A Christmas story to warm the cockles of your heart? in the health and wellness forum? You'll see....
The story you are about to read isn't necessarily a Christmas story in the traditional snow and Santa sense, but I hope you find it appropriate for the season. ...and of course that it warms your heart a bit, way down in the cockel or even the sub-cockel region.
The story starts more than a year ago with my son, who is a young special-ed teacher being given the opportunity to lead the 3-d printing club at his school. The club was a start up and made possible because there was a little extra funding for science related clubs. At that time he was still learning about the printers and the technology so the NEW club was a great way for him to learn and grow while helping others do the same. Fast forward a year or so and my son had learned more about the machines, materials and programs and had even built and modified a couple basic machines for home use. When approached by the principal about needing to spend a little more money on the club my son recommended they sell some of the original machines and buy a couple much better machines. The principal was hesitant but trusted that my son would be able to sell the old machines so they could afford the new (better) machine. All the while several kids from the school (even a few from his own special ed classroom) had joined the club and were enjoying learning about the world of 3d printing and its capabilities. With the new, better machines on hand my son was able to offer a little extra help to the robotics club, printing difficult to source parts so they could build and test their robots before competitions. Ultimately the robots had to have officially approved parts so the 3d printed parts would be replaced prior to competition, but the ability to build and test at minimal cost and with little time delay was a real help
This brings us to earlier this year where a 3rd person was introduced into this mix, a newly hired district IT guy. My son quickly befriended this new IT guy and introduced him to the 3d printing "lab" he had built and the computers that powered the whole thing. Over the course of the year the new IT guy regularly visited the 3d printing club to learn and play along side the kids and my son. I can't be certain but I imagine the IT guy was learning enough about the machines and computers that power them to be able to help out in the future when/if needed.
Not very long ago, while looking for program files for new and exciting 3d printed projects, my son ran across an organization that provided FREE templates/programs for various prosthetic devices AND sold at a nominal cost the hardware that would be needed to make the custom printed prosthetics functional. This organization (many of us have heard of it and never thought twice about it) is essentially designed to make low cost functional prosthetics available to as many people across the world by exploiting the ever expanding world of 3d printer ownership. To "do it right" measurements need to be taken and/or 3d scans uploaded, individual parts printed and assembled using appropriate hardware. Really cool idea huh?
Well as it turned out, my son new of a young boy who was missing the majority of his right hand and was not likely to be provided a prosthetic any time soon (or ever). Armed with this new information that promised to provide a solution for this boy, friends in robotics and IT who could/would help accomplish the complex measurements and assembly involved and the tools to print all that was needed...he set out to see what could be done. Because we live in a VERY litigious world where all too often ingenuity is discouraged and good deeds are punished my son had to FIRST seek the support of his principal and the therapists who would stand to inherit this child and his new prosthetic. I won't belabor the work done here other than to say it was far too difficult, far to deep and took far too long but in the end it resulted in a YES for this young boy AND uncovered as many as 120 other kids who were left behind...4 of whom are in the process of being approved for immediate "Care" (kind of like a Hallmark Christmas movie). Meanwhile my son, the robotics guy and the IT guy are working on the first version of what should turn out to be a very nice right hand.
Even with a free program file and tools to help guide the person(s) who might be printing the prosthetics, the work is fairly intensive and not without cost. One of the challenges was to get the school district to approve the cost. Not just because the cost of materials had to be accounted for and the cost of materials provided by this organization had to be paid ...but because there had to be a literal buy in from the school so it could come from the school rather than my son and his team of nerds. Fortunately getting the costs covered took little more than passing the hat (so to speak). How much did the hardware cost for this young boys life changing prosthetic? About $30 bucks. Thats right, $30 in hardware, another $30 or less in printer medium and several hours of club time (shared with the kids in the club who will NEVER forget designing and printing a boys new hand) is all it takes to get the ball rolling on what could be a very big thing for this young man.
If only is was as simple as printing a cool prosthetic hand and strapping it on ...but it's a good start. Once this boy gets his new prosthetic hand he will be enrolled in the appropriate physical/occupational therapy programs to help him learn how to use and enjoy his new gift. There are a number of reasons children like this are left without the prosthetics and/or physical therapy they so badly need...but rather than dwell on those reasons my son, his nerdy friends and his principal have chosen to do what they can to solve problems.
