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Imagine using a piece of cardboard to improve the mobility of a child with a disability.

Staff at Ryerson's Early Learning Centre (ELC), a program of the School of Early Childhood Education (ECE), have discovered the power of cardboard in helping children with disabilities sit up, be independent and interact with their peers. The multi-purpose adaptive designs are customized for each child and enable children with disabilities to participate more fully in home, school and community life. The adaptive designs are made using layered cardboard, glue, a box cutter and non-toxic acrylic paints. With these materials, two chairs, an easel with two interchangeable desk tops and a computer kiosk have been created at the ELC to allow children with special needs to use the recycled equipment as supports to help them build balance, develop their motor skills and interact with others. So far, the ELC is the only childcare facility in Canada using adaptive design techniques.

"The equipment is constantly evolving but the amazing thing is that it's cardboard so it's very cheap and accessible. The goal is to continue developing equipment for children with special needs. We want to develop equipment so it changes and evolves along with the child," said Alison Gaston, a teacher-preceptor in the ELC and master's student in early childhood studies. "The beauty of adaptive design is anyone can make it."

Adaptive design has turned into a collaborative project that has fostered a community of learners. Designers from across the university including representatives from Campus Planning and Facilities, the School of Fashion as well as ECE undergraduates have helped create prototypes and large-scale models. Ultimately, designers would like to organize workshops to teach others how to make equipment and include the concept in course curriculum to understand the pedagogy behind it. Gaston says the goal is to expand the service to an international level where equipment for children with disabilities isn't as accessible.

"Everyone's had a role in this. We want to take it as far as we can for other children," Gaston said.

ECE professor Jason Nolan enlisted the help of Gaston, who in turn partnered with fellow ELC teacher-preceptor Anthony Randall to embrace the use of the durable and lightweight customized equipment. Nolan started working with the Adaptive Design Association in 2008, joining their advisory board this year, after first coming across the adaptive design concept at a conference in New York. Adaptive design is now part of Ryerson's Experiential Design and Gaming Environments (EDGE) Lab, which he directs. The EDGE Lab's adaptive design studio space will open in Kerr Hall in early January 2011.

Although the equipment is available for all the children at the ELC to use, one child has really benefitted from it. Three-and-a-half-year-old Zoe Ross was born with a chromosomal defect that slowed her developmental skills. Unable to sit or walk on her own, Zoe had difficulty interacting with her peers and joining her nursery mates in activities. She has used the adaptive design equipment for the past year and has made impressive progress. The equipment has helped develop her core and muscle endurance, increased her mobility and improved her arm strength, making it possible for her to play with other children.

"It has become an amazing tool for social inclusion. Peer interactions have improved and accelerated the learning process of a child. It's a continual development. If we limit our possibilities then we can't see the scope of what we're doing. Until we have the pedagogy behind it, we can't do justice to what's being done," Gaston said. "As we continue to go forward, it'll be interesting to see where our research leads us and how many more people, children we can affect. We're only limited by our imagination."

Gaston presented her work on adaptive design at the DIY Citizenship: Critical Making and Social Media conference Nov. 11-14.