www.maderatribune.com Serving the Heart of California since 1892 http://www.maderatribune.com/node/746/atom.xml 2014-12-27T17:13:58+00:00 http://www.maderatribune.com/news/community-clubs-working-help-former-maderan-wheelchair-quest 2012-02-23T04:26:02+00:00 2012-02-23T04:26:02+00:00 Community, clubs working to help former Maderan on wheelchair quest webmaster

Madera service clubs and community members are working together to help a Madera High special education student who graduated in 1980 attempt to break a Guinness World Record and raise funds for a nonprofit group that helps those with special needs communicate.

David Mensch, who has cerebral palsy and is bound to a wheelchair, is planning to ride his motorized wheelchair from Bakersfield to the State Capitol in Sacramento to raise money for the Kern Assistive Technology Center, where he works as an assistive technology technician.

Mensch’s dream is to build a home that can be remodeled as a showcase house with assistive technologies that help people with disabilities live as independently as possible.

This ranges from devices allowing an individual to point to a picture to communicate a need, to a $20,000 laser pointer, computer and voice synthesizer that can be accessed using eye movement or reflective devices placed on the forehead...