Play Imagined: Enabling Children Through Explorations into Creative Participatory Design Methods

This thesis essay and accompanying project explore the use of a generative toolkit designed to involve children with disabilities in the design process. A generative toolkit includes an assemblage of visual materials including several pages of word stickers, carefully selected images, basic shapes, coloured paper and a space on which to arrange them. This thesis is part of a larger ongoing study involving collaboration with children to design a play space in the therapy department at Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children in Vancouver, BC. Discussed are the modifications to the toolkit and iterative testing, to determine the function and accessibility of the components. The insights of this study come from recognizing the collaboration between two seemingly different disciplines, industrial design and occupational therapy. "Adults often underestimate the ability of a child or youth to meaningfully contribute to decision-making and research. This may lead to the design of objects and environments that reflect more of an adults" view of the world, rather than acknowledging the valuable perspectives that children have to offer. While involving children with disabilities in research activities may present challenges, efforts to empower them and provide a measure of control over their physical world can contribute to their sense of well-being. Input from children with disabilities can contribute valuable insight to inform the design of products and environments that are meaningful and relevant for them. "Building on Sanders and Stappers" (2008) approach to co-design and generative toolkits, this essay offers a listing of practical suggestions for research and design teams who wish to bring the input of children with disabilities into the design process. The findings consider the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Function, Disability and Health framework, the practical and ethical issues involved when researching with children and youth with disabilities. The research can be extended to develop inclusive toolkits for adults with physical and cognitive limitations, and the elderly. The results could contribute to the increased quality of products for independent living, multi-sensory, communication and positioning and mobility equipment. Additional applications include the design of healthcare education programs, services, knowledge transfer materials, and adaptations to the built environment for accessibility. Implications also involve the area of designing for social impact, including international health, where communication may be limited due to physical, cognitive, social and cultural factors. This study, which employs concepts from the sociology of childhood, theory of affordances, person-centered practice, and sensory integration, illustrates that the toolkit is a valuable, creative and visual method with application for children with disabilities in participatory design.