SALEM, Va. – There was a particular supply at Virginia Heights Elementary Faculty Tuesday morning as Roanoke Faculty college students hand-delivered items to children, however they weren’t your common toys.
The toys are donated by way of a volunteer-driven campus partnership referred to as Toy Like Me, which modifies toys for kids with disabilities.
“Once we modify a toy we use home goods, numerous these listening to aids are simply buttons, however when the youngsters see them, they see themselves,” stated Frances McCutcheon, Roanoke Faculty Lecturer of Biology.
Whether or not it’s listening to aids, cochlear implants, or different modifications, the toys are a solution to make each youngster really feel accepted and included.
“It’s so customized, and it’s so particular and impactful for them to see one thing that they love that appears much like them and has tools like they do,” stated Anne Travers, Virginia Heights instructor of deaf and laborious of listening to college students.
College students in Roanoke Faculty’s Toy Like Me program modified round 400 toys this 12 months and stated it’s greater than offering a present for the vacations – it’s about illustration.
“It’s actually all the time me to work with children with disabilities to attempt to give them a voice,” stated Victoria Falb, Vice President of Toy Like Me.
“I’ve already had a lot enjoyable with the youngsters and have discovered a lot about Pikachu and all of the completely different toys so it’s been superior, it’s been an awesome expertise,” stated Hope Keller, President of Toy Like Me.
An expertise the youngsters will always remember.
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