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| Melissa Clowers |
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| Coloni Brown |
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| Christine Deboda |
EL CAJON – One woman no longer had sufficient strength in
her wrist to twist open the cap on the fuel tank of her car. A woman fighting cancer had lost the strength
to lift her potted flowers to her gardening table. A young man with cerebral
palsy couldn’t lower his finger sufficiently to click his computer mouse. A woman who was far too stylish to wear a bib
was embarrassed to go out to dinner because her hands shook so much she’d spill
food and drink on herself.
All these problems—and more—have been solved by Grossmont College students who are studying to become occupational therapy assistants. And none of their assistive technology solutions cost more than $25 each.
Student Christine Deboda created a wrench-like tool that her mother could fit around her car’s gas cap, which made opening it a cinch. Melissa Clowers created a garden pulley with a simple crank that could raise a potted plant to the table at which the cancer sufferer could sit. Luis Velazquez disassembled a computer mouse and placed the clicker controls inside one glove, and the cursor control inside another. When his friend moved his hands around inside the glove, he was overcome with emotion. “Now I can get a job!” he enthused. To enable her grandmother to go to social events without embarrassment, Coloni Brown designed some fancy blouses that were protected with Scotch guard, so that spilled liquids would just ball up on them, and food could be brushed off without smearing.
Deboda, Clowers, Velazequez and Brown all are learning to become occupational therapy assistants in a class taught by Darlene Cook, who has been devising solutions for people with disabilities for much of her professional career.
Cook advised these students and others in her class to observe relatives, friends or neighbors who might have physical difficulties performing everyday tasks and then to devise a solution from readily available materials costing less than $25, so that the solutions would be financially feasible.
In a recent interview Cook disclosed that many of the students at first were dubious they could fulfill the requirements of the assignment. “Oh I could never do that!” more than one said. But Cook insisted that if they observed the person carefully—understanding exactly what task they wanted to do and what were the impediments—they would be able to come up with a solution. For a period after deciding what disability they wanted to tackle, the students were permitted to consult with Cook, who rather than telling them how to do it, asked questions to help them discover solutions.
“Then came D-Day,” when the students had to commit to creating a certain device, Cook said.
----(Add matter below)---
Among some of the other inventions:
--Therese Williams’ cup sleeve with handles on two sides that helped a person who was unable to grasp objects with only one hand to drink in comfort.
-- Christine Flores’ pan stabilizer, consisting of a bracket that could fit over the handle of a pan or the rim of a bowl. It enabled a person who could not hold such items to scramble eggs, or toss a salad.
--Linda Joghlassian’s “slice and dice” box that helped someone with shaking hands to dice the vegetable though a grate by closing the lid of the box.
--Patti Risi’s pouch sewn onto the back of a wheelchair into which the user could store a board when it was not being used as a lap table.
--Jennifer Gonzales’ “shakeless sleeve” to help a person with tremors to fasten weights to his arm with Velcro and thereby be able to handle tools.
--Frank Espiritu’s “grip and snip” gloves with Velcro that attached to clippers and other tools that also were equipped with Velcro, to help prevent a woman from dropping her tools.
--Liz Pacoan’s “Pull ‘Ems Pressing Aid” which with clamps and chords that loop over the wrists help someone pull up his or her pants.
--Travis Nickerson’s “Power Grip Glove” helping a man with rheumatoid arthritis to hold onto a screwdriver and get sufficient torque to use it.
--Shannon Ingersoll’s “Skin Integrity Sleeve” which when worn could protect the wearer against rashes or bruises. An insert in the sleeve could protect gardeners against thorns.
--Christy Lynch’s “Weighted Arm Trough” which allowed a man with arm tremors to slip his arm into the trough and keep his hand steady enough to write checks.
--Carissa Rocha’s “Give a Guy a Hand” device that wrapped around a person’s hand and a tool permitting the user to brush his hair or his teeth.
--Carlyn Stech’s “E-Z Crush” which allows a person with difficulty grasping objects to drop a pill in a container, put the container in a slot, and then pull down a lever, crushing the pill into a powder in the container. The power may be then stirred into a drink, apple sauce or oat meal for easier swallowing.
