Abstract:

During the past 10 years, education in Mexico is looking to reduce disadvantages on persons with disabilities (INEGI, 2004; Brogno, 2005, Rincón, 2004). However the efforts and resources, the problems are exacerbated in vulnerable and marginalized population, as in the state of Oaxaca where there is a huge backlog of schooling for children with disabilities (INEGI, 2011). The Mexican education system provides special education programs to children with special needs at the Centro de Atención Múltiple (CAM). The aim of this institution is to teach children with special needs to achieve primary skills for daily activities and provide them job training. The major problem faced by these centers is that they don’t have enough equipment to reach the education goals of children. On the other hand, the children only receive stimulation in school because most of the families have no material support at home. Because of that, the CAM needs strategies to provide tools to help children to develop skills within and outside the school. The project presented involves professional research in different areas, like: graphic design, industrial design, architecture, psychology and pedagogy. It is focused on designing materials to avoid cognitive, motor and sensory problems on children with disabilities at the CAM-04 located in the Mixteca region of Oaxaca, Mexico. The methodology used is based on a multidisciplinary plan; focus on the study of the sensory damage (vision, hearing, taste, smell, touch, and its relationship to cognitive and motor system). With this methodology we recognize sensory problems on the children of the CAM, and design the required equipment for a sensory room for disabled children. As a result, the research was applied on developing new teaching materials for children to overcome their limitations. The teaching materials had been adapted to the children of the CAM requirements, like: easy to play, inexpensive, durable and attractive. To support the family incomes, parents can make their own teaching materials for the children’s stimulation activities at home. On conclusion, the development of a sensory space in special education centers gives new opportunities to stimulation the senses of the children with disabilities.

Keywords:

Disability, sensory stimulation, education, design, research.