing new technology is part of ensuring not only educational opportunities, but inclusion.
“We know how vast technology is and how quickly it moves,” Taylor said. “I think one of the important things is to make sure that we can provide the advancements in technology to individuals with disabilities to make sure that they’re part of that circle, if they wish to be part of that circle.”
Extend-A-Family Kingston’s open house takes place on May 29 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 361 Montreal St.
For information visit www.eafkingston.com.
mbalogh@postmedia.com
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