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Part of the holiday season’s magic is the
excitement.
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Many kids experience when they look under the
tree and find a bright colored package with
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their name on it.
It’s one of my favorite things.
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But for parents of kids with disabilities,
finding adapted toys their Children can play
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with is often difficult and expensive.
These are commercially available toys modified
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to be more accessible for Children with
disabilities or limited motor skill.
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For example, switch adapted toys are rewired
and connected to a larger button or switch
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that’s easier to press.
These toys are costly for parents.
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For example, a talking bluey that retails for
$15 is rewired and sold for 70
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a $10 bubble machine is resold for more than 50.
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As a result, many Children with disabilities
don’t have their own toys or parents take a
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flyer on toys, their kids might not even
interact with.
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It’s unfortunate because given the right fit
these toys can empower these kids to play
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independently.
Natalie Lyons Donaway is a principal
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manufacturing quality engineer at GE Appliances.
A hair company.
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Her daughter is a speech language pathologist
who is interested in adapting toys until her
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daughter brought it up.
Lyons Donaway didn’t know what a switch
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adaptable toy was and it admittedly until this
story came across my desk,
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I didn’t know it either while she didn’t know
anything about the toys,
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she was part of an engineering team that
specialized in taking things apart,
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making modifications and putting them back
together again.
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So, Lyons Donaway and a team of engineers
turned an air conditioning lab at GE Appliance
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Park in Louisville, Kentucky into a workshop
internally.
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They were known as the Quote GE appliances, Elf
Jeers and they built an assembly
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line where they dedicated their time to adapt
more than 100 toys for Children with
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disabilities.
The team held a toy drive and family friends
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and coworkers donated about 125 toys that 26
employees spent about 90
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volunteer hours.
Re elf engineering.
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The engineers had a quality check where they
made sure each toy actually worked before it
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was sent to an electronics engineer to test the
control board and hook up the adapter.
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Then it was sent back for final assembly for
the engineers.
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It wasn’t just a job but a chance to make a
difference after the Elf engineers finished
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their work and the workshop turned back into an
air conditioning lab.
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The toys were sent to area nonprofits and
schools to light up the lives of Children and
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families.
This holiday season, I’m David Manti.
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This is manufacturing now