Canadian teen creates video documenting inaccessibility of her school

From Penticton Western News in Canada:

Even in a modern building like the new Penticton Secondary, accessibility issues still crop up, and Tyler Hearn (pictured), a student confined to a wheelchair, sees a lot of them.

She lists drinking fountains that no one in a wheelchair can get to, desks in the computer lab that are hard to use, and even when there is an accessible workstation like in the foods class, it’s at the back of the room behind other desks placed too close together to allow her to manoeuvre her chair easily.

Even the automatic doors designed for accessibility can prove to be a challenge. By the time she presses the button to open the door and moves to go through it, the doorway is flooded by able students.

“All the kids go out before I can get turned around,” she said.

Hearn wanted to make a documentary on the challenges she faces getting through a day of school life. But that idea had its problems — with limited manual dexterity, Hearn isn’t able to steady and operate a video camera.

But her dream may now become a reality, thanks to Special Education Technologies BC and the CanAssist program at the University of Victoria. At the request of SET BC, the research group has designed a support and control setup that can be attached to any wheelchair, allowing even those with limited abilities to control a video camera.

Cory Lane, a CanAssist designer, said this is the 11th unit the group has set up for B.C. students.

“The ability level of all 11 kids has been quite varied, some are physically disabled, some are cognitively disabled, some are both. Either way it allows all the students to use the equipment and actually take photos and video for the first time,” said Lane. “Some just have an easier time to use it than others.”

Lane said the idea came from SET BC, who approached CanAssist with the idea of being able to outfit several students with digital cameras so they could participate in their yearbook class or start working on their journalism skills.

That fit well with CanAssist’s mission, which is improving the quality of life for those with special needs and their families. They do that by either adapting existing equipment to the needs of the individual, or if there is no existing equipment, making something completely from scratch if there isn’t a readily available solution.

“What’s great is that we’ve got technology here that applies to more than one kid,” said Lane, showing how the video equipment can be adapted to almost any chair.

For the most part, the rig is constructed from readily available parts — photographic lighting clamps, tripod parts and a head make up the majority of the support arm. And while the camera is specially selected for its ability to accept a full-featured remote, even it’s an off-the-shelf item.

The remote itself is the key to the whole operation, and was custom built by CanAssist. Just a large rectangular box sporting large easy-to-press buttons, the remote makes it possible for even those with very limited manual dexterity to film, zoom and even take still pictures with the camera.

While Hearn has hopes of becoming something of an advocate for the disabled, developing videos and presentations on the challenges, her brother Chris sees the equipment as a chance for personal expression.

Chris is already using the Paint program on his specially equipped computer to be creative. But even though he has less dexterity than his older sister, he was operating the camera within moments of having it connected to his chair, making plans to post photos to his Facebook page.