Quads who know offices: Accessible offices

Not even confetti and champagne can make paperwork enjoyable. And when you’re paralyzed, watch out for all the “fun” that comes your way when you go to use your office. You thought paperwork was fun before? Try doing it with paralyzed hands…

What’s great about a home office is that you can set up everything exactly the way you want it.  And there are two quadriplegics who’ve made videos of their accessible offices and how they work for their mobility.  Here are two of my faves!

The first video comes from Bonnie, a female quadriplegic with one of the most organized accessible offices I’ve ever seen. She’s a C6 quadriplegic and has baskets with handles on them throughout her office (easy to grab).  The baskets organize everything and she puts them on-top of her desk or places them in the desk drawers (so she can pull them out easily too).  In the baskets she stores everything from pens and papers to even her sprinkler remote controllers.  And for her wireless keyboard, she taped put a cloth loop onto it to mimic a handle (and used clear packing tape to adhere it to the back).

The second video comes from Mark Felling, a C5-6 quad and founder of Broadened Horizons. Before his injury, Mark was an engineer – and he’s created some amazing things since his plane crash One of the coolest things he’s made is an automatic height-adjustable desk.  The desk is moved using a remote control, so you can adjust the height depending on the chair you’re using.  This desk is ideal for anyone who uses a standing frame or a standing wheelchair regularly.  You can stand up your chair, then raise your desk to the level you need it.  In the video, you’ll also see how the middle section of the desk rises higher than the rest of the desk,  making it easy for someone in a wheelchair to see the monitor.

Working hard isn’t easy, but if you watch these videos you’ll have any setup that at least works just for you, making it possible to work just as hard as everyone else. Oh joy

Watch the videos!

– Bonnie’s “Office Accessibility & Organization” video for people with hand paralysis
– Mark of Broadened Horizons shows off his automatic height-adjustable desk for wheelchair-users

What accessible offices have you used? How did you adapt your home office?