Interactive and Open-Ended Sensory Toys: Designing with Therapists and Children for Tangible and Visual Interaction

Treating neurological conditions like cerebral visual impairment (CVI) and related disabilities is a complex challenge where the needs of the affected persons have to be considered individually. It is also commonly agreed that stimulating the body's senses, as part of early intervention programs, is a crucial activity in therapy. With this paper, we add to the literature on how tangible and embodied interaction can facilitate such stimulation of the body and provide engaging experiences for children with (multiple) disabilities. Our report entails a detailed description of a co-design process involving early intervention specialists and affected children over the course of six months and multiple prototype iterations. According to our participants, the strengths of the resulting products or therapeutic toys are their open-endedness and versatile applicability, meeting individual needs and making therapeutic sessions both enriching and fun for the children.