Que the mysterious snow fall and a distant HO HO Ho
The story you are about to read isn't necessarily a Christmas story in the traditional snow and Santa sense, but I hope you find it appropriate for the season. ...and of course that it warms your heart a bit, way down in the cockel or even the sub-cockel region.
The story starts more than a year ago with my son, who is a young special-ed teacher being given the opportunity to lead the 3-d printing club at his school. The club was a start up and made possible because there was a little extra funding for science related clubs. At that time he was still learning about the printers and the technology so the NEW club was a great way for him to learn and grow while helping others do the same. Fast forward a year or so and my son had learned more about the machines, materials and programs and had even built and modified a couple basic machines for home use. When approached by the principal about needing to spend a little more money on the club my son recommended they sell some of the original machines and buy a couple much better machines. The principal was hesitant but trusted that my son would be able to sell the old machines so they could afford the new (better) machine. All the while several kids from the school (even a few from his own special ed classroom) had joined the club and were enjoying learning about the world of 3d printing and its capabilities. With the new, better machines on hand my son was able to offer a little extra help to the robotics club, printing difficult to source parts so they could build and test their robots before competitions. Ultimately the robots had to have officially approved parts so the 3d printed parts would be replaced prior to competition, but the ability to build and test at minimal cost and with little time delay was a real help
This brings us to earlier this year where a 3rd person was introduced into this mix, a newly hired district IT guy. My son quickly befriended this new IT guy and introduced him to the 3d printing "lab" he had built and the computers that powered the whole thing. Over the course of the year the new IT guy regularly visited the 3d printing club to learn and play along side the kids and my son. I can't be certain but I imagine the IT guy was learning enough about the machines and computers that power them to be able to help out in the future when/if needed.
Not very long ago, while looking for program files for new and exciting 3d printed projects, my son ran across an organization that provided FREE templates/programs for various prosthetic devices AND sold at a nominal cost the hardware that would be needed to make the custom printed prosthetics functional. This organization (many of us have heard of it and never thought twice about it) is essentially designed to make low cost functional prosthetics available to as many people across the world by exploiting the ever expanding world of 3d printer ownership. To "do it right" measurements need to be taken and/or 3d scans uploaded, individual parts printed and assembled using appropriate hardware. Really cool idea huh?
Well as it turned out, my son new of a young boy who was missing the majority of his right hand and was not likely to be provided a prosthetic any time soon (or ever). Armed with this new information that promised to provide a solution for this boy, friends in robotics and IT who could/would help accomplish the complex measurements and assembly involved and the tools to print all that was needed...he set out to see what could be done. Because we live in a VERY litigious world where all too often ingenuity is discouraged and good deeds are punished my son had to FIRST seek the support of his principal and the therapists who would stand to inherit this child and his new prosthetic. I won't belabor the work done here other than to say it was far too difficult, far to deep and took far too long but in the end it resulted in a YES for this young boy AND uncovered as many as 120 other kids who were left behind...4 of whom are in the process of being approved for immediate "Care" (kind of like a Hallmark Christmas movie). Meanwhile my son, the robotics guy and the IT guy are working on the first version of what should turn out to be a very nice right hand.
Even with a free program file and tools to help guide the person(s) who might be printing the prosthetics, the work is fairly intensive and not without cost. One of the challenges was to get the school district to approve the cost. Not just because the cost of materials had to be accounted for and the cost of materials provided by this organization had to be paid ...but because there had to be a literal buy in from the school so it could come from the school rather than my son and his team of nerds. Fortunately getting the costs covered took little more than passing the hat (so to speak). How much did the hardware cost for this young boys life changing prosthetic? About $30 bucks. Thats right, $30 in hardware, another $30 or less in printer medium and several hours of club time (shared with the kids in the club who will NEVER forget designing and printing a boys new hand) is all it takes to get the ball rolling on what could be a very big thing for this young man.
If only is was as simple as printing a cool prosthetic hand and strapping it on ...but it's a good start. Once this boy gets his new prosthetic hand he will be enrolled in the appropriate physical/occupational therapy programs to help him learn how to use and enjoy his new gift. There are a number of reasons children like this are left without the prosthetics and/or physical therapy they so badly need...but rather than dwell on those reasons my son, his nerdy friends and his principal have chosen to do what they can to solve problems.
Que the mysterious snow fall and a distant HO HO Ho
