This National Science Foundation (NSF) Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Program grant award of $1,091,684 to the Digital Harbor Foundation, Inc. aims to:
Create three accessible community makerspaces in Baltimore for youth and young adults with autism.
Develop accessible technology-rich STEM learning activities for learners with autism and an educator training program to prepare out-of-school time educators to deliver these activities.
Study the impact of the activities on learners' empowerment and STEM attitudes/engagement, as well as the training's impact on educators' self-efficacy and preparedness to deliver accessible STEM programming.
The project will directly impact 90 youth/young adults with autism and 20 educators/experts. It will result in a design framework, lessons learned, research findings, and an educator training module to support the development of accessible makerspaces and activities at other sites. This collaborative project involves partners such as the University of Maryland Baltimore County, Kennedy Krieger Institute, GWWO Architects, and MN Associates.