Another recently publicized exoskeleton, called eLEGS by Berkeley Bionics, promises to help paraplegics walk again. We featured two similar devices earlier at DisabledAndProductive, namely the Rex Robotic Legs and the ReWalk System, both developed by companies in countries outside of the US. But to the best of our knowledge, eLEGS is the first of its kind developed in the US.

eLegs Walking Device

eLEGS  is a battery-powered, wearable bionic device using artificial intelligence and sensors in the crutches allowing the wearer’s legs to move with a natural human gait. Candidates for using this bionic device must have sufficient upper body strength to transfer themselves from a wheelchair. Primary candidates are people with ALS, polio, muscular dystrophy and paralysis as a result of injury or stroke.

Trials are targeted to start in selected clinics in Canada by 2012 and users will initially be supervised by therapists to ensure safety. The initial estimated price tag of eLEGS for use in rehabilitation centers where the device needs to be adjusted for a specific client will be $90,000 to $100,000. But it is expected that the price will be substantially lower by the time Berkeley Bionics introduces a personal use eLEGS.

Being a quadriplegic, I have personally experienced the benefits of using a standing wheelchair, but this device takes it literally a step further. And even though I won’t be able to take advantage of the eLEGS device due to my lack of upper body strength, I am excited for anyone else who might get equipped with eLEGS at some point in their life.

Specifications for the eLEGS prototype:

• User must be between 5-foot-2 and 6-foot-4 tall and weigh 220 lbs. or less.
• Weighs a little over 40 lbs., but its own weight is supported by the machine itself.
• Worn over regular clothes and shoes, it is held on using Velcro straps, backpack-style clips and shoulder straps. With practice, can it be put on or taken off in a minute or two.
• Prototype battery stays charged more than six hours under nominal use in a rehabilitation setting.
• Walking speeds vary by wearer, but speeds in excess of 2 miles/hour can be attained.
• Users should be comfortable using eLEGS after five to 10 sessions.

Feel free to check out this eLEGS video to learn more about this exciting device.

Communicating with a person with a disability can make people uncomfortable as disabled people are often thought of as being “different”. A person with a disability might not be able to walk, or hear, or see, or talk, but other than that a disabled person has a body, a brain, a heart, and a soul like everyone else. A disabled person wants to enjoy life, set goals, and be treated with respect just like a non-disabled person. But, disabled people are not always treated with the sensitivity they deserve.

free copy of Disability Etiquette by United Spinal Association to pick up some useful tips on how to interact with a person with a disability. This free publication addresses all the common types of disabilities.

These simple, straightforward tips can help anyone feel more comfortable being around a disabled person. By improving your interaction skills, you might even make a new friend who happens to have a disability.

Most people take it for granted: holding open and reading a book. But for those without full use of their hands or another similar physical disability, this can be a much more difficult process than for an able-bodied person. Holding open a small paperback book and turning a single page at a time can be difficult for a quadriplegic. That’s why new ebook readers such as the Amazon Kindle have the potential to make a huge difference in the lives of those who otherwise would have a difficult time reading.

Now, we can’t speak for other ebook readers and how well they work, but we do have experience with the Amazon Kindle (both the 1st and 2nd generations) and have found the device to be very easy to use, fairly light, and extremely convenient. As a reading device for a disabled person, it has a few very distinct benefits.

First, because it is one flat screen, there is no need to turn pages or hold anything open. Pages are turned with the click buttons on either side of the screen making reading from a flat surface, such as a table, very convenient.

The device also always remembers where you are in all books you are reading. There is no need to worry about a bookmark because whenever you power on the device, you are always on whatever page you left off at. Personally, I love this feature because I have the terrible habit of reading a half-dozen books at once, and I always run out of bookmarks and then have to spend time searching to figure out where I had read to.

Another wonderful feature of the Kindle is the ability to adjust the size of the font on the device. For those with vision impairments, the ability to greatly increase the size of the text is a really nice feature. And if you’re vision is very poor (or if you are feeling lazy) you can even activate text-to-speech and the Kindle will read to you! Now, keep in mind this isn’t a professional voice actor reading to you – it is a computerized voice that doesn’t sound completely natural – but there are plenty of great possibilities in this. Just to on text-to-speech and be read to while you close your eyes and relax.

But really, the most significant aspect of the Kindle I think is the ability to carry several books on one small device that is easy to get out of a bag, easy to use, and requires very little manual dexterity to operate. Personally, I love mine and the conveniences it brings and definitely recommend it to others.

Here also is a video review of the Kindle we put together demonstrating some of it’s useful features:

To find out more about the Kindle or purchase one visit Amazon.com

Happy reading!

