Building Inclusion: Al Sigl’s LiveAbility Lab
On August 14th, Al Sigl welcomed project volunteers and community partners to the opening of a new exhibition space for our LiveAbility Lab. Located next to the ArcDeli café at our Golisano Campus on Elmwood Avenue, the space is open to the public during café hours.
“The event marked an exciting evolution in Al Sigl’s collaboration with Rochester Institute of Technology,” notes Dr. Dan Phillips, RIT’s Faculty Associate for Effective Access Technology. For years, people of all ages and abilities taking part in Al Sigl Member Agency programs have identified access technology project ideas focused on barriers to inclusion. In addition to suggesting projects, they also meet with interdisciplinary teams from RIT to give feedback on design solutions in progress or test prototypes.
On display are several prototypes, ranging from sensory toys to an automatic toilet paper dispenser, to a modular kitchen design with work stations movable to different heights, and more. Community volunteers from organizations including Endless Highway and the Rochester Spinal Association have often joined in to help refine and test designs.
“These ideas start as challenges and emerge as solutions,” says Tom O’Connor, President of Al Sigl Community of Agencies. “This effort began when Al Sigl Board Member, the late Dr. Barry Culhane, and thenPresident Dan Meyers, envisioned an innovative partnership between Al Sigl and RIT that continues to inspire students, faculty and community volunteers today.”
He continues, “Our first two RIT co-op students spent a semester visiting our Member Agencies to gather project ideas. They both said that the experience was life-changing; one even helped form a start-up that is now a commercial success, ThermApparel. So we thought every co-op would be similar, yet over a decade later we have hundreds of ideas, projects and prototypes, many ready for commercial development. Our next challenge is to find stewards for projects ready for this new phase, and to develop more pathways to partnership, so our work together can have an even greater impact.”
To learn more, visit alsigl.org/LiveAbility-Lab .
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