Oscar's Story

 I had the opportunity to work one-on-one with a medical client, Oscar,  to discuss his condition, Spinocerebellar Ataxia,  and how his day-to-day routine is affected by it. He highlighted some struggles that he felt held him back, such as how he isn't able to go up and down the stairs freely and how he must always use both hands but he also raised a point about how his grip strength and general instability was compromised when doing a simple task such as moving a glass of water. 

As a symbol of his independence, he wished there was a way he could carry more than one glass at a time without spillage to allow him to have extra hydration on hand for bedtimes and so that he could feel like a better host to his friends when they visited. 

Moving forward, we focused on the idea of finding a working solution to this specific problem  to meaningfully assist Oscar in his daily routine and to alleviate some discomfort he feels from exerted effort with his condition.

I independently reached out to various neurologists who specialised in Ataxia in order to gain perspective on the client’s condition. In our meetings, I showed various stages of development and discussion of the proposed product in order to understand what further changes could be made to improve its design and to ensure it is still keeping the client's best interests in focus.

Is a degenerative movement disorder whereby, the cerebellum which is responsible for movement and coordination begins to atrophy and shrink which inevitably impact the person's ability to control their fine motor skills and balance. 

There is no cure for such a condition and the client lamented that he had exhausted all avenues of help in terms of assistive technology. There was nothing out there on the market that existed or was quite right for him.

This is where our team came in.

Our team developed a drinks holder that could support 2 glasses of water whilst only needing to be held in one hand. It's design was based off of a gyroscope which meant that no matter how much the user twisted or contorted the device, even with a tremor, no water could be spilt. In addition, it's ergonomically shaped handle was slanted to make it easier and more comfortable for Oscar to hold.

 This project was a great success and seeing how happy it made the client felt beyond rewarding.