Glide Guide: An adaptive skating device that provides balance and stability for Marina, who has spastic muscle movements due to a childhood brain injury.

Marina has always enjoyed skating. Born into a skating family, she was a competitive figure skater early on. At age twelve, Marina suffered a traumatic brain injury due to a horseback riding accident, which resulted in spastic muscle movements on the left side of her body. With compromised balance, Marina found skating extremely difficult without the help of a skating walker. Skating walkers are usually designed with the legs directly on the ice, to prevent the skater from sliding out of control or falling, but this has the downside of hindering the skater’s ability to slide and turn. Glide Guide's flat, rounded base is designed to provide stability with its large surface area; to slide freely on the ice; and to rotate for turns. The device is composed of three platforms, each serving a specific purpose: the top to provide a place for Marina’s elbows, the middle to prevent her knees from shooting out in front of her, and the bottom to slide across the ice. A braking mechanism was added to give even more control.