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Life Essentials Lifts: a new way to get around

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Feb 092012

Courtesy of lifeessentialslifts.com

At the age of five, Hubert Von Holten contracted polio, a viral disease that stripped him of major leg function. At the age of 14, and after a loss of function in his leg muscles, Von Holten decided that polio was not going to win.

Wanting to find ways to contribute to the family farm, Von Holten began to experiment with the idea of adapting farm equipment in order to eliminate his physical limitations. Starting with adding an elevated throttle to a Model A car, Von Holten moved on to farm equipment and expanded to lifts in 1986. Today he is the owner of Life Essentials, a company out of Brookston Indiana, that develops and manufactures custom designs for disabled farmers looking to get back behind the wheel of their tractors and farm equipment.

One of his first clients, a farmer with a disability in Vermont, was the inspiration for one of his first creations, the Pilot Lift. Von Holten, along with a professor from Purdue University’s Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department, created the lift to help the farmer access his tractor. Huber used this experience as a catalyst to continue commercially manufacturing his assistive technology to give “all farmers with limited mobility the chance to lead independent working lives.”

Von Holten wanted to give back to farmers something their disability had taken away from them: independence. Keeping this idea in mind, Von Holten created and developed a line of lifts and a scooter that is durable, tough and able to conquer the elements. From flatbed truck and tractor lifts to RV and recreational lifts, Von Holten has you covered.

The Journeyman Scooter is just one of his many innovative productions. Able to plow through snow and up to ten inches of water, this scooter was made for the working man (or woman) and allows you to get out in nature or around the farm without any problems.

While Von Holten specializes in the creation of lifts for large farm equipment, the Life Assist Lift is able to go inside the home and help individuals move around more freely and easily. If a care giver is necessary, this saves them from injury from lifting and makes moving a person around very simple. The lift works well for accessing hot tubs, pools and bathtubs. The device is wireless and is stable enough to be mounted to any surface in the home, allowing users to glide freely about without total dependence on someone else.

If you have any questions, or would like more information about Life Essentials, be sure to visit the website at www.lifeessentialslifts.com

Website seeks justice for handicapped drivers

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Jan 252012

We’ve all had that day, you know the one; it’s raining, it’s cold, you’re running late, you have 10 minutes to make it to the store before it closes and there is only one parking spot open, the spot reserved for the handicapped. Thinking it’ll just be this one time, promising yourself you will never to do it again, you park the car and make a mad dash inside.

Think again. States and counties across the country are cracking down on handicapped fraud. Due to an increase in the use of phony placards (tags that hang from the rearview mirror) and fake license plates, fines for illegally using and abusing handicapped spots are increasing and license suspension is not out of the question.

Ohio resident and founder of HandicappedFraud.org Maureen Birdsall, told USA Today that she had lost the only available handicapped parking spot to a woman in a red corvette. She was taking her 92-year- old grandfather to the hospital and could not find a spot near enough to the door.

“I sat there dumbfounded,” she said.

After starting the website, Birdsall realized she was not alone in her frustration in seemingly healthy people parking in handicapped spaces. Quickly, the site received postings from people in 26 states with similar complaints.

How the site works is simple and provides step by step actions to take when you notice a seemingly able bodied person parking in a handicapped spot: Don’t confront the person (they may actually have a disability), record their license plate and placard number and leave a post-it note on their car that says they have been reported at HandicappedFraud.org. Birdsall hopes to have hundreds or even thousands of uploads of these fraudulent placards on the site at the end of every month in order to create a report to be given to that state’s DMV. The DMV will then have the opportunity to recognize trends and track the placard number to the doctor and patient. If abuse is detected, further action can happen. Both actions will bring awareness and change to a problem that only shows signs of increasing.

The site is part of a crackdown in which the impact can be felt nationwide. In Illinois for example, an advisory committee on traffic safety, headed by Secretary of State Jesse White

Courtesy of Google Images

recommended a $2,500 fine and a one-year license suspension for offenders, including drivers who use rear-view mirror placards or disability license plates of disabled people who have died.

