Our client had a stroke impacting one side and he uses a grab handle that fits in his car door frame to move in and out. He just replaced his car with an SUV and found the handle is too far from the ground.
Our volunteer quickly modified the grab handle so that it is the required height.
Our client said “I am very happy with my new Grab Handle and appreciate the work the volunteer did for me and how prompt he was”.
Our client is 11 years old and she enjoys playing in a large cubby house with her younger sister. Her wheelchair fits through the cubby porch but unfortunately not the cubby door and she has grown too big for her Mum to carry her through the door.
Tadvic narrowed the windows to the side and widened the door so the wheelchair now fits through the door.
A Tadvic volunteer broke his hip in a cycling accident. Another volunteer added a meals tray to a 4 wheel walker so the injured volunteer could move his meal from the bench to the table without assistance. The tray lifts off the walker and can be placed on a table.
Soon after his recovery, a neighbour of a Tadvic volunteer had a hip replaced. The walker / trolley was again put to good use.
Then an elderly relative of a volunteer had a fall and needed a 4 wheel walker. She also wanted to be able to move a meal while using a walker. Again the modified walker has been used.
Our client is able to shower himself but had trouble setting the water temperature. Tadvic was asked to provide a means to help him achieve the same setting on the mixer tap.
We provided a simple clamp and pin to limit the maximum hot water mix. The setting can be adjusted if required (e.g. slightly warmer in winter) by rotating the clamp.
Our client can only move her head. She uses an electric wheelchair with head controls and uses a laptop with a mouth stick. In her home, the laptop is mounted vertically on a “hospital” table at the same height as her head when in her wheelchair.
She wanted to participate in a Community Education Centre’s computer course, but the Centre only had desk top computers that she could not operate.
Tadvic created a stand for her wheelchair, that was compatible with the bracket used to hold the laptop, mouse and mouth stick on the table at her home. The stand can be easily fitted and removed from the wheelchair.
Tadvic has recently completed two projects to carry young children.
The first project was to modify a 4 wheel mobility scooter for our client who has a traumatic brain injury. She has been nursing her 3 year old toddler on her knee while driving the scooter, but as the child grows that is impractical. Our client was not keen on a rear carrier or trailer where her child was out of her view. A side by side seat would have created a very wide scooter, so Tadvic created a side-on carrier. The carrier fitted under the existing rain cover on the scooter.
In the second project, the mother has a 3 year old son with cerebral palsy who has a special needs stroller. Another child is on the way and the mother needs a way to move her two children. She already had a baby stroller. Tadvic created a means to attach the baby stroller behind the special needs stroller and to push both.
The attached stroller has rear swivel wheels and brakes.
Tadvic was approached by an Occupational Therapist to lower a bed for a client of relatively short stature and suffering from a medical problem that impacted on her mobility and flexibility. The client was no longer able to hoist herself up onto her bed.
The bed had been previously modified and stood on sturdy steel legs with bracing.
Tadvic lowered the legs by 10cm and adjusted the bracing to match. The decorative wooden bed head and foot were also adjusted.
Our client is partially quadriplegic and uses a board for transfers. He also travels a lot and wanted a board that would fit in his day back pack.
Tadvic turned his PQuip plastic transfer board into a folding board.
As the client has little ability to grasp, thumb holes were added for him to move the board.
Tadvic was approached by a therapist on behalf of a client with MS. The therapist had obtained a donated Reformer exercise machine for the client. However the machine was low to the floor and the client could not get down to it or up from it.
Within two weeks of being contacted, Tadvic built, delivered and installed a stand to raise the machine to seat height.
Our client had limited use of her right leg. She uses a Dutch Cargo Trike with pedal assist (an eTrike) to transport children and/or musical instruments and also for shopping etc. Her right leg has recently become very sensitive to touch and she can no longer use it to pedal or walk. She now uses a wheelchair. She wanted to continue to use the eTrike and carry a wheelchair. Her husband also uses the eTrike so modifications could not impact his use.
Various changes were discussed and the following were agreed:
A detachable thigh support was made (see photo below) which is adjustable for height, horizontal and vertical angle. It has a pop button to hold it in place and is easily removed when her husband uses the trike.
The right pedal was removed, but the client said she would get a commercial folding pedal (as often seen on folding bikes) so that the trike can be used by her husband without change.
A pedal toe cage with strap was trialled for the left foot. It enabled the client to do a full rotation and prove she could pedal with one leg. Her husband had clip-on shoes on his bike and these were trialled. The client decided she would buy a matching system for the trike.
In addition we investigated the provision of a motor assisted reverse and motor assist for forward from a standing start (in addition to existing pedal assist which acts after the pedal is rotating). The freewheel function means the existing motors will not drive the trike in reverse. The components for an independent reverse were gathered :
This was not completed due to concern that it added about 8kg of additional weight. The client is able to manoeuvre the trike over short distances while standing on one leg, but Tadvic may revisit this later.
A future modification may be to provide a side door in the cargo bay for the client to load her wheelchair without lifting it over the side. She is currently in the process of acquiring a lighter wheelchair.
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