Grasping

Adjustable drafting tables allow individuals to adjust their writing and drawing surfaces.

Tables that can adjust at different angles and elevations to comfot guests as well as masseuse and massage therapists at a reasonable posture.

A person who performs certain job-related tasks for a person with a disability to help overcome limitations resulting from the disability. Examples include a page turner for a person who has no hands, or a travel attendant to act as a sighted guide to assist a blind employee on work-related travel. WPAS may include personal care-related assistance such as helping an employee to access the restroom, eat or drink at work, or travel for business purposes.

Products to assist with holding and using spray cans.

Anti-vibration gloves dampen vibrations at a wide range of frequencies. Individuals affected by hand vibration use anti-vibration gloves with materials that lessens the effects of vibration from power tools, hammers, and other pneumatic devices.

Tool wraps dampen vibrations at a wide range of frequencies. Tool wraps are ideal for hand and pneumatic tools. Individuals with limitations affected by hand vibration can wrap tools with material that lessens the effects of vibration from power tools, hammers, and other pneumatic devices.

Allows users to store phone numbers to pre-dial and program separate from their actual phone.

Filing cabinets that have rotating drawers for more organization potential.

Book holders or book stands can be useful for individuals who need to hold a book open or view the pages of a text but find it difficult to do so because of hand, arm, shoulder, neck, or other limitations that effect the upper extremities. Book holders can be placed on a desk or surface and many can be elevated or positioned for easier viewing.

A sip and puff mouth controlled mouse alternative for quadriplegic individuals and others who have lost the mobility to operate a traditional computer mouse.

Equipment designed to relieve strain and stress from creating cookie and cake molds and loading them onto a pan.

Compact material handling devices are small and portable enough to work in office or tight storeroom environments. These lifting and carrying devices have platforms that are variable heights. Activation of the horizontal lifting surface is typically powered by batteries, hydraulic foot pumps, or hand cranks. Ball transfer tables may be added to the horizontal-lifting surface. This reduces the push and pull force needed to move materials to and from the lifting device. Products from this category help individuals with lifting or carrying restrictions resulting from back, neck, shoulder, heart, and various repetitive strain injuries.

Tools that remove burrs from metal or plastic pipe edges remaining from drilling, grinding, or milling projects.

Ergonomic and lightweight dental and surgical instruments are available for individuals with upper extremity limitations.

Aids to assist individuals with opening doors are available. Door knobs can be difficult to grip or turn for those with fine motor or upper extremity limitations. Door knob grips and handle extenders can be low-cost alternatives to installing an automatic door opener.

Scissors that can be automatically powered to cut without manually making the motions.

Automatic staplers that removes physical stress from applying staples.

Electronic organizers are electronic devices, such as PDA's, that allow an individual to download important information such as names, phone numbers, email address and dates. They might have alarms/cues that will remind the individual of datelines, meetings, and so on.

Individuals with neck, back, shoulder, and upper extremity limitations may benefit from using ergonomic hand and power tools. Ergonomic hand tool designs allow users to maintain neutral postures while minimizing wrist deviations. Users also have an easier time keeping shoulders relaxed by using lightweight tools. Mechanical stressors such as misaligned finger grooves, sharp edges, and single finger triggers should be avoided. Vibration from the tool should be minimized, and heavier tools can be suspended from tool balancers when possible. Spring loaded returns on tools such as scissors and pliers are also a part of good ergonomic design.

Ergonomic knives are made to be easier to use by individuals with hand limitations.

These include scissors with flexible designs for many different uses.

File carousels hold manuals, books, or binders for quick reference. These can be rotated by hand, mouth or head stick, or powered by an internal motor.

Filing trays can be modified to ensure easier access for employees with a variety of disabilities. Filing Trays can be customized with pull handles, organized by colors, and made to be mobile.

Programs that allow editing of pictures for multimedia purposes.

Attachments for handles used with walkers, canes and other supporting bars to prevent slippage and increase eay gripping.

Scissors designed with ease of use and ergonomic design.

Handheld computers and personal devices that don't have a specific function.

