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Tuesday, 06 February 2007 |
Boy catches chance to fish for first time
Editor’s Note: This is the first of a three-part series on Appalachian’s disability initiatives.
by LAUREN LAWSON
News Reporter
Caleb Bouchard, 10, from Ashe County, has the ability to move only his left hand’s index finger due to his cerebral palsy, but he has wanted to fish for a long time.
 Active Image | Dustin Tucker | Special to The Appalachian
Senior industrial design majors look on as Caleb Bouchard tries out his new fishing rod, with the help of his grandmother Norma Bouchard, that the students created.
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Appalachian
State University’s department of technology made Caleb’s wish come true
after being contacted by Caleb’s mother, Norma J. Bouchard.
“When Norma got in contact with me, I decided to try and help out by
getting some of my students to design a device that would enable Caleb
to fish,” Banks M. Talley, assistant professor in the department of
technology, said.
“My class spent almost an entire semester working on it, and it went through many revisions and changes,” Talley said.
“We would submit updates of our progress to the Bouchard’s periodically
to get their input and suggestions on what would work and what would
not work for Caleb,” he said.
After almost 16 weeks of work, Talley’s students completed a fishing
device that enabled Caleb to fish on his own with only minor help from
others.
The device, with the push of a button, casts itself using a system
similar to the popping open of a car’s trunk, while another button then
reels the line in.
“We had many factors to consider, such as the tension of buttons and
how much pressure Caleb could apply, as well as that we could not – as
we originally planned – attach the fishing rod to his wheelchair for
warranty purposes,” Talley said.
Caleb’s mother was grateful for the outcome of the students’ work.
“I had never really been able to take Caleb out and do the things I
would have wanted to with him,” she said. “There is a pond in Ashe
County that kids always go to and fish. I thought that ASU could
possibly help out and come up with something.”
The Bouchard’s have not received the fishing rod yet but should be in the next week or so.
“We are hoping to possibly get Caleb to join in the ‘Cast in a Wish,
Reel in a Dream’ fishing day for people with disabilities event in Ashe
County later in the year,” Bouchard said.
The appropriate technology department is not a stranger to helping children with different abilities.
“Almost every semester I send students to the J. Iverson Riddle
development center where they can fulfill their internship requirement
and work on universal designs for generally everyone but specifically
the disabled,” Talley said.
For example, one semester Talley had a student go to the center and work on a new line of wheelchairs.
While Appalachian – and society in general – has come a long way in
providing accessibility to the disabled, there is still room for
improvement.
“Obviously Boone’s natural terrain makes ASU difficult for many people
with mobility issues,” Maranda R. Maxey, assistant director for the
office of disability services, said. “[Appalachian] could create more
talking crosswalks as well as Braille emergency exit maps in buildings;
we do have 15 registered blind students on campus.”
Another service that is needed but difficult to install is more handicap buttons to open doors to buildings, Maxey said.
“Not only are they expensive, but many students can misuse them and they are not as sturdy as many think,” she said.
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