One town in Massachusetts dedicates police details to do nothing but enforce handicapped-parking laws. The city has spent about $6,000 in grant money for overtime but received about $32,000 back in fines.

Phillip Shaw, 62, of Xenia, Ohio, has difficulty walking long distances after he broke his back in 1980. He uses a sticker that allows him to park in a handicapped spot, but he said that there aren’t many in the city and he sometimes finds them occupied by people who don’t appear to be disabled.

Shaw said, “For someone who just uses them for convenience, I think they ought to be fined.”

Next time you think about taking the handicapped spot simply for ease, it may be worth your while, and your wallet, to think twice and move on.

Farming after the war: for some, it will never be the same

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Jan 242012

Courtesy of agrability.org

A recent White House report indicated that while only 17% of the U.S. population lives in rural areas, rural residents account for 44% of the military. These rural veterans and military officers are returning to their ranches, farms and rural communities with disabilities such as post traumatic stress disorder(PTSD) and brain injuries at high rates.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and currently serving 24 states nationwide, AgrAbility seeks to eliminate (or minimize) obstacles that inhibit success in production agriculture or agriculture related occupations. However, soldiers today are facing more obstacles after returning home because of the injuries they sustained abroad. Farming, as hard as it was before, is now even more difficult to do for veterans coming home.

Organizations, like AgrAbility, are working to raise public awareness about returning our soldiers back to some semblance of normal life after returning home with a disability. Whether it be a traumatic brain injury, cognitive difficulties or for example, Indiana AgrAbility, on which our very own Wade Wingler is an advisory council member, is partnering with the Department of Veterans Affairs office in Indianapolis to develop a workshop for veterans, VA workers and other professionals on opportunities in agriculture and the benefits of horticulture therapy for returning veterans. Steve Swain, the rurual rehabilitation specialist with Breaking New Ground/Indiana AgrAbility, said he has worked with several military veterans with disabilities and offered to share the following story of one such opportunity:

“One of those veterans was disabled during a parachute accident when his spinal cord exploded causing paralysis. Mr. Swain was asked to assist the veteran in determining possible employment options. In a meeting at his home, options were discussed which included raising produce on his property, a woodworking business, a hands-on engineering design business, and gunsmithing. The discussion also included what he liked to do; what he didn’t like to do; the support he had among family and friends; what resources were available both financial and in-kind; what potential assistive technology was available for him in each endeavor. Mr. Swain later followed up with the veteran and found that he had gone thru a number of difficulties but had come thru them and started a woodworking business which operated out of his home. With the determination shown, this veteran will continue to make progress and operate a successful business which will allow him to support his family.”

In order to successfully transition a veteran back into a civilian life, AgrAbility has created a toolkit of sorts, called Agricultural Tools, Equipment, and Buildings for Farmers and Ranchers with Physical Disabilities or, for short, The Toolbox, filled with information and resources that is now available online. Users can “explore” and “search” the online toolbox to discover supplier information, photos and video clips for certain products.

Friday Podcast: ALS and Assistive Technology, People First Language

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Jan 202012

Information from the INDATA Project is now available via podcast! Every Friday, the INDATA Project will release two podcasts featuring new assistive technology projects. The podcasts are available for viewing on the INDATA Project website and on iTunes. The “Assistive Technology Update” is a fast-paced weekly update for AT professionals and enthusiasts. The “Accessibility Minute” is designed for all listeners to provide assistive technology tips and tricks.

ATU034: ALS and Assistive Technolog (Alisa Brownlee), WHILL for wheelchairs, QR codes and AT, HTML5 Accessibility, Apple’s new e-text application, HEAR and There Audio Magazine, Laser Canes for the Blind

AM034: People First Language

Bye-bye wheelchairs

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Jan 112012

courtesy of Ekso Bionics

Sooner than we think, wheelchairs may begin to be a thing of the past. One company, Ekso Bionics to be exact, is rethinking how people confined to wheelchairs may be able to move again, trading in the wheels for a pair of robotic legs.

