The Technothèque’s Young Video Game Experts Club

Background and Summary of the Project

Makers Making Change, an organization dedicated to assistive technologies, has identified a critical need: young people with disabilities who are passionate about video games lack opportunities to apply their expertise and develop technical skills, while also facing barriers due to the inaccessibility of games.

This project addresses this need by creating a Young Experts Club at the Technothèque of the Marie Enfant Rehabilitation Center, where participants will become co-creators of accessibility solutions. Our cross-sectoral approach brings together rehabilitation (CRME), engineering (Makers Making Change), and the video game industry (Affordance Studio). Teenagers with disabilities, serving as mentors, will guide younger children in the design and 3D printing of accessible adaptations.

This participatory approach transforms the usual recipients of services into agents of change capable of tangibly reducing the digital barriers they encounter daily, while developing their independence and social skills.

Objectives

This project has three specific objectives:

1. Collaborate with adolescents and clinicians to develop a group intervention on a project-by-project basis;

2. Assess the feasibility of implementing it at the CRME;

3. Assess its effectiveness in supporting adolescents’ needs for independence, competence, and social belonging.

Planned deliverables

The team will produce four main deliverables:

• A new GAME Checkpoint that enables the creation of customized accessibility solutions for CRME clients.
  This initiative expands the Technothèque’s service offerings and addresses a need identified by the partner organization.

• The Club is a deliverable for CRME, serving as a new service offering for teenagers.
  This new service offering directly addresses CRME’s identified need to expand its intervention options for teenagers.

• A practical guide, accompanied by a video and technical sheets, describing the procedures for creating and implementing the Club.
  For Makers Making Change, these resources will facilitate knowledge transfer and the development of other similar Clubs.

• A personalized letter of recommendation describing the expertise acquired by each mentor.
  A letter will serve as proof of mentoring experience and will enhance their CV.

Scientific Publications and Conferences

An open-access publication and at least one presentation at a local or provincial conference will help share the project’s findings, inspire the community, and provide mentors with opportunities to contribute to the dissemination of knowledge.

Expected Results / Expected Outcomes

For participants

The twenty or so young participants serving as mentors will have the opportunity to develop practical skills applicable to both their professional and personal lives: in 3D printing, digital design, and creative problem-solving. They will also expand their social network and build connections with other young people who share their interests.

For a wider range of beneficiaries:

• These accessibility solutions will benefit the hundreds of other young users of the Technothèque and their families.
• The adapted designs developed will be shared openly through the Makers Making Change network, allowing people across Canada to access these low-cost solutions and replicate them.
• The participants’ families will gain a better understanding of the opportunities for their child to adapt and participate in society.
• Establishing a replicable Club model that can be adopted by other GAME Checkpoints across Canada will enable other young people with disabilities to benefit from similar opportunities.