“Our client has a pommel that fits to a wheelchair. The existing bracket had the pommel sitting too high.”
So, Tadvic created a new bracket for the pommel using the same dimension steel.
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Our client walks with the aid of a gutter frame. She asked for a tray on which she could carry her morning cup of tea and a bowl of porridge.
Essentially, a tray was needed that could be affixed to the two parallel steel tubes that ran lengthwise between the two “legs” of the walker. Depending on the surrounding space available to the client, the tray should be as wide as possible but able to be folded in half in order to reduce the space it occupied when the client was operating in a confined space. The tray should have two holes into which her mug and bowl would fit. These were positioned in the outer half of the tray so that they were available regardless of whether the tray was extended or folded back.
A notch was made in one hole to accept the handle of the mug.
The tray was made easily removable, by using 4 “tool clips” screwed to the underside of the rear section of the tray.
Rory is 12 years old and blind. He plays Vision Impaired Table Tennis (“Swish”) at Kooyong and his family asked Tadvic to make a table for use at home.
Swish is played on a standard width (1.52m) table tennis table but the length is extended from to 2.74 to 3.66m.
A standard competition table tennis table was used as the starting point. This table comes in two separate rollaway sections for storage.
“Swish” has guide rails along the sides. Players use small bats and a plastic ball with holes and a rattle inside.
An additional half table top was purchased and cut to size to make the required table length and a rollaway steel frame was built to hold it and the “net” (which is a solid wall with a gap at the bottom).
The table width can be reduced to 1m for singles by inclusion of a rail on the table top.
Tadvic has since made 2 more tables for “Swish” Clubs around Melbourne. We have found Clubs play a lot harder than Rory did at the time, so the subsequent tables had to be built stronger.
We have also supplied details to a school in Queensland and to an organisation for the blind and visually impaired people in Romania. Please contact us if you would like detailed plans of our conversion process.
Our client is an adult with autism. He is non-verbal but very mobile.
His Occupational Therapist requested an arrangement of devices for aural, mental and physical stimulation.
Tadvic created a box with two lids and an open area in the middle to fit a future activity device. Various devices were fitted to the left-hand lid. Adjustable bolt & nut arrangements were placed on both front face ends. A ratchet wheel and bike bell were fitted.
The entire unit sits on a portable piano stand or can be placed on a table top or on the floor. The apparatus provides stimulus for the client with regard to movement, dexterity, audio and feel.
Our client is 6 years old and has Cerebral Palsy. She cannot get into her family’s SUV independently. She is growing too big to be lifted into the vehicle.
We considered options like a footplate fixed to the vehicle but multiple steps were required.
Instead we modified a folding multi-step. The legs were made extendable, so the steps could be used against a curb (as shown) or extended in situations like a car park. The top step goes across the car door sill and is retained against the inside.
The steps fold flat for storage in the vehicle with the wheelchair.
It is with sadness that Tadvic acknowledges the sudden passing of our co-founder and President Geoff Hook.
Geoff was President from our incorporation in 2016 until his death on the 1st of October.
Geoff is fondly remembered by his Tadvic colleagues. Our deepest condolences go to Geoff’s family and friends.
Our client uses a powered wheelchair and has limited hand
and arm movement. She often finds she cannot reach the buttons in lifts etc.
She tried a telescopic “pen” pointer that could fit into a
handbag. It was stiff enough to press a button but too stiff for her to extend
and retract.
Tadvic produced a 3 section pointer made from fibreglass tent poles. These remain connected via an elastic cord down the central core and are easily folded to fit in her handbag. When extended they are rigid.
Occupational Therapists at a major Melbourne public hospital requested a bath that could be used to train patients in wheelchairs to transfer to and from a bath. (The hospital has showers, but no standard baths.)
The bath is not plumbed in (i.e. it is used for “dry runs”). It must meet hospital infection control standards. The bath unit could not have any exposed timber and all surfaces must be able to be wiped down with the hospital approved cleaning product which is bleach based.
A standalone bath was considered as a solution but they tend to have higher sides than clients would encounter at home. This approach was rejected.
The hospital bought the majority of required materials and Tadvic agreed to construct the bath support/surround. The bath sits on rubber tipped feet and can be moved if required. Training can be with a bath bench (as shown) or a bath board.
Our client is paraplegic and uses a manual and a powered wheelchair. She has just had her first baby and asked Tadvic to provide a connection between the wheelchairs and a stroller so she can move her child around.
To enable steering, the fixed rear wheels need to be off the ground and the stroller turns on its swivel front wheels. We provided connections for each wheelchair.
For the powered wheelchair our client drives the footplate under the rear axle of the stroller and lifts the axle with the powered footplate. When not using the stroller the connection folds back flat with the footplate.
Our client has MS and is very immobile. He lives in Nursing Home. His NDIS Support Co-ordinator gathered the equipment and partially setup a Google Home environment to control:
- his smart TV via a Logitech Harmony hub (turn on, turn off, change channel etc)
- a lamp via a smart switch (turn on, turn off).
using voice commands.
A simple change to the WiFi network by the Nursing Home disrupted what was achieved, so the Co-ordinator asked Tadvic to help.
He also asked if voice control could:
- activate the nurse call button
- make internet based calls by voice on a tablet.
Tadvic got the TV and lamp controls working again and provided documentation.
We then used a commercial Google Home compatible switch and some simple electronics to provide a voice activated nurse call. It works in parallel with the existing manual button (i.e. either can be used), noting that Google Home is not always as reliable as a purpose built and dedicated manual switch.
We investigated internet based calls – it is a feature Google Home supports in the USA and Canada (and soon the UK) but is not yet supported in Australia. Given it is likely to be available soon in Australia we felt it was not worth attempting to create a custom solution.
Google Home (and Apple Siri and Amazon Alexa etc) can all do the above and answer countless questions like “What’s the weather”.
This is a rapidly advancing technology that has enormous potential for people with limited movement.
The Support Co-ordinator said “I can’t tell you how pleased I have been with the prompt response to my request for help. I believe that this emerging and ever changing technology space is perfect for use by many people with disabilities as is the case here. TADVIC and the volunteer have been amazing in the quick response and result achieved in an area that has few experts. Keep up the good work and Thank you.