Meet Mr. Aaron Sottile
Students in the Calavera Hills Middle School Design and Modeling class began the creative design process through the lens of empathy using hands-on exploration of assistive technology devices and tools currently used in the field of AT.
As Mr. Sottile explains, "Students are working in this unit to develop a therapeutic toy to
be used in physical therapy sessions for patients with cerebral palsy.
After learning about the physiology of the condition, students work in teams to
design a therapeutic toy to help develop the gross and/or fine motor skills of
a preschool aged or early school aged child with cerebral palsy. Student
solutions are developed using the knowledge developed throughout the course,
including engineering, biomedical and computer aided drafting skills.
Our design and modeling students engage in the design process to develop
a prototype therapeutic device. The team at the North County Special
Education Consortium helps students develop an awareness for, and understanding
of the patients for whom the design and modeling students are developing
solutions for. The design process starts with empathy, and the visit from
NCCSE helps develop that empathy in our students, helping them better
understand the needs of their patients and the types of design solutions that
exist to help increase access for all."
Check out the students in action here:
