Jim Ryan demonstrates the use of the LipSync device. (Photo courtesy of Chad Leaman, of Neil Squire Society, and used with permission.
Makers Making Change wants to involve you in a creative collaboration.
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By connecting makers to people with disabilities, Makers Making Change starts the process of creating new, affordable assistive technologies. Designs become open-source, so makers can easily evolve new devices.
(Here’s a link to one of their inventions: the LipSync, a mouth-controlled input device.)
Chad Leaman is the Director of Development at the Neil Squire Society, Canada’s only national nonprofit to research, develop and use computer-based assistive technologies. He’s also co-founder of the Makers Making Change initiative, which is a relatively new program.
Since its inception in 2016, Makers Making Change has hosted a number of “Buildathons” in Canada. In June, they also hosted dual Stateside Buildathons. Makers in both Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Seattle, Washington spent Father’s Day creating LipSyncs.
AND–Makers Making Change is planning another “Stateside Buildathon” in early autumn, in Tacoma, Washington. The date will be posted on Makers Making Change’s website as soon as it’s definite.
The Neil Squire Society has been serving Canadians with disabilities for more than three decades. They’re unique, as Canada’s only national nonprofit to research, develop and use computer-based assistive technologies. They also offer numerous employment programs.
Chad talked about the Neil Squire Society, the creation of Makers Making Change, and made a generous offer to makers who’d like to host a “Lipsync Buildathon” in their areas. He also issued an creative challenge for makers!