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Project Pixan in action: Adaptive Design Center in Yucatan
Perkins International partners with local government to open first adaptive design center in Yucatan.
For children with physical disabilities and sensory impairments, a personalized chair, a small tray or a simple device can make life and play accessible. In a special collaboration with the Secretary of Education of Yucatan, Perkins has established the first state of the art, adaptive design center in Mexico.
Located in the city of Merida, the Center will build and provide ultra-low-cost adaptive furniture and equipment from locally available materials, all custom-built for individual children with physical disabilities in the state of Yucatan. The Adaptive Design Center will be informed by the expertise of Perkins’ own assistive device workshop, which has been building life-changing furniture from simple cardboard since the 1980s.
A partnership with the Autonomous University of Yucatan will allow the Center to have interns from this prestigious academic institution.
Under the oversight of the Secretary of Education, and in close collaboration with teachers and families, this pilot can serve as a model for other states and regions across Mexico.
Perkins President and CEO, Dave Power, and Yucatan’s Secretary of Education, Liborio Vidal, officially opened the Adaptive Design Center in Merida on October 21, 2021. The Center, and everything created there, is dedicated to the universal right to quality education and to an inclusive, sustainable future for all children of Yucatan.
In Mexico, Perkins is partnering to increase access to quality education for children with multiple disabilities.
