SMART Walker

In my previous post, I have mentioned that wheelchairs must be made of convetional technologies while also being innovative. This "dream" wheelchair has come out: the SMART Walker. It is not exactly a wheelchair since there is no place for a patient to sit. However, it does the same role as a wheelchair, moving a patient around comfortably.

The SMART Walker is designed to help patients with paralysis or brain damage walk around. The good parts of this wheel chair is that it is quite simple to use, relatively light, and most importantly, it has the highest performance to price ratio compared to other products such as the iBot.



To begin with, a patient's feet are inserted on two platforms that are attached to a long handle. This connection help handicaps to maintain their balance while they are walking. The shoe on the two platforms are made by Piedro footwear, which provides extra comfort and sensitivity to the handicap. In addition, the tool is supported by four wheels that let the patient on the Walker to move more smoothly.

I hope that the National Rehabilitation Center would consider using this equipment. While being quite cheap, it is also very effective, teaching young disabilities to walk and older handicaps to move around freely. I am sure that the SMART Walker will provide a greater amount of freedom for handicaps.

Visiting the Korean National Rehabilitation Center again

Me in front of the
 map of the NRC

Today, I visited the Korean National Rehabilitation Center again. There, I helped the nurses finish their work and entertained the patients. I met a female patient who could not talk. She was about twenty-three years old and her entire body was curved inwards, making her look small relative to her age. I read a simple picture book to her so that she does not stay bored. The book was a series of memoirs, all of which were written by handicapps who overcame their disabilities and became renowned people. Although she could not tell me that she enjoyed it, her facial expressions and grunts told me that she loved the stories.

Beside her was another female patient, the same age as me. Her legs were paralyzed, which meant that she could thankfully use her upper body. However, she was extremely shy, barely communicating with me, except for nods and short replies. For she was an intelligent patient, she owned a special computer, in which she learned many new things every day. However, the computer was operated by her brain signals and eyes. The mouse was controlled by the eye, and the letters were written by her brain signals and slight movements in her hands. I was quite amazed by how she operated her computer.

Research building of the NRC

Finally, I also helped the workers at the hospital. I assisted in cleaning the patients' quarters, copying documents, and feeding the handicaps. Again, I felt that disablities were similar, in fact, same as regular humans. They are just as kind, if not more, as normal people, although they have a slightly different view of life. I can understand how their physical body leads many to believe that they are different people. However, I hope that I can visit the NRC again in the near future.

Reducing the Price of the iBot

As I mentioned in my previous article, the iBot is an exceptionally helpful automatic wheel-chair, allowing the user to deftly climb up stairs and stand as tall as normal people. Unfortunately, its cost is extremely high, reaching nearly $20,000. The company Johnson & Johnson has stopped producing iBots because its expenditure on the product was higher than its revenue. Not many disabilities have bought the product because of its unusually high price. Disabled people do not have enough money because they cannot work in careers. Therefore, demanding such a high price for an indispensable wheel-chair robot is outrageous. Fortunately, there are several ways to reduce the price of the iBot.

To begin with, the price of the iBot can be reduced by convincing the world's largest companies, including Microsoft, Google, and Apple, to help pay for an research and engineering team for the iBot. Up until now, one company, Johnson & Johnson, has paid for the research, resulting in a large expenditure. On the other hand, if several major companies cooperate to manage a large research team of scientists, the expenditure for each company drops significantly and the public image of those philantrhopic companies would improve.

Second, the iBot could be redisgned and remade, but this time considering the price of the new product. The team of researchers should use conventional technology in producing the motor, wheels, frame, and seat of the iBot. All four of these components in the original iBot were made by using cutting-edge and avant-garde technology. By using conventional technology, the price of the iBot would significantly drop since the technology being used is already widespread in many other products.
Finally, major companies, governments, and non-profit organizations can pay for a fraction of the cost of the iBot. Handicaps are unable to earn money because of their lack of control over their bodies. Therefore, these wealthy corporations could help disabilities by giving money to disabilities so that they just need to pay for a certain amount of the original cost.

