University of Lynchburg Doctor of Physical Therapy students will help find new homes for gently used pediatric assistive technology in an equipment drive October 15 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
The students will collect used pediatric rehabilitation equipment such as walkers, wheelchairs, bath benches, and other devices that families might need for children who have disabilities or are recovering from physical injuries. Then they will take the equipment apart, clean it, and put it back together.
People who would like to donate the equipment can drop it off during the equipment drive or deliver it beforehand at the LC Graduate Health Sciences building on Monticello Avenue in Lynchburg.
Children’s Assistive Technology Service, a nonprofit operating from Smith Mountain Lake, will distribute the devices to families in need.
“The equipment will be repurposed and provided to children in the area, and throughout Virginia, whose insurance will either not provide equipment they need or requires a prohibitive copay for adaptive technology,” said Dr. Anissa Davis, the LC professor who is helping to organize the drive.
LC students have been traveling to the Children’s Assistive Technology Service site in Smith Mountain Lake to work with donated equipment occasionally for several months. They organized their own equipment drive to help the nonprofit obtain more assistive technology that can be given to children in need.
According to the Children’s Assistive Technology Service website, “assistive technology refers to the entire range of rehabilitative and adaptive equipment and devices which allows people with disabilities to perform activities with greater independence, and to succeed at tasks they might otherwise be unable to accomplish…Assistive technology allows a child with disabilities to play with friends and siblings, to have more opportunities for learning, and to be more independent.” Often, the equipment goes into storage when children outgrow it or no longer needs it.
The program does not accept respirators, gastrostomy equipment, custom bracing, or computers and printers.
Learn more about Children’s Assistive Technology Service on its website at http://www.atdevicesforkids.org/