Following two hugely successful shows last year and the year before, the Nottingham Trent University Year 2 Design & Technology Education students had kindly invited us to attend this year’s End of Year Show. The event took place in the Newton Building, City Site, on 6th June 2014, which featured an exciting collection of work presented in an inspiring exhibition alongside those from other Art & Design courses.

The Sensory Toys for Children with Autism project (above) was a great example of how Electronics can aid learning, as Kate explains: ‘Autism is a developmental condition that affects the way a person perceives the world and interacts with other people. One of the ways it does this is by distorting perceptions of senses, causing people with autism to either hypo- or hyper- experience senses. I first noticed this in the autistic child of a family friend. I saw that he struggled to cope with loud noises, strong smells, rough textured clothes and other sensory stimuli; and that sometimes this affects the way he interacts with other children. My product range aims to reduce sensory stresses and encourage interaction between autistic children and their neurotypical peers’.

Not only do Kate’s toys look fantastic, but they also have various sensory outputs such as vibration motors and LEDs that have been carefully chosen to suit children with multiple sensory issues.