The story of a quadriplegic who marries his service dog trainer

Luc and Shari

When I divorced my first wife 13 years ago, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with the rest of my life. All of a sudden I found myself living alone in my house without a partner I could rely on to manage the physical chores that come with running a household and to support me with issues related to my C5/C6 quadriplegia. Luckily I had a very reliable caregiver who had been working for me for several years. She made a commitment to help with my morning and evening routines each day. And when she wasn’t able to make it on a particular day or when she went on a vacation, she would make sure that someone else in her family would fill in.

However, I felt that life had become a struggle as I was basically living in survival mode. All of my closest family was living in Belgium, I had a nine year old son I needed to take care of who lived with me 50% of the time, and I was holding a job that was quite demanding. I barely had enough time left during the week to get some food on the table for my son and I. Living alone like this certainly wasn’t how I wanted to live for the rest of my life. Even though my disability was too much for my first wife to deal with, I have to admit that she was very supportive during my early years as a disabled person and I am thankful for that.

Who would be interested in partnering with a quadriplegic confined to a wheelchair? Never could I have dreamed the reality that started to materialize when my son asked if he could have a dog.

Of course, I wanted to please him and be a good dad, but the idea of being able to take care of a dog while in a wheelchair and without the full use of my hands wasn’t really something I was looking forward to. I had seen people in wheelchairs with their service dogs, but I didn’t really know how to go about getting one and I had told my son I would only consider a dog that was very well trained.

I started doing some research and made some phone calls, and I found out that many service dog programs had a waiting list of 2 to 3 years. Of course, my son didn’t have the patience to wait that long. Coincidentally, a few days later, as my son and I entered our local mall, I ran into a young man in a wheelchair accompanied by a service dog. I asked him what program he had worked with and he pointed to a woman, her name was Shari, who was walking a few steps behind him. At that time I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that this woman was going to become my wonderful wife.

I approached Shari and asked how I could get a service dog. She explained that she had just started her own organization, Discovery Dogs, training service dogs for people with disabilities and that she was actually looking for new clients, which meant there was no waiting list. She also explained that having a service dog would be a serious commitment on my end and that the dog would be there to help me, not just a play pal for my son. All of a sudden, the idea of having a dog around that could help me in many ways started to excite me. But first I had to explain to my son that the dog’s primary role was going to be to support me and that he would only be able to interact with the dog when the dog wasn’t working for me.

Shari invited me to one of her weekly group training sessions at the local Humane Society to let me have some exposure to handling a service dog and to evaluate whether I would be willing to make the commitment to working with a service dog partner. Shari brought Fazio, a beautiful golden retriever, for me to work with and we connected almost immediately. However, Fazio was not the dog Shari had in mind for me because he was her demonstration dog and she had some very special history with him and didn’t plan to place him with a client. So Shari found Sam, a tall blonde golden retriever, for me instead. We started doing weekly training field trips together and Shari and I quickly became good friends. Eventually these outings with Sam almost felt like an excuse for Shari and I to see each other. We went to restaurants and movies together to teach Sam and myself how to operate together as a team in a public environment, but our trips felt more and more like dates.

Unfortunately Sam developed some issues that made it inappropriate for him to continue training as a service dog. That was devastating news for me, but Shari was able to find a wonderful pet home for Sam. That meant we had to start all over again with a new dog, but given that Discovery Dogs was so new, Shari didn’t have an available dog for me to train with. Shari knew I was eager to have a service dog and so she did the most incredible thing by offering me Fazio, the dog she would never place, but the dog I really loved from the beginning. By then, Shari and I had started dating seriously and by the time Fazio was ready to be placed in my home Shari moved in also. Not only did I get this very special helper dog, I also got a new partner in life and just a few months later we were married.

Shari and I have been happily married for 11 1/2 years now. Regretfully, Fazio passed away after being my very dedicated partner for many years. He will always be remembered as the beloved and special dog that brought us together.

Fazio and Luc (we miss you Fazio!)

After 18 years of sitting in a wheelchair all day long, a standing wheelchair has given me a new perspective on life. As a quadriplegic unable to move my legs, I stand up 5 to 6 hours on a typical day. This has lifted my spirits tremendously and it has improved my overall health. It feels good to talk again to another person at the same eye level, and what I like the most is that I can hug my wife now while we both stand at the same height.

