Adaptive Equipment Workshop
One of our goals at Mary Cariola Children’s Center is to empower children to interact with their environment and be more independent. Most kids simply push a button to turn on their music, but this simple action can be impossible for a child with disabilities.
The Adaptive Equipment Workshop exists to create, adapt and repair equipment and devices that improve quality of life for children with disabilities. Over the last 20+ years, our three-person staff has released a steady stream of innovations and adaptations to help children tune in, turn on, stand up, and move around.
Where do ideas for these innovations come from? - Teachers
- Therapists
- Parents
- Workshop staff
- Anyone with ideas on how to make a child’s life better
Some of our favorite innovations (in no particular order) - The prone stander. These give a child the ability to stand or let two children stand face to face with a small table top between them to play a game. They help with socialization, have a positive effect on self-image, and have many physical benefits.
- Switch covers. It might not sound like much, but these groundbreaking covers remove the temptation from children with behavioral challenges to repeatedly turn the lights on and off.
- Special switch devices. These allow a child to turn music on and off or activate the computer screen with slight finger pressure or a touch of the head.
Each year a design class from Cornell University travels to our workshop because its accomplishments best represent environmental modifications for a specific population. Some of these college students have been so moved by what they’ve seen that they’ve actually changed their career plans.
A lot of people have asked, “Why aren’t the Workshop’s designs and equipment patented or offered for sale?” Well, our philosophy is that the Adaptive Workshop is not a business. All of its designs are shared freely to benefit children with disabilities and the programs that serve them.