Isaiah is a growing “tween” who loves to test his own strength. At school, he was delighted to test his balance by tipping his chair back on two legs. “We love that Isaiah is curious and likes to experiment.” Said his teacher Ms. Jennifer, “But we knew that sooner or later he was going to tip too far and hurt himself or other students”. Chair tipping was also distracting Isaiah from focusing on his school work. His teacher turned to ADA for help. Luckily, we were able to design and construct an anti tipping base that could help stabilize Isaiah.
“I was king of the chair tippers when I was Isaiah’s age”, said ADA designer, Eric Gottshall. “It’s fun but also dangerous. I have to admit, I did tip over more than once, so I had some ideas in mind to help Isaiah feel free and happy but make his environment safe at the same time.” The anti-tipping base was custom made by Eric who thought not only about safety aspects, but also the aesthetics of the equipment’s design. “We try to make all of our equipment visually appealing as well as useful.” Said Eric. Isaiah loves his new chair. He is still able to test his strength in safe ways and pay closer attention to his learning projects.
Last year, grant funding allowed ADA to build high-complexity custom assistive devices and adaptations like the anti-tipping base for Isaiah’s chair. Custom equipment allows students to focus on their work by better positioning their bodies in comfortable chairs and standers. It’s amazing how customizing equipment can significantly help students with disabilities reach important academic and social goals.
Some adaptive equipment is complex and needs to be fabricated by ADA designers, but other equipment can be assembled by volunteers, providing low cost adaptations that can truly change learning environments for disabled students.
“Im always happy to share statistics demonstrating how we help hundreds of students per year with customized adaptive equipment,” said Jennifer Hercman, Executive Director of ADA, “but what really counts is knowing that each student is realizing their potential with adaptive equipment that we can customize and provide for students like Isaiah”.
Picture Description: In the left picture, a student is using a writing easel to elevate his work so he can see it better. In the right picture is a student using foot plates to help them sit upright in their chair
ADA is grateful for the many individuals, corporate donors and foundations who provide financial support, allowing us to make customized equipment for students in New York. We invite you to come to our workshop in Midtown for a visit. We offer opportunities for corporate teams to come join us and help build equipment together. We hope that with your help, we can continue to help students like Isaiah to thrive and grow.
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