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Challenges

Thea

J has a significant intellectual disability such that he cannot count or read or speak in more than one or two syllable sounds. He understands spoken language when it is familiar people in familiar contexts talking to him about familiar things or showing him pictures. He loves to watch DVDs and he can identify what sort of DVD he wants from the library by finding a picture that shows its theme, or locating it in a catalogue. He lives very much in the present and does not have a good perception of time. He has a routine of activities that he attends at day programs or recreation programs and he can locate the correct record book for each program according to the picture on the cover, The record book is used for me as J's mother to share information with the day program to tell them what Julian has been doing of interest that he would like to share with them. Sometimes I draw pictures, so Julian can see what I am writing about. Staff from the program will also write back to tell me what J has done during the day so that I can then talk to J about it. J loves to engage with people and wants to share stories of things he has done with them. He goes on camps where he makes friends who might send me photos of J on camp activities on my phone that I show J. But J cannot use a phone very well because he presses too many buttons and confuses the technology. Also he cannot say many words. He can listen to others talking and say approximations of 'yes' or 'no' or 'good' or 'see you'. He would love to have a modified phone where he could send and receive photos, which was modified so that he could not randomly call people or send messages. It would need to be simple and administered by myself, so that I could maintain a small number of contacts for sending and receiving pictures, emotians. It would need to have the capacity to take and store photos and music. Perhaps a modified Instagram account would suit him. I do not have personal experience with Instagram, but I could learn. I think something more than an Ap might be required, as the actual phone itself would need to be tailored to suit his needs such that he did not make nuisance calls.

Jacob

Mild intellectual disability/ learning disability

Kim

Hearing impairment that impacts on my social ability and is quite isolating as I often cannot join in the conversation as I cannot decipher what is being said, and people do get sick of you asking “what?” two or three times for one thing.

Dean

My 9 year old daughter Sage has quite a few abnormalities including a Sprengel's shoulder deformity. Her shoulder had an extra bone connecting it to her neck which was surgically removed several years ago. But her shoulder is still sitting very high and is obviously deformed, she needs her tendons stretched with physic but it hurts her and so is difficult. We find when she is asleep is the best time to try and stretch things, but it's not enough to make a real difference. We would love if you could design a brace or alike that she can wear whilst sleeping that stretches her shoulder down where it should be. She is at an age where her physical appearance and limitations are starting to have a social impact on her and her self esteem, please help us.

Kanna

- My brother Ken has cerebral palsy that mainly affects his legs - Physical restrictions and uses forearm crutches to walk and wheelchair for long distance. He has not learnt to use his manual wheelchair alone - Ken ahas intellectual disability and has short span of concentration. He also has a difficulty understanding complex instructions that involves multiple steps - He is now 31 and his health and wellbeing is becoming an issue. He has put on weight and needs to lose 10kg - he used to love to attend marathon (walking instead of running) but he can't anymore because of his decreased physical abilities and cognitive abilities - he used to love sports but his is starting to lose his interest - His abilities and skills are deescalating due to lack of stimulation. There has been a significant drop since he stopped going to school - His life is limited due to loss of abilities and skills, and bad habits he have developed in the last few years. He spends most of his time with his family or his support worker. - He used to love going to places on his own but he does not go out by himself anymore. He used to be an outdoor guy but now he spends most of his time on computer / ipad. - Isolation. No relationship outside family.

Tony

The challenge is a lack of hand writing. There are a number of adaptions for work, study and life mainly use of computers etc but still number of disability aspects particularly forms, brain storming, and access to services.

Chyrisse

Chyrisse is an audiologist

Many people with hearing loss living in developing countries (low income countries) do not have good access to healthcare, including ear healthcare. The identification of hearing loss from an early age can optimise education, socialisation and well-being. However, access to this technology to identify hearing loss is not easily available to those that need it. The challenge is to create a technology that can identify hearing loss and be used by community workers, nurses and teachers in developing countries so that early diagnosis of hearing loss and intervention can occur.

Layla

I have spastic cerebral palsy and am a mild quadriplegic I use a manual wheelchair and sometimes a power chair depending on distance demand and

I would love to be to able to have a portable way to open a commercial Door meaning Business building interior and exterior doors so I can: work anywhere, go to the bathroom when needed instead of holding it and have comfort knowing I can leave/escape in an emergency because you can’t count on businesses to have the money for automatic doors or people to think of you in a life or death situation Also holding your bladder is not healthy I need something that will hold the door long enough so I can use both hands to wheel my chair because if I try to hold the door open with one hand and wheel with the other I just end up turning my Wheelchair or damaging my wheelchair

Emma

I have an ABI and hydrocephalus. I have trouble with my memory and I would like to have a device created in my home with I-pads throughout my house that can explain how I am meant to do tasks e.g. cooking in the kitchen, personal hygiene in the bathroom, cleaning tasks, etc. Reminders to turn things off, how to turn things off (when, where, how).