--Nikita Lindsay’s “space paper,” which allows a child who can’t space out printed letters to write them inside a cut out space on a plastic sheet. Different sheets correspond to the widths of different size rules on school paper.
--Cathy Zombro’s “Zip Me,” an extension device that allows a woman who can’t easily flex her arms and shoulders to zip up the back of her dress.
###
All these problems—and more—have been solved by Grossmont College students who are studying to become occupational therapy assistants. And none of their assistive technology solutions cost more than $25 each.
Student Christine Deboda created a wrench-like tool that her mother could fit around her car’s gas cap, which made opening it a cinch. Melissa Clowers created a garden pulley with a simple crank that could raise a potted plant to the table at which the cancer sufferer could sit. Luis Velazquez disassembled a computer mouse and placed the clicker controls inside one glove, and the cursor control inside another. When his friend moved his hands around inside the glove, he was overcome with emotion. “Now I can get a job!” he enthused. To enable her grandmother to go to social events without embarrassment, Coloni Brown designed some fancy blouses that were protected with Scotch guard, so that spilled liquids would just ball up on them, and food could be brushed off without smearing.
Deboda, Clowers, Velazequez and Brown all are learning to become occupational therapy assistants in a class taught by Darlene Cook, who has been devising solutions for people with disabilities for much of her professional career.
Cook advised these students and others in her class to observe relatives, friends or neighbors who might have physical difficulties performing everyday tasks and then to devise a solution from readily available materials costing less than $25, so that the solutions would be financially feasible.
In a recent interview Cook disclosed that many of the students at first were dubious they could fulfill the requirements of the assignment. “Oh I could never do that!” more than one said. But Cook insisted that if they observed the person carefully—understanding exactly what task they wanted to do and what were the impediments—they would be able to come up with a solution. For a period after deciding what disability they wanted to tackle, the students were permitted to consult with Cook, who rather than telling them how to do it, asked questions to help them discover solutions.
“Then came D-Day,” when the students had to commit to creating a certain device, Cook said.
----(Add matter below)---
Among some of the other inventions:
--Therese Williams’ cup sleeve with handles on two sides that helped a person who was unable to grasp objects with only one hand to drink in comfort.
-- Christine Flores’ pan stabilizer, consisting of a bracket that could fit over the handle of a pan or the rim of a bowl. It enabled a person who could not hold such items to scramble eggs, or toss a salad.
--Linda Joghlassian’s “slice and dice” box that helped someone with shaking hands to dice the vegetable though a grate by closing the lid of the box.
--Patti Risi’s pouch sewn onto the back of a wheelchair into which the user could store a board when it was not being used as a lap table.
--Jennifer Gonzales’ “shakeless sleeve” to help a person with tremors to fasten weights to his arm with Velcro and thereby be able to handle tools.
--Frank Espiritu’s “grip and snip” gloves with Velcro that attached to clippers and other tools that also were equipped with Velcro, to help prevent a woman from dropping her tools.
--Liz Pacoan’s “Pull ‘Ems Pressing Aid” which with clamps and chords that loop over the wrists help someone pull up his or her pants.
--Travis Nickerson’s “Power Grip Glove” helping a man with rheumatoid arthritis to hold onto a screwdriver and get sufficient torque to use it.
--Shannon Ingersoll’s “Skin Integrity Sleeve” which when worn could protect the wearer against rashes or bruises. An insert in the sleeve could protect gardeners against thorns.
--Christy Lynch’s “Weighted Arm Trough” which allowed a man with arm tremors to slip his arm into the trough and keep his hand steady enough to write checks.
--Carissa Rocha’s “Give a Guy a Hand” device that wrapped around a person’s hand and a tool permitting the user to brush his hair or his teeth.
--Carlyn Stech’s “E-Z Crush” which allows a person with difficulty grasping objects to drop a pill in a container, put the container in a slot, and then pull down a lever, crushing the pill into a powder in the container. The power may be then stirred into a drink, apple sauce or oat meal for easier swallowing.
--Nikita Lindsay’s “space paper,” which allows a child who can’t space out printed letters to write them inside a cut out space on a plastic sheet. Different sheets correspond to the widths of different size rules on school paper.
--Cathy Zombro’s “Zip Me,” an extension device that allows a woman who can’t easily flex her arms and shoulders to zip up the back of her dress.
###
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