Product Set-up and Summary
Purpose Throughout the first half of the year, my studies had been dedicated towards all of the aspects, especially psychological, of Occupational Therapy. For my original work, I created a virtual three-dimensional model of a “Sensory Room” using Google Sketchup. In the room, I incorporated multiple structures that allow children to develop both fine and broad motor skills while interacting with a relaxing and sensory-invoking environment. For my final product, I constructed the physical model of this room. Upon completion, I presented both the model and the information pamphlets I created to the public in Frisco Commons. I allowed younger children to interact with my small structure while I explained its function to their parents. Therefore, the purpose of my product was to serve as an inspiration of ways that parents and families in my community can incorporate activities into their households in order to help develop the motor skills and sensory awareness of their children. Inspiration In the original development of my product, I was incredibly inspired by the office of Occupational Therapist Elissa Cashman and my observations of my mentor. From my visit to Mrs. Cashman’s office, I received great inspiration for the concept of a small room filled with toys dedicated to improving the motor skills of children. After an observation of one of her patients who was unable to speak, I took note of the sign language she used to communicate and translated it to the inclusion of braille into my model because I wanted it to be inclusive of children of all ability levels. A significant thing I took from one of my mentor visits was the extreme precautions taken to keep the patient safe when they are independent, further reassuring me that it was not overkill to cover the entire exposed floor of my structure with foam. I could not have effectively executed my product without the inspiration I took from my interactions with these successful Occupational Therapists. Materials After countless trips to department stores and craft supplies shops, I accumulated all the materials I would need to execute my final product. I purchased most of the framework materials, such as wooden boards and pipes, from Lowe's. Then, I found most of the supplies for the more intricate details at craft stores such as Michaels and Joann. I ended up not being able to find everything I needed at any particular moment at the same store, so the creation of my product required many separate trips around the city on different occasions. However, due to my dad being an enthusiast of engineering, I already had several tools such as power drills and small metal pieces in my garage. For the second major phase of my product development, the public presentation, I utilized a quality color printer to make many copies of my informational pamphlet to pass out to families at Frisco Commons. Description of Process I began with three 2’x2’ wooden planks and screwed them together to form half of a cube shape. I then measured and cut out a square of foam that covered the entire floor of the room except for several marked patches that I would eventually use to secure components to the hardwood floor. To finish the padded floor component, I covered the foam with a soft grey fabric. I then painted the inside walls a pale teal shade that resembles the color of my digital model and the outside walls muted grey. After the framework of my structure was completed, I moved on to creating the interactive components. I began with the squishy chair by cutting pieces of foam poster-board into the shape of the chair’s skeleton. Next, I sewed the individual light green cushions together using a sewing machine and finally glued them onto the chair’s frame. Lastly, I secured the chair into the structure. I attached the textured buttons to both the inside and outside of the chair for an added sensory experience. Next, I attached the drawing board to the wall and set up the crayon box beside it. This was a relatively straight-forward task. During the same work session, I began to work on the curved beaded wire. I quickly found out through trial-and-error that I would not be able to secure the wire onto the floor and expect it to stand up vertically without bending or tipping over time. I also realized that I could not make too wide of a shape out of the wire without it collapsing upon itself, so I decided to have the wire run across two points on the wall of the structure. That way, gravity could not pull down my structure and it would maintain the curved shape I initially gave it. I strung colorful beads on it before finally securing it tightly to the wall. Next, I began the most technically challenging part of my project: the spinning chair. I needed to come up with a way to make a chair spin smoothly upon a straight vertical axis but I did not have a huge budget for specialty mechanical equipment. I eventually discovered that I could greatly reduce the amount of friction in the rotation by placing one pipe inside a slightly larger one and setting several small marbles inside the large pipe and under the small pipe. With the small pipe resting upon the marbles, it was able to rotate freely within the larger pipe with minimal friction. I then attached the pink dome-shaped seat to the end of the smaller pipe so that it would rotate along with the spinning pipe. I then added the final details to my product by attaching the string lights to the upper edges. Results Since the purpose of my product was to inspire the parents and families in my community with ways to improve the sensory awareness and motor skills of their young children, the final and most significant step in the development of my product was the public display in Frisco Commons. After I set up my display, I was initially discouraged due to the lack of people expressing interest in my product. However, I soon realized that I might have much more success in spreading my message if I were to set up my display on a bench directly in the entryway of Hope Park, the playground of Frisco Commons. By doing so, I was able to catch the attention of both parents and their children as they entered the playground. I was actually very surprised by the people most attracted to my display: children. They were likely quickly drawn to it because of the alluring drawing board and sparkling string lights, even though the lights were hardly visible in the light of day. After the children came over to my display, their parents followed and I had the opportunity to explain the functions and real-world applications of the components of my product. To my surprise, the younger children were often equally interested in Occupational Therapy and what I had created as their parents. After I passed out informational pamphlets, one girl noticed the qr-code to my website on the back cover and told me I was “going to become internet famous.” Although she was exaggerating, her vibrant reaction reassured me that I was very effective in getting my message across. Real-World Application Hopefully, my completion of this product has inspired the parents of my community with ways to improve the sensory awareness and motor skills of their young children. One of the societal factors that initially helped to stress the need for a product like this was the overuse of technology by younger generations. Often, when a child is stressed or irritable, parents find it the easier solution to simply hand them a phone or tablet to play games or watch television on. However, this severely inhibits the development of their social and motor skills. Social skills are harmed because children become accustomed to a lack of interpersonal interaction and motor skills are deteriorated by a lack of frequent full-body movement and the state of sitting in a rigid position for long amounts of time. Components such as the squishy chair hopefully inspire the public with ways to calm children when they are irritable, and the spinning chair hopefully encourages the public to be more physically-interactive with their children. Through the execution and public display of my final product, I am confident that I have made significant strides in my knowledge of Pediatric Occupational Therapy and had a profound impact on the parents of the Frisco community. |
Pictured below - Completed Final Product
Pictured below - Me Presenting in Frisco Commons
|