Having a disability often means a lack of privacy and independence. We wanted to create a series of attachments to help in getting dressed for people lacking fine motor skills. All of our creations are adaptations to clothing, so there is no cutting or sewing required.

Button:

The button we designed makes it much easier for anyone to button up their shirt, jacket, or pants. It is put through the original hole on their clothing, and left there until its ready to use. On one side, it has a faux button making it look normal to the outside world. On the other side there is a mouth for the regular button to slide into. This way, the person can pull one side of the garment over the other and easily close it up.

Zipper: 

The zipper is made to hang off of a regular zipper. It's much larger and easier to grasp with their entire hand. It can be pulled up or down, but not only does it zipper the pants, it can be dragged across to a belt loop or pocket to close the pants without the need of a button. If that's not enough, you can always use it in conjuction with our button.

Bra Clasp:

If buttons and zippers are hard enough, the clasp on a bra will be even harder. It's not only on your back, but equally small, if not smaller. What we are doing is adding a longer piece of fabric and larger fasteners which cross in the back, closing it, and then go around to the front so you can fasten it. This way, they can put the bra on, bend forward, pull the fabric around to the front, and fasten.
 

Pocket Helper:

Since we are on the topic of getting clothes on easier and without assistance, we also thought using the clothes would be helpful too. Most of us use our pockets a lot, taking our phones and wallets in and out way too often than we should. Our device attaches to the bottom of a pocket so that when it is twisted you can easily fit something inside your pocket. Once you want to take that item out, you can pull up on the hook and the entire pocket will come up exposing the item.

Main Idea: Our product is a stabalizer for a cane or crutch made specifically for people with Cerebral Palsy (CP). It is an attachment that goes on the bottom of a cane or crutch; when the patient shakes, our design prevents the cane or crutch from collapsing or getting off balance.

Design Problem: With a typical crutch, the bottom has only a single leg that is meant to keep the person stable. This can be difficult with CP because of the jerks and twitches that come with it.  Our attachment has four feet that can bend; when a person gets shaky it keeps the pole and person stable. This stability is caused by springs expanding when pressure is put on the pole, causing the feet to go further apart, making the base wider and more stable. If we were to do another itteration, we would have incoorperated only one spring and made the design sleeker. Additionally, the piece that keeps the legs at an angle aren't strong enough.

Why it is important: Our attachment makes the every day lives of people with CP easier and safer. People with CP will feel safer knowing that if they make an involuntary sudden movement they will remain stable. It also doesn't look that different from crutches with four legs at the bottom that do not move, so they won't feel too abnormal in a group of people.