Remap is a national charity that build custom made gadgets and find solutions that help disabled people be more independent. They help disabled people achieve independence and a better quality of life by designing and making equipment for their individual needs. The equipment is given completely free of charge so the service is accessible to everyone.
One person who used Remap to solve a problem is Sarah Stone, Sarah is a motivational specialist who has Cerebral Palsy.
Cerebral Palsy affects her core muscles. When sitting, she tends to lean heavily on her left arm, causing a lot of pressure on her shoulder.
She had been looking for a solution for years and then got in touch with Remap to see if they could help. She asked them if they could develop a piece of equipment that would alert her when she was leaning a lot, reminding her to adjust her posture. She was connected with engineer Akshaya Ahaja and they worked together to come up with a solution.
Akshaya studied mechanical engineering at imperial college, whilst studying he wanted a real-world application for his studies to practice his own skills and make a difference. His employers allow use of equipment and workshops out of hours for engineers to build whatever they want.
He got in touch with Sarah to find out what she needed and then brain stormed ideas to come up with a solution, after visiting her at home and talking through her needs and wants he said:
“She didn’t want something that would force her into an upright position, what she wanted was something that would encourage her, or annoy her enough that she would sit up herself”
He went on to develop a lightweight, rechargeable electronic armband for her, which produces a sound when it detects that she is leaning continuously with a pressure above a certain threshold for longer than five seconds. The settings can be changed to gradually improve her posture and this should lead to her developing core strength and other aspects of general health. You can watch the video here:
https://youtu.be/EcqiCN2JHxQ
Remap work with disabled people to find solutions to all problems, both large and small. From something like Sarah’s gadget all the way through to supporting a wheelchair user to get to the top of Mount Snowden!
If you would like to find out more about Remap then head over to the website and we are lucky to have @DavidM from Remap here on the community, so you can ask him questions on this post.
What problem in your life would you like to find a solution to? Let us know.
