Check Out the Inspiring Uses of Technology by the Good Folks at Enabling Devices

For 45 years they've been providing real help to people with special needs

I had such a phenomenal discussion during this week’s episode of my web show and podcast, which featured Seth Kanor and Vinny Livoti at Enabling Devices.

Seth’s dad, Dr. Steven Kanor, founded the company nearly half a century ago after he realized there were no toys specifically designed for the kids with disabilities that he interacted with in his work as a senior biomedical engineer at a cerebral palsy center on Long Island.

So he started making adaptive toys for them himself, eventually launching his own company out of his basement. He eventually branched out into other products as well, to help his special needs customers in their everyday lives, and the company now features products to assist with:

Language and Communication Skills: Developing language or motor skills, expressing ideas, paying attention, reading, hearing, seeing

Motor Skills and Physical Activities: Playing, grasping items, moving, eating, calming down

Independent Living Skills: Preparing food, getting dressed and undressed, driving

Dr. Kanor passed away in 2015, and now Seth serves as the company’s CEO. He and Vinny shared numerous stories about how the team there use the latest technologies to provide real help and entertainment to their customers, sometimes even custom-designing solutions.

Seth told the story of how an eye-blink switch became the basis for a system that brought a boy who had been paralyzed in an auto accident, and who doctors were ready to dismisss as completely unresponsive, back into interaction with the world around him.

Vinny shared another one about how the company used a sip-and-puff switch to help out a paraplegic drummer. He could no longer use foot pedals to play his hi-hat cymbal, but the good folks at Enabling Devices were able to design and build an alternative actuator using a sip-and-puff switch.

Seth and Vinny also shared how the latest technologies are helping them help people, especially 3D printing, which gives them everything from fast prototyping ability to low-volume manufacturing options to the all-important capability of custom colors!

If you didn’t check out the episode, you should. You know I’m a staunch advocate for all manufacturing, but this was something extra-special: people using innovative design, modern tech, and flexible production to help others overcome physical limitations.

Please help me spread the word about Enabling Devices, so they can help even more people.