In conclusion, we can lower the cost of the iBot by convincing large companies to pay for a major research team, redesign and remake the iBot with considering the new price, and non-profit organizations and governments can pay for a certain fraction of the cost, making the price disabilities need to pay lower.

iBot Wheel-Chair

Wheel Chairs are continuing to improve in innovative ways. In the near future, scholars predict that wheel chairs could become mobile homes or offices for disabled people. One example of an innovative wheelchair is the iBot. The main problem of wheelchairs is that they can only travel flat, stable terrain. Steps are a nightmare for handicaps in wheelchairs. Fortunately, the iBot can easily climb stairs. The wheel-chair has three sets of wheels, two big, outer sets with one small, inner pair. The two large outer wheels can rotate and stack up on each other to let the handicap stand taller and move up stairs. The video below shows the way the iBot works on stairs.



Unfortunately, the iBot is not on sale for now because it was to expensive. However, I hope that innovative wheelchairs of the future will cost a reasonable price so that it can help a greater number of handicaps.

Esther Vergeer: The Wheel Chair Tennis Champ

Eesther Vergeer, 29, lost control over her legs when she was 8. Ever since, she has excelled in basketball and tennis, even in the wheel chair. When she became older, her parents advised her to practice tennis only so that she can show others that she was a normal person.

Now, she is the eleven-year champion of wheel chair tennis. She has one about four hundred matches without losing a single set. She has one over 96 percent of all the single matches she played, compared to Roger Federer's 81 percent. Her dominance in the sport is comparable to Tiger Wood's reign in professional golf. She most recently won the finals of the U.S. Open with a 6-1, 6-2 breezing victory. Her coach, Groeneveld, who also coaches many top female seeds, is constantly astounded by the strong determination of Esther.

Esther says she will continue to try her best until she is old enough to retire. However, she is not sure what she will do when she retires from professional wheel chair tennis.

Mt. Namsan "Million-Person" Walk

On September 11, 2010, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will be hosting the Mt. Namsan "Million-Person" Walk. It will be a 7.5 km trail around Mt. Namsan, the largest mountain in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Many celebrities and famous people will be part of the walk. The contestants of the 2010 Miss South Korea Beauty Pageant and Hwang Young-Jo, the gold-medalist of the marathon even in the Barcelona Olympics, will be participate in this festival. Many participants will receive gifts encouraging the help of disabled people. The festival will last from 9:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. This is the first of numerous walking festivals for disabled people hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Visit to the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)

Me with Guoan Li
(I'm the one in the black shirt)

On July 21, 2010, I visited the bioengineering lab of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). It is one of the largest and the most prestigious hospitals in the world. Nearly ninety thousand people move in and out of the hospital. On July 21, 2010, I visited the bioengineering lab of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The hospital boasts top-notch care, innovative research, and intensive teaching. It is most famous for its orthopedic studies. Led by Guoan Li, a Chinese professor, the group publishes many papers and performs hundreds of surgeries. That day, I toured around the research center. I met and talked with Guaon Li about his research. He said that he enjoys his research very much.

Me in front of a mechanical limb

Guoan Li and his crew create robots and other mechanical limbs in order to assist handicaps and other disabled people. In a large storage room beside his lab, there are multitudes of robot limbs. Thanks to their creations, the Massachusetts General Hospital uses them all the time in surgeries and rehabilitating patients.

