The Unified Division of FIRST Access exposes engineering, programming and robotics to students with and without intellectual disabilities and fosters a neurodiverse work environment promoting social inclusion. Partners (students without intellectual disabilities) work alongside SOTX Athletes (students with intellectual disabilities) in one-to-one partnerships to build robots. The Unified pairs work in small teams of students (equal number of Athletes and Partners) using approved FIRST Access robotics kits. Each team designs, builds, and programs their own robot to compete in one of the FIRST in Texas “FIRST Access” robotics competitions. Participating teams in the Unified Division of FIRST in Texas* may have the opportunity to participate in local events and/or be invited to participate in the UIL Robotics State Championship event against other teams in the program. At the Championship, each Unified team presents their robot and team attributes to judges and competes in a tournament-style competition.
