Assistive technologies, to most people, means develop­ing assistive communication devices for people who can’t speak or designing assistive switches.

To the members of Tau Beta Pi, it means taking toys apart and making them work better for kids who use assis­tive technologies. Tau Beta Pi is the honor society for engi­neering students. Initiates are required to do one commu­nity-service project. Some work on the toys to fulfill the requirement.

“We modify the toys to fit a switch designed for the child's needs. For some kids, it’s hard to play with a toy that has a small switch. But if it’s bigger, it’s easier to hit, espe­cially if someone has a limited range of movement or lim­ited coordination,” Brad Guenther, graduate student in electrical engineering, said.

Guenther said the project started after a meeting with Conn Harrison, who works with the assistive school system. The system covers a 50-mile radius around Manhattan and has a toy-lending library. Some of the toys are donated to the clients.

“I leave it to his discretion,” Guenther said. “The first semester we even had a toy end up in the Soviet Union when he took it with him to demonstrate for people there.”

At Christmastime the group donates 10-12 new toys it modifies. In the spring it makes repairs.

It makes sure any toy works with any switch. Switches are designed individually and plug in to the toys.

“All the switch does is bridge a gap between two wires. We take the existing switch and leave it operational,” Guenther said. “It takes a little time, but it’s not hard work.”

The most difficult part of the job is opening the toy for the first time and figuring out how it works. Gunther said since the project began last year, only one toy has not survived.

“I suspect it was already broken. It was a talk-back par­rot, which is good for a kid who has trouble speaking. They can also use them to hear what they say,” Gunther said. “That parrot had an attitude. I don’t know if it still works.”

Last year the group gave race cars and walking animals. Gunther said the walking toys don’t last a long time, but they are often well-used. The group gets a lot of repeat toys to fix, but it gets a little easier the second time around. 

Assistive toys are sold in catalogs but cost about $60 because there is not a huge demand, and there is not a lot of competition. The students take a $10 toy and modify it in about 30 minutes for a cost of about $1.50, he said.

“The thing is, the toys aren’t just for play. Sometimes they are used for training. The child becomes comfortable with a switch they may later use to steer a wheelchair,” he said. “Sometimes it improves a kid’s coordination, or gives them some control over their environment.”

The chapter is funded through the dean of the College of Engineering as one of his community-service organiza­tions, Guenther said. This is the third time he worked on the toys. Pretty much any engineering student can help, because they all are somewhat familiar with electrical cir­cuits, he said.

“If you stop and think about it, it’s a chance to do some hands-on work. You get to see what engineering amounts to. For some people, it’s the first time to use a soldering iron,” he said.

One of the faculty advisers for the club, Shelli Starrett, said the group is always looking for service projects.

There are two large projects. One is painting the sign on K-Hill, which is the one everyone talks about, she said. This is an alternate project for initiates.

Architectural engineering senior Jamie Dickson said she was a little nervous at first, because she is not an electrical engineer.

This is the first year I’ve been involved. This is my initiation project,” Dickson said. “Everyone is really helpful. I think this is really neat.”

Another initiate, Scott Heideman, junior in electrical engineering, said the hardest part of working on the toys was keeping it all neat.

Chad Hall, initiate and senior in civil engineering, said he had no experience in electrical engineering.

‘When I was a little kid, I would take my own toys apart, and sometimes I’d get them back together,” Hall said.

“When I went into engineering, I thought I’d work bridges, not toys, but you learn to deal with people outside your discipline.”

Last year Holli Shaffer, junior in civil engineering, fixed toys to become a member of the honor society. “Working on the circuits is difficult, because I’m a civil engineer, and I haven’t had to deal with them,” she said.

Christmas is coming, and this year Santa has a new group of elves working for him.

The Kansas Gamma Chapter of Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society, are busy modifying switches on Christmas toys to make them easier for children with physical limitations to use.
Toys in their original form are often difficult for physically handicapped children to use, said Michael Krier, senior in electrical engineering and president of K-State's Tau Beta Pi chapter.

"Toys the way they are right now are kind of hard for children with problems with the use of their hands to get at." Krier said.

Dean of Engineering Donald Rathbone appropriated the group $250 for the project, which paid for the group to buy toys and batteries.

The group is pulling the switches out of the toys and modifying them in order to hook up a headphone jack.

Switches, which are better suited for children to operate like switches with big buttons, will be hooked into the headphone jack. 

"It's a great opportunity for us as engineers to use what little knowledge we have as beginning engineers and apply that to the community," Krier said.

Brad Guenther, senior in electrical engineering and vice-president of K-State's Tau Beta Pi chapter, said he came up with the idea of modifying toys after visiting Manhattan's Assistive Technology Canter. The center works with children in a 60-mile radius who have special needs.

Conn Harrison, coordinator for the Assistive Technology Center, said the center has a loan bank in which parents can check out toys which have been modified for children to play with.

The loan bank works well because of the changing desires of the children, Harrison said.

"A lot of times with kids, they have a toy for a while, and then they want something new," Harrison said.

Parents can also bring in toys they want modified, and the center will do that for them, Harrison said.

The Tau Beta Pi chapter will present the modified toys to the Assistive Technology Center at its initiation banquet the night before Christmas break.

Harrison said he had the switches that hook into the headphone jack and a pair of switches that were compatible for the child with a toy. The switch that a child will receive is determined by the physical characteristics.

It's always great to have an organization to donate their time," Harrison said. "It's such a tremendous service to the parents."

Guenther said helping children gave him a good feeling.

"You're doing something that actually has meaning," Guenther said.