Practicing standing on a tilt table

I have known the benefits of standing for quite a while now, but it wasn’t until eight years ago that I started exploring how to make standing a reality. Before attempting any standing, I had my bone density tested to make sure it was still high enough to be able to tolerate standing without breaking any bones. At that time, standing wheelchairs hadn’t matured yet; my best standing option was using a tilt table. I did about 10 physical therapy sessions where I was closely monitored, all the while building up the endurance I would need to stand up for long periods of time. At first I got dizzy easily, which is understandable when you haven’t stood up in 13 years. But after a few sessions I was able to stand up for an hour straight.

At home I stood up on the tilt table about once every two weeks because the process of being transferred from my wheelchair to the tilt table wasn’t an easy one. Several months after I bought the table, however, I began using the table on a daily basis. I had developed a pressure sore, and discovered the benefits of regular standing to help heal it.

Healing a pressure sore while working from a tilt table

Typically, when someone who is paralyzed develops a pressure sore, that person is forced to stay in bed for several weeks until to pressure sore is completely healed. For me, that would have been problematic since I had just started a highly involving project at work. Having the tilt table was of huge benefit to me at the time, because with it I was able to continue to work while also allowing my pressure sore to heal. I am fortunate in that I am able to work remotely with my job, so I used the table to stand in front of my computer at home and work there. For six weeks I worked that way until my pressure sore was completely healed. I must admit, those were not the most fun weeks of my life as it was very constraining to be strapped on to a tilt table all day long. It was also very stressful for my wife because she had to tilt me back flat every 45 minutes to allow my body to rest. But it was still much better than spending six weeks in bed. I was able to heal my pressure sore without missing a single day of work.

Even though the tilt table allowed me to remain productive while my pressure sore was healing, once I was healed I didn’t use the table very often. Mostly, that was just because it was such an involved process to transfer from my chair to the table. For me, it just wasn’t practical to do very frequently.

A few years later, however, a new piece of equipment made it possible for me to easily stand on a regular basis, and I began to experience the real benefits of incorporating that into my daily life.

A standing chair as a more flexible solution

It was in 2006 that I began to look into getting a new wheelchair, and I decided to evaluate a few models of standing wheelchairs. My research paid off, as I found one that is perfect for my needs. I sit in it just like a regular wheelchair, but with a touch of the controls it adjusts into a standing position.

I now have complete control over when and how long I want to stand up. I can even ride around while standing up and can reach things up high that I could never reach before. It has been an incredible boost to my self-esteem. What’s more, I love that the chair allows me to lay completely flat so I can enjoy some comfortable sunbathing.

Health benefits of a standing chair

My desk at work is now configured so that I can work on my computer both sitting and standing up without needing to make any adjustments. Half of the time I work standing up. I can feel my lungs able to open up a lot more when I stand, my blood circulation is improved, and it seems to be doing some good for moving my bowels too. My bone density is higher now and my muscle spasms have decreased. Sometimes I start a little sweating when my bladder is not emptying too well and the sweating goes away as soon as I stand up. But most of all, standing on a regular basis has prevented me from getting any new pressure sores. Now, if any redness starts to show because of pressure, I just start standing up more during the day and the redness goes away.

A standing wheelchair has changed my life for the better. My health has improved which allows me to remain productive and I can give my wife better hugs which makes me happy.

If you’d like to take a look at what a standing wheelchair looks like in action, we have a video up showing some of the great things a standing wheelchair can do: The Benefits of Using a Standing Wheelchair

Are you a disabled person who is constantly limiting your amount of fluid intake because you are worried your leg bag might overflow? If you are, there’s a good chance you’re getting urinary tract infections (UTIs) because you aren’t drinking enough liquids. I used to be in that situation too, but my life changed for the better after I discovered the substantial benefits of using an electric leg bag opener. I now have the freedom to drink as much as I want without needing to rely on someone else to drain my bag and, for me, UTIs are history.

Dealing with UTIs

Most people with spinal cord injuries suffer from UTIs at some point in their lives. I certainly had my share of UTIs during my early years of being disabled as a C5/C6 quadriplegic. I remember one infection was so bad that there was blood in my urine – and that really scared me. Antibiotics seemed to be the only way to cure UTIs, but I have always dreaded taking medication, especially antibiotics, as they also kill the good bacteria in your body.

Because of my specific type of spinal injury, I developed a condition whereby I became a 100% automatic reflexer. Being an automatic reflexer basically means that the bladder empties by itself, and you have no control over when it empties or how much gets released. It’s kind of like your bladder becomes a leaky faucet.  Initially after my injury but before becoming an automatic reflexer I had to be catheterized on a fixed schedule and I had to manage my fluid intake very carefully. The biggest problem was the fact that I could not catheterize myself because I no longer have full use of my fingers.