"Hand-free" telephones are very useful but usually are not completely hands-free. Generally, the user must be able to push at least one button to initiate calls. In addition, many are designed for residential use and are not compatible with office telephone systems.

A headset is a communication device that is comprised of an ear piece and microphone. Individuals with neck, back, shoulder, and upper extremity impairments can benefit from the use of headsets because they often eliminate the need to hold telephone receivers in awkward positions. Individuals who are easily distracted by extraneous work noise may also benefit from using them to listen to white noise or music. Various options are available: over the head, around the ear, and wireless are a few. Equipment that can be integrated with headsets are telephones, cellular phones, and speech recognition software.

Height adjusters are hydraulic height adjustable legs that can be attached to an existing workstation. By working the hand crank, a workstation can be raised, lowered, or have the angle adjusted.

Aids to assist individuals with independent living needs are available. These tools and devices enable people with various types of limitations to perform personal and household activities such as reaching, reading, writing, dressing, personal hygiene, walking, eating, cooking, cleaning, and gardening.

Left hand-dominant keyboards are keyboards designed to be used by someone who has "primary" use of the left-hand dominant.

Attachments for light switches that make them easier to use for individuals with physical impairments.

Medical aprons made with pregnant women in mind to reduce the normal high weight from their body.

Money handling can be a tedious task when an individual has problems grasping and manipulating fingers. Coin and currency counters and sorters and bill and coin changers are often effective accommodations to help count, wrap, or bag coins and bills.

Side wringer, lightweight, and ergonomically designed mopping systems are available for individuals who have difficulty mopping due to back, neck, knee, shoulder, and hand limitations.

Mops made with accessibility in mind and ergonomic, low stress design.

Motorized carts provide assistance for individuals with shoulder, neck, back, and upper and lower extremity impairments who have difficulty pushing and/or pulling. Several options are available to eliminate excessive pushing and pulling.

Moving, carrying, or transferring items around an office or retail space can be difficult for individuals with certain impairment, such as back or arm impairments that limit motor movement. Multi-purpose carts can be used to transport items and are available in a wide range of sizes with various features.

One handed keyboards assist individuals who must enter data into a computer but have no or limited use of one hand. Keyboards can be configured to be used by either the left or the right hand. Due to the placement of the keys, individuals that may benefit from using a one handed keyboard may need some time to learn how to type in a different way.

Page turners turn the pages of a book with different mechanisms, such as sip-n-puff activation. These devices help individuals with quadriplegia, ALS, cumulative trauma disorders, or other conditions impairing grasping abilities

Small devices used to suck up fluids and contain them.

Assistants or companies that can help an individual with organization or developing organizational skills.

Individuals with certain limitations may find it difficult to grasp items from hard to reach places, such as a shelf or the floor. Reachers can extend to various lengths and can grasp items for those with limited reach or strength.

A scribe or notetaker writes or types information that is communicated to him by another person. A scribe does not interpret information or perform essential job functions.

Supports that can be placed between the telephone and shoulder when headsets cannot be used. These rests, when used effectively, allow for one to maintain their neck in a neutral (straight) posture and shoulder relaxed (not shrugged).

Steering grips assist individuals with fine motor limitations in gripping and turning steering wheels.

Commercial bar code readers that can read out products scanned in a synthetic voice to assist low-vision users.

Devices that can scan dollar bills and relate their value to vision impaired individuals so they can keep their money in order.

Tool balancers are devices engineered to offset tool weights. Springs or other tensioning devices are attached to tools, which counters the weight of the tools. Tool balancers are often used with in-line tools. Individuals with neck, back, shoulder, and cumulative trauma disorders to the upper extremities may benefit from tool balancers.

Faucets equipped with a proximity sensor that allows activation without touch.

Products and services offered that can alter vans to make them accessible for individuals with physical disabilities.

Tray attachments for wheelchairs.

Writing aids are products designed to help individuals with limited hand strengths perform writing tasks. Writing aids can transfer the fine motor pinch grip, usually used to write, to gross motor arm movements. A low tech solution is to push a pencil though a Styrofoam ball and use gross motor movements to write. Individuals with cumulative trauma disorders to the upper extremities or individuals with other impairments such as arthritis or quadriplegia benefit from these aids.