2019 TCAT Holiday Toy Hack

The Taskar Center for Accessible Technology invites you to participate in the 2019 Holiday Toy Hack! At the TCAT Holiday Toy Hackathon, volunteers modify store-bought toys to create switch-accessible toys. These Adaptations make the toys accessible to individuals with disabilities so they can play independently. TCAT will ship those toys to recipients who require switch-access toys and, like everyone, will enjoy and learn from play! We hope 2019 will be our largest event yet, with greater numbers of volunteers and toys we gift-- we need your help!! Join us! If you would like to request a toy, please CLICK HERE TO MAKE A TOY REQUEST. If you would like to volunteer, please read on. Why toy adaptation? Off-the-shelf toys are often inaccessible to kids with motor limitations or developmental disabilities because they require some force or dexterity to activate. Switch adaptation allows new opportunities for active participation and meaningful play interactions by slightly modifying the electronics of a toy to accept different kinds of switches.About the Toy Hack on Nov 24th, 2019: join us for four hours of toy adaptation: 9am-1pm. Your volunteer efforts will make this holiday more inclusive while you exercise your skills in toy adaptation (a little soldering, some toy tinkering and lots of heart!). Please sign up to reserve your spot as the event fills up and we are space-limited. Please note: Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate minors as volunteers in the MakerSpace. Volunteers under 18 will not be able to use the soldering equipment, but can still help with gift wrapping and cards. Would you like to help but cannot make it to the event? Please consider sponsoring a toy with a $50 tax-deductible donation: CLICK HERE TO SPONSOR A TOY (indicate in the comment if you'd like your donation to go to a toy for a particular child). Questions? contact uwtcat@uw.edu #HackForAccess, #TaskarCenter, #Accessibility #TheFutureIsAccessible #UniversalDesign Photo credit: 2016 TCAT Holiday Toy Hack (C) UW Communications Many thanks to our partner organization, the Husky ADAPT student org, for supporting the holiday toy hackathons for the 4th year running!