A Handicap Who Struggled

Donovan Forde was a cute baby until he was six months old. He laughed and he loved singing, especially nursery rhymes such as "Baa Baa Black Sheep". One day, Mrs. Forde left the house for a day of work and arrived late at night at her parent's house. They said that "something happened to the baby". When Mrs. Forde rushed to the hospital, she saw Donovan, a six-month old infant covered with equipment and pipes. He was in a fatal coma. When Mr. Forde, Donovan's father went to buy a baby bottle, he left Donovan in his friend's care. While the friend and Donovan was walking along Broadway, an under-age driver handling a stolen car crashed into them at top speed. The friend's leg was obliterated and Donovan fell on the cement pavement so hard on his head that his heart jolted and did not beat for days. After six weeks of coma, Donovan revived, but his optical nerves and other part of his nervous system was utterly destroyed. Then, after some time, he came back home, with a new self. (bottom: Donovan is being visited by his mother and little brother)

When Mrs. Forde had a second son, she made the heart-rending decision to send Donovan to Coler-Goldwater Memorial Hospital, where he could be monitored 24-7 and Mrs. Forde did not have to pay the bills. There, Donovan learned the most basic things that an infant could master in weeks. Because his optic nerves were destroyed, the first thing he learned was to blink his eyes, which he barely manages to do right now. Then, he learned fundamental math and science, which are a necessity in daily lives. In a three-month science course, Donovan was taught how to identify and differentiate seeds and fruits. Donovan touches the seeds and fruits for hours, make queer sounds, and just stares blankly at the teacher. The teacher is afraid that he does not know if Donovan understands what seeds and fruits are. Fortunately, Donovan is making quite a progress in science. On the other hand, Donovan is severely struggling with math. Math is all about seeing coins, bills, and numbers. Since Donovan is blind, he has to feel the money. Usually, he spends an entire hour touching the coins and bills, and then gives an answer that is way off the right one. Luckily, Donovan does have a favorite subject: physical education. During physical education, Donovan cries out like a maniac (that is his singing) when the R & B music comes on.

I believe that all the people of the world must understand the state of these people. These handicaps are poor, helpless chaps who don't know what to do. We must help them, both emotionally and physically. The UN and other organizations are doing a nice job and I hope that this continues.

Please refer to : http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/education/20donovan.html?ref=handicapped

Franklin Roosevelt's Victory over Polio

While Franklin Delano Roosevelt was vacationing in a park, he fell into the cold waters of a lake. After, he continued to play with his children. The same day, he felt slight chills in his lower body. These chills worsened and a slight fever appeared. Within two weeks, Roosevelt was permanently paralyzed from the waist downwards. He could not move any muscle in his lower body without another person's assistance. At first, Roosevelt was shocked that he contracted a severe case of polio in the middle of his early political career. Then, he thought that in order to continue his politcal career, he must convince other people that he is getting better. Therefore, he never allowed the press to cover him when he was in a wheelchair. Roosevelt refused to believe that he was paralyzed and always made his son support him on one arm while the other held a cane. After Franklin Roosevelt became President, he created the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. Thus, his face was stamped on the American dime. Fortunately, Roosevelt did get better and only his lower legs were paralyzed by the time he died. This American President is the role model for disabled people. He overcame his severe paralysis, helped other paralyzed Americans and successfully adapted to the American political system.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

On December 13, 2006, the United Nations Headquarters in New York adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This new convention will bring about a great change. It will encourage people to view handicaps as humans with the same set of rights as regular people instead of “objects” of medical treatment and help. In short, this United Nations Convention will bring the same rights to disables as those of normal people.

There are eight principles that are the fundamentals of the convention:
1. Disables must be able to have individual autonomy.
2. Handicaps must not be discriminated.
3. Disabled humans must always be included in society.
4. They must be regarded as a unique and vital part of humanity.
5. They must have equal opportunities as regular people.
6. They must have access to the same resources as normal humans.
7. Disabled men and women must have equal rights.
8. Disabled children must have the right to preserve their identities.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will make sure that the articles of the convention are being implemented in the United Nations countries. The group will consist of eighteen professionals, recognizing the challenges of disabilities. These experts will be elected by the Conference of State Parties, a large group of signatories of the United Nations Convention.

Every December 3 is the International Day of Persons of Disabilities. The theme for 2010 is the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This International Day will help raise awareness about the United Nations Conventions and the challenges of disabilities to the world.

