Limited mobility students or professionals

i have a gal, who is interested in learning some bench skills. i
think i need to get her to set up a bench/work space at her home.
she’s wheel chair bound and my home studio is on ‘stilts’ 14’ off the
ground. (a requisite after katrina) are there any similarly afflicted
people that can give me some assistance in helping this lady out? i
haven’t even met this lady yet, but would like to speak with her,on
some issues that this forum might have more experience in these
matters.

thanks in advance!
richard near the oily gulf coast

What type of wheelchair is she using and what is her disability
level? With that in hand, a bench can be altered to
allow her access under it. I would strongly recommend setting her up
with a GRS Benchmate system with a DROP PLATE to get it down to a
comfortable level for her.

This what we did for my husband who also uses a wheelchair at times
in the studio. Contact me offline- my husband would be happy to talk
to you.

Hi Richard,

My heart goes out to you whenever I think of the destruction from
that oil spill. At least you do not make your living from the water
(I assume), but those poor fishermen, and the birds and fish, and the
tourist trade!

I am an Occupational Therapist and beginner/intermediate jewelry
maker. I can help you with issues of accessibility for someone in a
wheelchair. I do not have my own studio set up, but I have many of
the supplies (I’m lacking the soldering/pickling set up) and do basic
sawing, hammering, drilling, polishing, etc at home; I go to a class
for the soldering. So I can give you some basic ideas of what your
client would need.

Your 14’ high studio certainly does sound inacessible unless you got
some sort of wheelchair lift (elevator—yes, they make them even for
outdoors) but this is rather expensive. So setting a small studio up
in her own home might be the solution, if she has the space. All she
would need really are 2 work areas…the workbench and a soldering
area (I would separate them). The workbench and soldering areas could
be desks or tables with the legs cut so that it’s an appropriate
height for her to get her wheelchair under. I guess I would want to
know what her condition is (why she is in a wheelchair)…is she
paraplegic, an amputee, or does she have some sort of generalized
neurological disorder that affects her core and arms too?. And what
kind of metalwork is she interested in?

If you decide to work with her, ask her some of the questions I’ve
considered above, let me know and I’ll help with decisions about the
studio. You can contact me off list if you wish.

Lorry Kramer