Real Impact: Success Stories
See how Enabletech's innovative devices are transforming lives daily.
David, 38, had been in a nursing home for 12 years with quadriplegia caused by a spinal cord injury. He wanted to be able to operate a computer. In cooperation with the nursing home’s physical therapist, we provided him with work stations and devices to achieve his goals. He continued his education on the Internet and now writes a periodic newsletter for the nursing home.
At the request of the nursing home via an outreach nonprofit, we designed and fabricated a custom computer work station for David that allows him, while either in bed or his wheelchair, to communicate, to read and to continue his education.
Sam, who has cerebral palsy, works as a network administrator for a small business, but handling external discs for his computer was a problem. At the request of the S.C. Vocational Rehabilitation Department, we designed a complete workstation with devices to give him the capability he needs.
Yoshiko’s legs were failing because of arthritis and she was forced to wear heavy braces. She was unable to bend her legs and spent the day sitting on her bed. Twice a day, her daughter, a teaching nurse, would come home to carry her mother to the toilet. At the request of a rehabilitation hospital, we developed a “potty trolley” for her. She could stand in it beside her bed, be wheeled to the bathroom, and, at the push of a button, be seated on the toilet. Alternatively, it could be left at the toilet and she could shuffle herself to it and be seated by it with complete independence.
Scott is a 14 year old who has Cerebral Palsy and other disabling conditions. He is mainstreamed in a local public school system. They had purchased a commercially available posture chair for him at considerable expense, but his therapists at a local rehabilitation hospital concluded that it needed many modifications in order for it to fully satisfy the requirements for him. We were also told that when at home he lived on the floor, because there were no available funds, to purchase even the less than appropriate seating for him. As we investigated the situation at the school, we also learned that he habitually pushed away from or upset the chair or work table with which he was served. Working with the therapist, we designed a chair to meet his requirements and an attachable work table that could be firmly fixed to or removed from the chair, so that he could not upset either when joined. We also built him a set for his home so that he, for the first time in almost 12 years, does not have to live on the floor.
Sandy
Enabletech modified a zero turn radius riding lawn mower to suit the needs of a spinal cord injured woman who herds cattle and sheep for a living, and only has limited use of her arms. In cooperation with the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of South Carolina, we designed a joystick control and converted the lawn mower to battery operation so that she can travel over her pastures with confidence and perform her herding activities. A second generation of this vehicle was designed by the following class of USC students, which incorporates an all electric design which is quieter and smoother than the former hydraulic design.