Makers Making Change Helps Occupational Therapists Find Affordable Assistive Technology Solutions for Their Clients

Since Makers Making Change (new window)’s inception in 2016, we’ve made it a priority to help occupational therapists across North America find affordable assistive technology solutions for their clients.

As a corporate partner of the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT), Makers Making Change has attended the CAOT conference every year since 2017. In 2018, we hosted an OT buildathon at the CAOT conference in Vancouver.

In our assistive device library, devices range from low tech solutions like the 3D printed pen ball (new window), which can help a person with arthritis more easily grip a pen, to more high tech in nature, like the LipSync (new window), a mouth operated joystick, which allows people without the use of their hands to use smartphones and tablets.

However, unlike commercial devices which are mass manufactured for profit, Makers Making Change devices are built by volunteer makers for the cost of parts, allowing occupational therapists to provide low cost solutions for clients. The designs are open source, meaning that the devices can also be customized for a clients needs.

Each week leading up to the CAOT Conference, we’ll be looking at occupational therapists and their experiences with Makers Making Change. If you’re attending CAOT 2022 in beautiful Whistler, BC, come say hello to us at booth #16.

“A Very Helpful Resource”

Cherry Nixdorf is an occupational therapist at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. When she learned about Makers Making Change, she became very interested in the LipSync.

“That is an access method that we thought was cool, we used similar access methods and similar joysticks but they are quite expensive, they run about $1,500, so for our clients that don’t have funding, this is the best thing we could probably come across,” she explains.

“Sometimes patients have to pay out of pocket and they have to decide whether they want some access method or they need to pay for a bath seat, so they’re both important, so having something low cost helps to get the client to have both needs met at the same time.”

The LipSync has been particularly helpful for their inpatients, to control their integrated bedside terminals.

“[Makers Making Change has] been a very helpful resource for us.”

Looking for device that suits your clients needs? Check out our assistive device library (new window) with 150 devices available open source addressing a wide range of needs. Have a need that isn’t addressed in our library? Suggest a design challenge (new window) to our community of makers. Looking to join the Makers Making Change community? Let’s get started! (new window)

This post originally appeared on the Makers Making Change (new window) website.