Aledo High School robotics team reconfiguring toys for children with disabilities

ALEDO, Texas - A team of students in North Texas is making play fun for some young children with disabilities. The students are using robotics to customize playtime.

They’re an Aledo High School robotics team called the Circuit Breakers.   

"They were looking for something they could do to help the community," explained teacher Julie Reynolds.

They’re reconfiguring toddler toys, making them user-friendly with big red buttons for special needs children, like 2-year-old Evalyn Scuderi. She lives with a condition similar to Down syndrome called Trisomy 18.

"These boys are amazing," said Amber Scuderi, Evalyn’s mom. "It started out as just trying to get her some toys that she could independently play with. And then her birthday came on New Year’s Eve, and it turned into a fun little project where we can actually give these to other kids with her diagnosis, which is awesome."

"It’s, I think, up to 50 toys now," said team member Carter Levy. "So we’ve got quite a lot of work."

"I’ll be honest. It’s a little rough sometimes, especially because a lot of these toys have a little entry piece and is different in a way," said team member Johnny Reed. "So when we get one toy to work, it’s great. And now we have this exact same toy so we can replicate that."

Levy first saw the request Amber posted on Facebook. 

A simple job prompted an idea to help more special needs children. That led to donations of more toys and red buttons. 

There are toys for sale geared toward special needs children. However, they are pricey. 

"A $9 toy can be like $40," Levy said. "So we’re here just doing something nice because it’s such a small thing, but it adds up."

And from another perspective, the work happening here is priceless.

Amber says by Evalyn getting used to using the reconfigured toys, it's also helping her build toward being able to use a communication device.