ST. LOUIS —Saint Louis University faculty and students are striving to build more equity into play. 

SLU students in the occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech, language and hearing sciences programs worked interprofessionally to adapt off-the-shelf toys. They distributed the toys to children with disabilities and their families at a community event in partnership with St. Louis Arc's Capable Kids and Family program on Saturday, Nov. 4, at the Delmar Divine, 5501 Delmar Blvd.

Jessica Barreca, DPT, pediatric physical therapist and program manager at SLU’s Center for Interprofessional Education and Research, led the inaugural project. 

“If you buy an adapted toy, it can cost five times as much. Adapted switch toys range from $75 to $300 in a catalog, and then the switch is often extra, which costs about $75 as well,” Barreca said. “So, they are creative individuals who figured out how you can adapt these off-the-shelf toys.”

Barreca is referring to Dana Chole, a physical therapist she met at the University of Missouri – Columbia (Mizzou) who, along with her husband, Eric, and Rachel Hughes, a physical therapist, founded SWITCHED adapted toys in 2018.

The original SWITCHED chapter in Columbia, Missouri, was launched through Pascale's Pals, a local charity devoted to helping children in their community who are in the hospital. SWITCHED has now expanded to include chapters at SLU and Rockhurst University.

A dancing chicken and cactus were among the toys displayed on tables at SLU’s OT Media Lab. Barreca removed the stuffing from one toy, waiting to be adapted. She exposed wires attached to a button, which she says were to be soldered together with a Mono Jack by students who have volunteered to stop by in between classes to assist with the toy build. 

“Our kiddos with physical or motor impairments often utilize a wheelchair and can't play independently,” said Sarah Zimmerman, OTD, assistant professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at SLU. “But if we can give them a switch, they can activate it.”

Zimmerman collaborated on the project along with Christina Loveless, assistant clinical professor of speech pathology, and Rebecca Frisella, assistant clinical professor of speech pathology at SLU. From a speech perspective, Barreca adds adapted toys will help children learn cause and effect, which can be a precursor to how they use assistive technology for speech moving forward.

Barreca foresees expanding the project to host workshops to teach parents, early intervention providers and childhood teachers how to adapt toys.

The St. Louis Rotary Club and MO Better Foundation funded this project.