AIDS FOR ASSISTED LIVING PROJECTS BENEFIT BOTH THE ENGINEERING DESIGN CLASSROOM AND THE DISABLED COMMUNITY

摘要

Independent life becomes a challenge for individuals with disabilities when disability research and development fails to produce results that are beneficial for the disabled community. Poor research and development in disability research creates socially constructed barriers that not only offend the disabled community but also make means of attaining the maximum amount of independence more difficult. These barriers include the discriminatory actions and attitudes of non-disabled individuals as well as poor design in infrastructure, communication and transportation. Insufficient engineering and a lack of consideration of the needs and abilities of the disabled community has led to the incorporation of a Aids for Assisted Living project in a first year engineering curriculum. Engineering Communication and Design is a course that has developed two projects in collaboration with the disabled community in hopes of increasing awareness among students and staff as well as providing means for the community to be actively involved in product development and research. The first project focuses on increasing the independence of children with disabilities in play, through the design of toys and multifunctional play centers for a children's hospital. The second project focuses on the increase of independence for adults with disabilities around the home, specifically in the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living room. Both of these Aids for Assisted Living projects were developed through extensive consultations with the disabled community with the common goal of starting to diminish some of the socially constructed barriers experienced in disability research. This is hoped to be achieved through student-research subject interaction as well as engineering principles and design. Engineering principles, incorporated through the foundation of the design trinity: familiarization, functionality and testing will be applied to disability design by students who will use these principles to create a fully functional prototype.