Harvard Law School Project on Disability

Harvard Law School has launched a project called the HPOD (Harvard Law School Project on Disability). This project was made in order to strengthen the influence of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). It is true that the CRPD helped more than 650 million disabled people all around the world. However, many disabilities do not know how to make their communities realize that disabilities should be treated as the same way as normal people. Likewise, numerous businessmen, leaders, and organizations do not understand the hardships handicaps face with in their everyday life. HPOD strives to allow disabilities and normal humans to know each other better.

There are several ways that HPOD will reach its goals. First, disabilities will be taught about their own rights and know how to achieve them. Members will raise awareness in the normal society about the difficulties of handicaps. Second, HPOD will convince other major international organizations to raise awareness and help disabilities in need. Finally, HPOD will create scholarships for disabilities applying for colleges, high schools, universities, or other academic institutions.

Disabled Athletes Defy an Unaccommodating City

Mr. Sergei Shilov is a paraolympian. He is one of the most celebrated in Russia. Unfortunately, not many people have heard his name despite all the medals he had won in the past olympics and other competitions. He lives in a city that does not think about accommodating handicaps. Mr. Shilov is paralyzed below the waist. Because there are no special ramps or elevators, it is nearly impossible just to leave his home. However, they managed to do a much better job than the main olympic squad, which is funded a great deal, whereas, the paralympians have to train in the local parkinig lot. There is some good news though. Prime Minister Putin and President Medvedev decided to give the same amount of prize money to both olympians and paralympians. In addition, the Russians praised the paralympian team for brining 38 medals, while the main team brought only 3 medals. Therefore, many handicaps in Russia are trying out for the paralympics.

A Concert for the Disabled

On Saturday, April 17, 2010, my friends and I entertained the patients at the National Rehabilitation Center in Korea. Our strings trio consisted of two violins and a cello. We played three songs, two are Korean traditional songs (Doraji and Arirang) and one is a waltz by Johann Brahms. We were a little bit nervous when we started the concert.

At first, there were no audience members. We were performing alone in an empty room. However, one by one, patients came in to see

our performance. Just five minutes after we started, there were about thirty patients in the room. They were clapping, singing, crying, and some were dozing off. When we finished our performance, the patients and their family members applauded and left slowly.

My friends and I were very tired because we had to play the same pieces continuously for nearly thirty minutes. Fortunately, I felt that the patients were happy because they finally saw some kids recognize their isolation from society and come to perform for them. I also felt that next time we should prepare better with more Korean traditional songs since nearly all of the patients there are old men and women.

Helping my new friend

On Friday, March 26, 2010, I visited the National Rehabilitation Center in Korea (left image) for the first time. There, I thought that I was going to have a difficult time helping the handicaps. I took an entire bag just in case that I might need anything. In the bag, there was a water bottle, three books for teaching English to kids, and a large pencil case. I was extremely nervous when I entered the hospital. I waited for the head nurse to tell me what to do. After a couple of minutes, the head nurse introduced a boy just three years older than me.

He was extremely small because his muscles could not react to his growth spurts. Therefore, he had a seriously curved spine. His entire body kept shivering and he could not talk well. I was so shocked that I felt that he was half-dead. The head nurse put us in an enclosed room, shut the door, and left. I was still recovering from my shock and I did not know what to do. First, we just stared at each other. Next, we had short conversations. Then, we talked very much without stopping. Finally, I followed him everywhere he went.

While, I was with him, I felt that these people were no different than normal people. The only difference was that they had some disabilities. These handicaps had a pure heart and an encouraging mind, unlike the general belief of violent handicaps. Therefore, I promised to myself that I would help these people for my whole life.

About my blog

My blog “Enable & Rehabilitate” will focus on the rehabilitation of handicaps. The name stands for the caring and the rehabilitating of disabled people. I thought that many do not know about the situation these handicaps are in. They have serious neural diseases but nearly all of them do not have enough to support themselves. Therefore, I decided that I should raise awareness about these desperate handicaps. I will post my thoughts and some articles about handicaps and their part of the global community. Please enjoy my opinions and articles I will be posting. Thank you!