'It's incredible': Spokane Valley teen takes it upon himself to create sensory aid for blind classmate

With some spare wood from a Career and Technical Education class, a student at University High School made a device that changed a classmate's life.

At the beginning of his senior year, Camren Breeden noticed Daniel, a blind student at U-High, struggling to navigate the hallways and classrooms with a homemade sensory aid, made from PVC pipe and scooter wheels.

"His walker gets stuck in the cracks; it was kind of flimsy," Breeden said. "I'd see him at lunch, wheeling around, and I thought it could be updated."

Breeden, who was in Eric Puyear's CTE class, immediately began working on a replacement for Daniel. And he had a personal reason that pushed him to pursue the project.

"My uncle is also blind, and he's pretty high functioning because he has something to help him walk normally without having to have his hands out," Breeden said.

Breeden took classes from Puyear last school year and was also coached by Puyear in football and track, so the two had a relationship that made it easier to do the project.

"I like working with my hands," Breeden said. "I spent a lot of time in the shop with my dad growing up."

The replacement is a sort of wooden walker, made with a square platform with three wheels attached to its floor that pivot and turn in any direction, and handles that are the right height for Daniel's hands.

"I kind of designed it based on a lawnmower, because that's what I use," Breeden said. "I just designed it to make things more accessible for him."

The current design, Puyear said, is in the "beta" phase.

"When you're dealing with a new design, you deal with what I call the four F's: form, fit, function and fashion. And that fashion aspect always comes at the end," Puyear said. "It's functional, but we've got updates to do."

Puyear bought the wheels for the aid himself. He's already thinking about the wheels he'll buy for the next model, which he and Breeden are planning on making for Daniel and another visually impaired student at the school.

Daniel's comprehensive education teacher, Heidi Downey, was floored by the project.

"This is crazy commendable and so rare," Downey said. "It's the whole reason for inclusion."

Daniel is nonverbal and was born seeing, but lost his ability to see during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, he's been navigating the world without his eyes, using different sensory devices and other people to help guide him to classes.

"He was being led around by holding onto people," Downey said. "That's not appropriate. He needed autonomy to access his surroundings; that's such a big deal."

And while the PVC pipe contraption was all they had for Daniel to use, an updated sensory aid was definitely needed. But it was surprising to Downey that the update came from two people who didn't know or work with Daniel at all.

"Mr. Puyear and Camren, they don't know me. They have no prior history with Daniel. It's just, truly a kid who saw someone in the hallway and thought they could help him. It's incredible," Downey said.

Daniel, according to Downey, came to University last spring. This has been his first full year at the high school.

Now, because of Breeden and Puyear, Daniel can walk the hallways at school with a sensory aid that turns with him, that doesn't tip over when he walks with it, and is another stepping stone to independence.

"Isn't this what you want in the world?" asked Downey. "Someone who grows up and sees a neighbor, sees a kid in their community and instead of only seeing a difference, they ask themselves how they can help them?"

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