After becoming an automatic reflexer I no longer had to insert a catheter, which can be a major cause of UTIs, but I was still getting my share of infections. Apparently, my urethral sphincter was not always relaxing enough which caused my bladder to maintain a urine level in which bacteria would grow, eventually resulting into a UTI. Occasionally my bladder would fill up so much that it would turn into autonomic dysreflexia, a condition that causes extremely high blood pressure and usually coincides with a pounding headache. It turned out that the distal sphincters that connect my bladder to the urethra did not coordinate properly with the bladder, and drainage was obstructed. The treatment required undergoing a sphincterotomy, which is a surgical procedure that weakens the sphincter muscles so urine can flow out more easily.

Using a leg bag

After the sphincterotomy, my frequency of infections decreased but I would still get one occasionally. Almost immediately I realized there was a direct link between the number of bladder infections I experienced and the amount of fluids I drank. On a day I hardly drank anything my urine looked brownish in the evening, and when I drank a lot of water for a few days my urine would be almost completely clear and colorless.

It seemed like a simple solution to just always drink a lot of water to avoid getting UTIs, right? So, why not just do that? Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Since I am an automatic reflexer and my bladder drains without me having control over it, the urine needs to be captured somehow. For people with my condition, this is typically accomplished through the use of a bag strapped to the lower leg. I wear one, and I think of it as my second bladder. The problem is that the leg bag needs to be emptied to prevent it from overflowing and, unfortunately, I can’t do it myself.  I am completely dependent on someone else because to empty it requires opening a valve at the bottom of the bag that I can’t reach. It’s not something you can ask any stranger to do for you and I certainly didn’t want my coworkers to bother with it either.

One of my goals has always been to minimize the amount of help I need from other people at work as it can cause resentment over time. Keeping this in mind, I wanted to avoid needing to have my leg bag emptied at work at all costs.  The only way to do that was to minimize my fluid intake during the day, but I still wanted to drink lots of fluids to maintain a healthy bladder. So I modified my fluid intake and drank very little during the day, the consumed plenty of liquids in the evening at home when someone could help me empty the bag. Sometimes I would even wait to drink much until an hour before bed so I wouldn’t have to bug anyone with emptying my leg bag. Of course, that wasn’t serving my bladder too well.

An Automatic Leg Bag Opener to the Rescue

About three years ago, I decided to do some research on automatic, powered leg bag openers. I had heard of their existence, but I had always been apprehensive to try one as I was afraid it might release by accident, and I was concerned that it would be too noticeable when mounted on my wheelchair.

I found one that appeared to be a great system and I bit the bullet and ordered one. It has definitely been one of the greatest improvements I have experienced during my disabled life. The system was fairly easy to mount on the wheelchair and it can draw power from the wheelchair battery. It isn’t noticeable, and someone looking at me wouldn’t even know it is there.

The unit is easy to connect when I get in my wheelchair in the morning and likewise simple to disconnect when I get out at night. The activation (to open the leg bag) is done by pushing a button on a small control unit. I hide the unit in a small pouch within easy reach on the side of my chair. Additionally, it has a safety feature which prevents any accidental release.

It does contain a small filter that needs to be wiped off occasionally, indicated by a slower drainage flow. I did have a few breakdowns of the unit during the first two years I owned it, but recently the manufacturer released a new, improved model which I now use and it has worked flawlessly.

I am happy to say that I am very satisfied with the product. Even though the system is not inexpensive, I consider it well worth the investment.

I definitely recommend this type of leg bag opener, but of course only you can determine what is right for you and your situation. I am very happy with my decision to install one because, finally, after years of monitoring my fluid intake, I now have the freedom to drink as much as I want. No longer do I worry about who is going to assist me with draining my urine – I can fully control that process myself now. I feel more productive and independent. I drink six quarts of water on average each day, my urine is consistently completely clear and I haven’t had the slightest sign of a UTI since I have installed this system. Drinking lots of water also aids my bowel movements as I experience far less constipation than I used to. Also, I am hopeful that I have significantly reduced my chance of forming kidney stones since urinary tract waste gets flushed out much better and more frequently.

Good health is a key to leading a more productive, fulfilling life as a disabled person!

Richardson Products Leg Bag Opener Ordering Information

The leg bag I use is the HyroFlush Mini, made my Richardson Products, and I think it’s one of the best on the market. I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for this type of solution.

(Keep in mind the box shown in the picture below is not the entire device. Click the picture for full details of the unit and how it works.)

We also filmed a demonstration video about the electric leg bag emptier that will show you more about how it works.

from www.richardsonproducts.com