Assistive Communication Abacus (ACA)

By Bianca Handel

Industrial Design
Canberra Grammar School - Year 12
The ACA was designed in response to the lack of educational products that focus on alternative means of communication that aren’t technologically reliant, as well as increased rates of a condition known as Alexithymia in neurodivergent children. The ACA features a storage box with coloured boxes that are used to store the various bead designs. To communicate, the child or adult moves the beads along the brass rod to correspond with a level of pain, noise, or emotion. These tiles are interchangeable, as are the beads, which is important for maintaining personalisation and engaging children.

136-Bianca-Handel.pdf