When Laurie Dale started her role as Senior Leader of Assistive Technology Solutions at Ability Beyond, she knew she had to get creative when it came to providing technological assistance to young adults with disabilities.
“It was me, myself, and I,” Dale says. “So I looked around and thought, ‘Well, who am I going to trust to help me with this project?’ And the only people I really trust, as far as their opinions go, are the people using the technology for themselves. So that’s how we came up with the TIP Squad.”
The TIP (Technology Innovations for Peers) Squad provides young adults with disabilities the chance to learn technology skills and build adaptive solutions to barriers they and their peers face.
These days Dale and the students she works with are quickly and cheaply building adaptive tools with the help of 3D printers. It’s been a very successful program at Ability Beyond, a nonprofit with locations in Bethel, Connecticut, and Chappaqua, N.Y., that educates and assists people with disabilities. The organization recently received $32,000 in grants from Verizon for the TIP Squad.
Dale says that educators looking to start similar accessibility programs with the help of 3D printing should remember it’s easier than it looks and that students benefit in many ways.
3D Printing and Accessibility: Listening To What Those With Disabilities Need
3D printers are amazing devices, and designing accessibility tools can sound high-tech, but the process itself is straightforward.
“We just make what’s needed,” Dale says. “Somebody has a need. And they say, ‘What about this?’ Or ‘How could we help this person with that?’ And we just make it from there.”
The types of tools they make with 3D printers include a device that makes it easier for someone to hold a pen or crayon, and another tool that can steady a key so someone who might not otherwise be able to open a lock now can. Another tool is a device that rolls dice, which can allow for more accessible gaming.
Sometimes Dale and her team design their own tools, while in other instances they find existing designs at Makers Making Change, a nonprofit that provides open-source 3D printing designs for assistive tech tools.
Starting a 3D Printing Program and Jobs Training
If you’re an educator thinking of starting a 3D printing program with students, Dale’s advice is: Go for it!
“It’s easier than you think, and you just have to do it,” she says. “The only way to really understand it is when you start printing it, and you go. ‘Well, why did it do that?’ And then you can figure out why it did that.”
Her program has been designed as a job-training program as well.
“The TIP Squad has always been about getting an honest opinion from someone with a disability and using the technology and working toward soft skills for employment,” she says. “The TIP Squad members have to come on time. They have to wear specific clothes. They have to be neat. They have to work together as a team, all those beginning steps that make for successful employment.”
AI and The Future of 3D Printing
Dale says that while many new tech advances are not designed with accessibility in mind, “the byproduct is, people with disabilities can be more independent.”
That’s very true of AI technology, which will help bolster assistive technology in many ways and could make 3D printing easier for everyone.
“Within a year or two, you’re going to be able to say, ‘I need a hand brace.’ Just say it, and it will print it,” Dale says, which isn’t as far out as it may sound since 3D designs are already available on the internet. AI might also be able to help guide students through the 3D printing process.
“A large part of the difficulties TIP Squad members face is communication,” Dale says. “Reading, understanding certain things, understanding how people are talking to them. AI can really help change that.”