{"id":55186,"date":"2025-12-08T13:54:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T13:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/55186\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T13:54:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T13:54:07","slug":"students-adapt-toys-for-students-with-disabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/55186\/","title":{"rendered":"Students adapt toys for students with disabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jonah Gates stared intently at the plush toy sitting on the table in front of him.<\/p>\n

The 16-year-old junior at Exeter High School studied the stuffed, bright yellow chicken, making sure the electronics hidden within it \u2014 the ones that allow it to squawk at the push of a button \u2014 were in working order.<\/p>\n

His troubleshooting uncovered a problem, so he quickly went about soldering a wire that had come loose back into place before passing the toy on down the assembly line.<\/p>\n

Gates was one cog in a multistep process Friday, joining a few dozen other students \u2014 ranging from middle school to college \u2014 who toiled away adapting toys so they can be enjoyed by everyone.<\/p>\n

\"StudentsStudents assemble reassemble during the Berks County Intermediate Unit\u2019s Toy Adaptation Day at the BCIU main office, 111 Commons Blvd., Muhlenberg Township, on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

The project, which took place at the Berks County Intermediate Unit, aimed to change store-bought plush toys that make noise with the press of a small button into ones that use larger, easier to press buttons so they can be used by kids with disabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome students don\u2019t have the fine motor skills, the dexterity to press a small button,\u201d explained Katie Kehm, program administrator at the BCIU.<\/p>\n

This year was the third straight that local students combined forces to tackle the project, which sought to adapt a total of 70 toys. The chickens, Elmos and Cookie Monster toys will be given to local students with disabilities.<\/p>\n

This year, students from Fleetwood Middle School, Exeter High School, Penn State Berks University\u2019s Futures in Engineering: Role-models Can Empower (FIERCE) organization and the BCIU\u2019s Pathways to Adult Living (PAL) program teamed up for the project.<\/p>\n

Back in September, they gathered at Penn State Berks to learn about how the toys work and how toys can be adapted for kids with dexterity issues. In November, they gathered again to develop a prototype.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, we\u2019re just putting it together,\u201d Kehm said.<\/p>\n

The students taking part in the effort said they were excited to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s really cool that we get to do it and it helps a lot of people,\u201d Gates said.<\/p>\n

Claire Costa, a 21-year-old junior at Penn State Berks from New Tripoli, Lehigh County, said she found it rewarding to work with younger students who one day my follow her path and study engineering.<\/p>\n

\"ClaireClaire Costa, 21, of New Tripoli, Lehigh County, and a third-year student at Penn State Berks, assembles an adapted pushbutton during the Berks County Intermediate Unit\u2019s Toy Adaptation Day at the BCIU main office, 111 Commons Blvd., Muhlenberg Township, on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great to see the impact you have on them,\u201d she said. \u201cWe inspire them, and they inspire us, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she enjoyed the problem-solving aspect of the project, noting that engineering is all about finding ways to address problems.<\/p>\n

Aedan Jobes, a 19-year-old PAL student from Birdsboro, said he enjoyed the idea of building something, adding that most of his previous experience in that area was limited to Legos.<\/p>\n

\"AedanAedan Jobes, 19, of Birdsboro, looks over completed toys during the Berks County Intermediate Unit\u2019s Toy Adaptation Day at the BCIU main office, 111 Commons Blvd., Muhlenberg Township, on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very interesting,\u201d he said. \u201cIt gives me a new perspective on building things.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jonah Gates stared intently at the plush toy sitting on the table in front of him. The 16-year-old…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,227,182,139,28,128,130,129,706],"class_list":{"0":"post-55186","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reading","8":"tag-berks-county","9":"tag-education","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-pennsylvania","13":"tag-reading-city","14":"tag-reading-city-headlines","15":"tag-reading-city-news","16":"tag-top-stories-reg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}