\nImagine sitting down for dinner without being able to see or even pick up the salt shaker right in front of you \u2014 that\u2019s a daily reality for the visually impaired and people with severe arthritis.
\nBut Sisler High School students are learning how to make simple tasks such as that easier for everyone, with the help of the University of Cambridge and the University of Winnipeg. Ninety students from grades 9 to 12 just finished a five-day workshop meant to teach inclusive design and engineering.
\nThe two universities joined forces to bring Cambridge\u2019s Designing Our Tomorrow project to the high school \u2014 a project meant to couple engineering, education and inclusivity with hands-on experience. The students were tasked with solving an accessibility issue after experiencing it themselves.
\nThey wore vision-impairing glasses and gloves that simulated arthritis while trying to use a salt shaker or read a medicine bottle.
\nFor Denise Diosana, an 18-year-old recent Sisler grad, it was tough \u2014 but insightful.
\n“Even trying my best to pick up the salt shaker, I couldn\u2019t bend my hand. They can\u2019t see well, they can\u2019t hold things well \u2014 that makes inclusive design all the more important,” she said, referring to people with arthritis or impaired vision.
\nAnd that insight helped her and the rest of the students design and build salt shakers that are easier to pick up and easier to differentiate from pepper shakers.
\nFor the department head of Sisler\u2019s interactive digital media program, Jamie Leduc, the workshop was an opportunity for his students to see that their skills have value.
\n“The students were able to understand that their skills can solve real-world problems,” he said. “They were challenged with something that has direct impact on society.”
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sisleridm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/NEP4339197-1024x632.jpg?resize=640%2C395\")
Sisler High School teacher Jamie Leduc laughs with students Denise Dionasa (left) and Marcelo Aiello as they try to pick up salt and pepper shakers while wearing vision-impairing goggles and dexterity-reducing gloves.
June 13, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nWorldwide, the population of people aged 60 plus is about 915 million and is projected to grow to 2.1 billion by 2050, according to United Nations data.
\nThat means more people developing arthritis and impaired vision and more people needing products designed to be easier to use, Leduc said.
\nFor Ken Reimer, the U of W assistant professor who brought the workshop to Sisler, the project was a way to show the world what Winnipeg has to offer in terms of both students and education programs.
\nReimer, a former vice-principal at the high school, studies and teaches inclusive education. When guest lecturing at the University of Oxford, he heard about Cambridge\u2019s project and it immediately connected with him.
\n“This wasn\u2019t a tool that just tried to input more info in kid\u2019s brains \u2014 this really gives kids a voice,” he said.
\nHe decided to help bring it to Winnipeg. Staff at Cambridge had heard about the U of W, too, through its Lost Prizes project, which seeks out troubled-but-talented high school dropouts and engages them in creative ways.
\n“They\u2019ve identified that what we have is pure gold,” Reimer said, referring to the University of Cambridge.
\nDiosana, now a part-time animator at a New Brunswick-based animation studio, happened to be working on an animation project in the school\u2019s lab. Meanwhile, Sisler teachers, U of W staff and Cambridge staff via videochat trained for the workshop. She ended up training with them and taking part in the workshop.
\nReimer suggested she\u2019s an example of what Winnipeg has to offer.
\nDiosana, an aspiring animation concept designer who\u2019s set to study at Vancouver Film School, said the project challenged her approach to the world.
\n“When you (turn) a door knob, you don\u2019t think about the people who don\u2019t have that ability,” she said. But now ,she does. And besides, she said, some day it might be her or anyone else who can\u2019t perform those simple tasks.
\nerik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Workshop helps teens develop new perspective on vision impairment, arthritis source: https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/business\/sisler-students-get-a-lesson-in-accessibility-485494321.html Imagine sitting down for dinner without being able to see<\/p>\n