Adapted Video Camera Project
The initiative is sponsored by Special Education Technology BC (SET-BC), a
Ministry of Education Provincial Resource Program. SET-BC approached CanAssist
in 2008 to adapt standard video cameras so that students with various types of
special needs could practice their reporting skills.In response, CanAssist engineers designed a mounting system that holds a video camera inplace and can be easily attached to a user's wheelchair. The researchers also created a control panel with large, easy-to-push buttons that operate functions such as recording, zooming in and out, taking still photos, and turning the system on and off. In addition, each of the young reporters received CanAssist umbrella holders, which attach to their wheelchairs to protect them and their equipment from sun or rain.
"It amazes me, what Sidney can do now," says Jeanette Salsman, Special Education Assistant for one of the teens. "She navigates the camera system all on her own, she zooms in and out and takes pictures and videos."
Sidney, who has cerebral palsy, has quickly become adept
at taking photos and video footage at her school and in her community. Most recently, the student who attends Alberni District Secondary School covered a friend's gymnastics class. She's
also working on a documentary that focuses on her experience with the camera.
"Using the camera system is really expanding Sidney's boundaries," Jeanette explains. "And I've noted an improvement in her dexterity and her willingness to try to use her hands."
Funding for the video cameras and their adaptations was provided to SET-BC by a generous grant from Ronald McDonald House Charities.
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