Three years ago a gentleman who had suffered a spinal cord injury expressed a desire to do something.  He wanted to operate his motorized wheelchair with his hand instead of his head which he had been using since his injury five years before.  The problem was, due to the location of the injury, he didn’t have the necessary independent Screen Shot 2013-03-21 at 2.22.26 PMmovement in either of his arms needed to accomplish this task. So I set out to find a solution to help this gentleman realize his goal.  It was in this stated desire and the subsequent fulfillment of it that Function Abilities was born.

Since then others have expressed desires to do things – things that able bodied people might take for granted: Things like feed themselves, operate their computers, access their communication systems, paint, push elevator buttons, shake hands, and scratch their noses.  Kids have wanted to rough house with their dads, hug their moms, raise their arms in school, bonk themselves in the head, play with their toys, pester their siblings, play video games, or as one boy put it, “just stuff”.

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Function Abilities purpose is to help people with disabilities do as many things as they can independently.  We do this by combining innovative assistive technology devices with a focus on the person and his or her goals.  Currently we are working with mobile arm devices which provide people with limited use of their arms increased mobility and function.  In the future we will be adding other devices into the mix that will allow people to do more things.  We were created because of a need, and will continue to grow by finding ways to help fulfill more needs.  We welcome suggestions and feedback, and are always open to finding better ways to help people with disabilities do more stuff.