Through partnerships with UC Berkley, research grants from the Department of Defense and licensed technology to the Lockheed Martin Corporation, Ekso Bionics developed a variety of exoskeletons to augment human mobility. From helping soldiers to carry more weight easily, to helping the paralyzed walk (this particular model is called eLEGS appropriately) these exoskeletons are the next big thing in the world of mobility.

What is exciting news to the world of Assistive Technology and those confined to wheelchairs, is that Ekso has developed an exoskeleton walking suit that will actually help the paralyzed move. Powered by small whirring motors, the suit is no mere toy; it is a medical device, and one about to change the world, at that.

“We took the idea of the external skele¬ton, and we added nerves in the form of sensors and motors that represent your muscles and computers that represent your brain,” said CEO of Ekso Bionics, Eythor Bender.

Upon donning the suit, you have one job: balancing your upper body, you must be able to shift your weight as you plant a walking stick on the ground, let’s say to the right. At this time, the physical therapist will use a remote control signal to signal the left leg to step forward. The suit supports its own 20 kilgram weight through the legs and footrests and takes care of the calculations needed to move forward. A later model will feature walking sticks with motion sensors that communicate with the legs, giving the user complete control.

Ten rehab clinics, scattered around the United States, have already signed up for the first round of production units. The first will go to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Kristjan T. Ragnarsson, chairman of the department of rehabilitation medicine at Mount Sinai, said that he is hopeful for Ekso’s latest creation.

“I’m optimistic, actually, that this will work,” Ragnarsson said. “I think my patients will be able to stand up and take a few steps and face the next person directly on!”

Push it to the limit, no matter what

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Jan 052012

Courtesy of NoBarriersUSA.org

Many people would agree that life is what you make of it. Our attitudes and dispositions affect how we go about our lives just as much as our physical ability to do so does. No Barriers USA is one organization that begs to answer the question, no matter your age, state of mind or ability, “What fills your cup?”

Started in 2003, the non-profit based out of Minnesota has worked to promote innovative ideas, approaches and assistive technologies that “help people with challenges push through their own personal barriers to live full and active lives,” in the great outdoors. From hiking, to biking, scaling mountains and water skiing, no goal or activity is out of reach. The No Barriers USA approach to make this mission a reality is twofold: No Barriers Summits and the No Barriers University.

Attracting participants from dozens of countries, as well as almost every state in America, and already held on two continents, the organization’s signature multi-day international summits provide a unique combination of hands-on clinics, product demonstrations, nature excursions, keynote addresses, leadership exercises and a scientific symposium with films, art and music. The No Barriers Summit brings together adventurers and outdoor enthusiasts as well as scientists and innovative adventurers for an outdoor educational program that helps people push through their challenges and experience an active life. To date, four separate locations have played host to these adventurous outings: Italy, California, Florida and, most recently, Colorado in 2011.

Complimenting the summits, the No Barriers University provides year round, country-wide education on techniques, technologies and ideas people are creating, or have created, to assist people with challenges. Through educational videos and resources guides, individuals can learn about the equipment, devices, and technologies available that will help them to live more active lives.

Mark Wellman, co-founder of No Barriers and the first paraplegic to ascend the 3,000 foot face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, knows better than anyone how going after your dreams can seem daunting, even impossible at times. However, with an open mind, passion and the advances of technology, it is clear that what you may think impossible actually is quite the opposite.

“Magic happens when you bring technology and adaptive sports together in one place,” Wellman said. “It’s amazing to see how people learn and how perceptions shift. There are always struggles that come when you are first injured or are trying something new for the first time, but with the right tools and attitude, there’s no reason you can’t climb your own El Capitan.”

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