Achieving Independence

At 10 years old, there are really only a few things that Jadon hasn't been able to figure out how to do on his own.  The first was buttoning his own jeans.  After accepting that he needed to carry a tool to accomplish this task, he was always forgetting it at home because it was uncomfortable to keep in his pocket.  Traditional button hooks are primarily used by older, arthritic hands that benefit from a large, easier to grasp handle.  These attributes make the tool too large for a jeans pocket.  We developed Jadon's Button Loop to be:

• easily carried in a child's front pocket (short, semi-flexible)
• either gripped like a handle or "hooked" with a thumb and pulled
• kept on a key ring if desired
• inexpensive

This tool works well, is inexpensive, and best of all brings independence to a child's life.  Grade school teachers everywhere will appreciate the independence this allows a child after a bathroom break!  Here's a short video of Jadon demonstrating how to use his Button Loop.  He is much faster at it than this, I had to ask him to slow down for the demonstration!

The second thing that is very difficult to accomplish one-handed is trimming the nails on his uninjured hand.  Mounting the clippers on a small piece of plastic allows him to trim his nails by using his injured hand to press down.

I have been making and donating these through the therapy department at the Shriner's Hospital and plan to send a number of them to UBPN as well.  I will continue to build and donate these tools as long as there is a need and I am able.  If you would like to help by providing materials, please use the donation button on this page.  The costs aren't huge, even the nail clippers with base are under a dollar, but small amounts to offset the cost of materials will be appreciated.

I would like to thank the following people\companies for contributing to this cause.  In no particular order: Parsons, R. Weber, A. Shaver, Caterpillar Inc.