“Who doesn’t love bubbles?” comments Makers Making Change founder/ Director of Innovation Chad Leaman.

Chad is explaining the ways volunteer makers are adapting toys and gaming devices for children with disabilities, during Makers Making Change’s annual “Hacking for the Holidays” campaign.

Now in its second year, “Hacking for the Holidays” has set some new goals. In 2022, they delivered more than 600 adapted toys and 900 switches to families across Canada, according to their website.

This year’s goals: 100 maker events, and a total of 2,000 adapted toys, switches and video game joysticks by early December. Top items on their “wish list”: adaptable toys that light up, play music and, yes, blow bubbles.

Volunteer makers can host events, get involved in an event or donate to the campaign.

A year-round outreach

And “Hacking for the Holidays” is just one aspect of the mission of Makers Making Change and parent nonprofit The Neil Squire Society: using technology, talent and imagination to empower Canadians with disabilities.

Year-round, Makers Making Change connects people with disabilities with volunteer makers who can create affordable assistive technologies. There’s an open-source library of devices on their website, as well as a list of chapters in both Canada and the U.S.

We had the honor of talking with Chad in 2017, shortly after Makers Making Change launched. At the time, the initiative had begun with a mouth-operated computer input device, the LipSync.

Since then, their growth has been both phenomenal, and exciting.

Makers Making Change now has a STEM program for students, as well as adaptive-gaming learning resources, along with a database of more than 200 open-source assistive devices.

As of 2023, they’re also broken new ground as a leader in Canada’s accessible gaming efforts!

Chad talked about the current “Hacking for the Holidays” program, explained how Makers Making Change is expanding the options available to children with disabilities and shared his vision for the future.

On this edition of Over Coffee®we cover:

• How Makers Making Change has grown since its launch;

• The story of Hacking for the Holidays;

• One of the most “magical” moments of last year’s event;

• A new area of innovation, as Makers Making Change narrows the “digital divide”;

• A preview of this year’s Hacking for the Holidays campaign, and the three main areas in which the volunteers are working;

• Some of the ways “arts”-oriented people can get involved;

• What to expect, when hosting an event;

• One of Chad’s favorite applications of technology;

• The story of the Neil Squire Society;

• How adaptive technology has evolved over the years;

• How VR might be adapted for users with disabilities;

• Hacking for the Holidays deadlines–and other activities in which you can get involved, year-round;

• Chad’s vision for the future of Makers Making Change;

• How Chad and his family are working together on Hacking for the Holidays.