ABOUT
While riding my bike one day, I saw what I thought were swooping birds in my peripheral vision. My retina was detaching, and I was experiencing “floaters”, but I didn’t know that. All I knew was that my vision was changing. It got me thinking about blindness. What would I do if I became blind? Well, I knew from my experience volunteering with Ignite Adaptive Sports that I would still alpine ski, and continue many of my other outdoor passions. But what about my indoor passion for jigsaw puzzles? With patience, I could still put the puzzle pieces together, but to what end? I wouldn’t have a picture to enjoy as the fruit of my labor. But …. what if a tactile picture was the reward for all that hard work? I had a 3D printer, so I thought of how I could design and 3D print tactile jigsaw puzzles for the blind.
After graduating from college, I worked as a biomedical engineer, designing instruments and implants for orthopedic surgeries. Then I became a stay-at-home mom, raising three pretty great kids. Lastly, I became certified as an occupational therapy assistant. By this time, I had a pretty good track record of recognizing problems and generating creative solutions. I love learning and being challenged. After I recovered from my retinal surgery, I was more than ready, and excited, to combine my skill sets to explore a potential opportunity.
I had learned about the Colorado Center for the Blind through my volunteering with Ignite Adaptive Sports. I reached out to the Center to see if I could get prototypes in front of some of their students to receive feedback. It was so fun! In my learning, I discovered that offering bigger pieces was beneficial for the newly blind and that providing a base/frame to place the pieces in was also helpful. Including braille added another element of interest for those learning braille, or for those wanting to use it as a hint for how the puzzle would fit together. Their feedback was invaluable, and I appreciate the Center’s willingness to grant me the opportunity I needed to help develop my puzzles.
This summer I attended the National Federation for the Blind’s annual conference and introduced my puzzles to not only blind and visually impaired individuals, but to parents and teachers of blind children as well. I’m excited to reach these different audiences, hoping to make a positive difference by enhancing practical skills such as tactile and braille literacy, spatial awareness, fine motor coordination, and cognition. More importantly, my goal is to share my love of puzzles, and offer blind individuals the opportunity to enjoy the satisfaction of putting things together in a way that results in a picture borne of their patience and determination.