Kristine

My husband has had both legs and all of his fingers and thumbs amputated following sepsis in October 2017. He is now retired (not by choice) so would like to live the life of a retired gent and play golf. Sometimes he is on prosthetic legs and most of the time he isn't......how can we create a way for him to have a hit of golf with his mates? Neal's chair is a Quantum Pride iLevel. (It has a scissor lift to raise him up to eye level). He has not been able to play golf since his amputations......His prosthetist has recommended the procuff detailed in page 37 of the attached catalogue. Probably his mobility, ability to stand, move around course, get a swing going are the issues limiting him playing. He has got prosthetic legs but most of his time he is still in his wheelchair because he has problems with the skin on his stumps, which gets blisters, infected etc. His stumps to get strong enough for wearing the legs whilst playing and/or a system which still allows him to participate.

Yasmeen

Im a 25 year old, diagnosed with Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). SMA is a genetic condition which affects the nerves that control muscle movement in the motor neurons. Therefore I only have very little movement in my fingers which allow me to use my roller mouse or drive my electric wheelchair

The problem I face is when I go out in winter, due to poor blood circulation my hands freeze up instantly and I%u2019m not able to move them to drive. I don%u2019t like to wear heavy layers of clothes because it restricts the little movement I have. Something that can instantly warm up my hands without restricting their movement would be really helpful for me and people with similar needs.

Danny

I volunteer with a drumming group for people with disabilities run by Access Inc.

.There are also other musical instruments being used in the group. I bought along a mini electric guitar and one of the participants took a liking to it and now he uses it at every session and strums it with excellent rhythmic ability. He suffers from several challenges including deafness so we put the amplifier against his legs so that he could feel the vibrations. But I would like to use music visualization to show him the product of his strumming visually. I downloaded several music visualization apps from the Playstore but the problem is that the iPad microphone picks up all of the music in the room, not just his input. I tried plugging the guitar lead directly into the iPad using an adapter but that didn't work as I believe I plugged it into the audio output and so the microphone still picked up his input and also everyone else. Would it be possible to allow only his guitar to be picked up in a noisy environment? Then he could participate in a musical performance by having his output projected onto a screen.

Aaron

I am 79 yrs old. I want to stay independent but have difficulty standing up and down from my 4ww due to weakness in my legs. I wish to stay stay as active as possible and access the community and use my frame as a seating option if I get tired. I would like a mechanical or electronic means of assisting me to move from sitting to standing. This needs to be light, portable and have its own power supply.

Jenny

My challenge to TOM is to make a wheelchair ramp for the VW Kombi Van that I am having built for the Accessible Adventures inclusive tours of the Great Ocean Road and the Grampians. At the moment 55% of the 1.7m Australian adults with a disability say it's "just too hard" to go on holidays due to lack of options. Accessible Adventures aims to provide inclusive adventure tours or both able-bodied and disabled travellers to create a more integrated world! This van will be a fun, instagrammable way to introduce young travellers to the world of adventure.

Louise

The young man I work with Sayeed, finds it very difficult to amuse himself and is bored for long periods when at home. He loves water and this calms and intrigues him. Sayeed has autism and no clear way of communicating. He communicates through behaviours to indicate that he wants something, wants your attention, or doesn't want something. Sayeed is 9 years old. Although the above mentions that this sections of the form is not looking for solutions - my thoughts were for some from of interactive water wall in Sayeed's back yard. This would need to be very durable as Sayeed breaks things as part of communication through his behaviour. The youtube links I have included are what gave me the idea but it would need to be far more sturdy and damage proof.

Bill

lifts for motor homes

Fid

Hi, I have Beckers Muscular Dystrophy and was diagnosed in 2010. This mainly affects my quad muscles in my legs. I use crutches to aid my walking.

I love fishing but because I use crutches I find it hard to carry all my fishing gear to the pier from my car. I am after a fishing trolley that could carry all my fishing equipment eg. fishing rods, tackle box and bucket and have an adjustable seat so I can sit down if my legs get tired. I have an electric golf trolley which could be used.

Beverley

The person who has the need has dyspraxia.
He struggles to initiate sentences/words/conversations because he has Dyspraxia
He needs an augmentative system that is like a reference system. A bit like when I can’t remember a name of someone I look it up on the contacts on my iPhone-I scroll through the contact list and say “Oh yes, that’s the one”!
Would this constitute a challenge?

Josh

I suffered a broken neck after an accident while training for my downhill mountain bike race season which left me a C5 quadriplegic. I’ve been looking at getting into go karting for some fun again but I need some adaptations to be able to drive. I need hand controls for the brake and accelerator and something to lighten the steering. I have designed something on my computer that would work for the hand controls and the steering could be lightened but adapting power steering for a quad bike or utv. I will attach some photos of what I have designed or found but I would love to describe what I have done or thinking more in depth with you.

Matt

no challenge

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