Roane State student’s inventions help people with disabilities
When Corey Heck looks at everyday objects, he imagines how they could help people.
Heck is majoring in occupational therapy assistant at Roane State Community College and will graduate in May. For a fieldwork class at East Tennessee Technology Access Center (ETTAC) in Knoxville, he invented a variety of items to help people with disabilities.
For example, he created an armrest out of a shin guard. He attached a scoop to a child’s wheelchair – the child could pretend the wheelchair was a bulldozer and use the scoop to pick up objects. Heck also adapted a variety of toys to make them accessible for children with disabilities.
“He is quite an inventive thinker,” said Alice Wershing, educational technology coordinator at ETTAC. “I cannot put into words what it means to the individuals to have these devices. They allow them to do things they could not have done before. It was a pleasure to work with him.”
The mission of the East Tennessee Technology Access Center is to enable people with disabilities to reach their potential for functioning in the mainstream of society through innovative uses of technology.
Heck, a graduate of South Doyle High School, is clearly innovative.
For example, Heck’s little brother broke both of his arms. Heck added an attachment to his little brother’s toothbrush so he could use his elbows to lift the brush to his mouth.
“I think of the problem, and the idea just kind of comes,” Heck said. “I like the problem-solving aspect of occupational therapy, and I hope to help people be more independent.”
Heck said occupational therapy interests him because he enjoys helping people. Occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) use purposeful activities to help a person maintain or restore the highest level of independence possible in activities meaningful to that person.
Heck has invented a lunch tray with arm slots that allow the tray to be held by someone with broken arms, adhered a coffee can lid to a flashlight’s power button to make it easier to turn on, and a host of other innovations designed to help people.
Roane State’s occupational therapy assistant program is located at the college’s Oak Ridge campus. For more information about Roane State, contact the Student Enrollment and Recruitment Office at (865) 882-4554 or visit www.roanestate.edu and click on the “Go here. Get there.” logo.
For more information about the OTA program, visit www.roanestate.edu/ota.
CAPTION: Roane State occupational therapy assistant student Corey Heck adapted his little brother’s toothbrush so it could be used while his brother was recovering from two broken arms. The attachment allows a person to raise the brush to their mouth using only their elbows.