Toys with adapted switches make it child's play for children with disabilities

In 2021, when Ms Cheryl Chia started work as an occupational therapist, she watched as some children with cognitive disabilities struggled to play with some toys.

- Syarafana Shafeeq

They could not play with them like other children do, as grasping or pressing small buttons posed a huge challenge.

Ms Chia, 28, looked for suitable toys online but found the higher cost to be unsustainable.

Finding inspiration in a moment of frustration, the employee at social service agency Awwa looked up videos on how to adapt toys into versions that her clients could play with.

After a month of research and experimentation, and two hours of fiddling with batteries and switches, she completed her first adaptive toy. The end product was a unicorn-shaped bubble blower that she had modified to include a large switch that children with disabilities would have an easier time playing with.

She said: "Seeing the joy and excitement on my clients' faces when they interacted with it for the first time was incredibly rewarding.

"Many people forget that the main occupation of a child is to play!" Modifying a toy now takes her only 10 to 20 minutes, down from two hours in the beginning.