Leif

"The average pediatric wheelchair can cost thousands of dollars. And when children grow and their needs evolve — or a wheelchair gets damaged — those costs multiply.

So, the team at MakeGood NOLA, a New Orleans-based adaptive design lab, has made something that can transform the world for disabled children.

“Introducing the world’s first fully 3D-printed wheelchair,” MakeGood founder and president Noam Platt started a recent social media video.

He wheels a small, almost toy-like lime-green wheelchair into the frame, complete with a matching harness, suitable for children ages 2 to 8.

“Everything from the body, to the wheels, to the tires, the seat, and even the straps, all were 3D printed on a regular Bambu Labs A1 machine,” Platt continued.

This means the design is fully compatible with a regular 3D printer anyone can have in their home.

“We designed this to be modular and easy to make,” Platt continued. “Really, anyone with a 3D printer and some filament can download the files and print it.” [Note: You can also use 3D printers for free or a small cost at some public libraries and maker spaces, opening up accessibility even further.]

Once the prototype is completely finished, it will be available as a fair-use download that anyone can use for free.

Pictured: The new 3D-printed chair by MakeGood. Photo courtesy of MakeGood NOLA

Platt said that because it has a modular design, the wheelchair can be put together without any tools or glue. And if any part of it breaks or is damaged, users can simply re-print the single piece they need.

“As a wheelchair user I love everything about this,” TikTok user @thisisharlie commented on Platt’s video debuting the wheelchair.

“Mine costs more than my car, I can’t imagine having to buy a new one every year or two as they outgrow it,” @thisisharlie continued. “You’re going to change the world.”

For Platt, that’s always been the plan.

When he created MakeGood in 2021, the nonprofit design lab was thinking of the more than 1 billion people around the globe who live with disabilities.

“Since traditional design often overlooks diverse bodies and minds, it is crucial to reshape the built environment,” MakeGood shares on its website. “The challenges our communities face — both physical and social — are solvable.”

MakeGood works with individuals to co-create their adaptive design solutions, centering the “Need Knower,” the disabled person or their primary caregivers, throughout the entire process.

Since the founding of MakeGood, 1,600 individualized adaptive devices have been delivered to families for free. Platt’s team found a niche with this wheelchair, which they call the Toddler Mobility Trainer, or TMT. 

On its website, the organization says the wheelchairs were “designed with therapists from all over the world” and offer “unmatched mobility and independence to young kids.”

Children and parents agree.

“It’s an A+,” one parent said of an earlier prototype of the TMT in a report by CBS News. “It’s helped [my son] become more mobile and be able to adapt into the other things that he’s going to be offered. It’s helped his development.”

At the start of the design process, Platt reached out to area hospitals to see if he could fill a need.

“Part of it is empowering clinicians that we can go beyond what is commercially available,” Platt told CBS News. “We can really create almost anything.”

Now in the final stages of tweaking the TMT design to be ready for release, Platt is eager to get the wheelchair rolled out and into the homes of the children who need them most.

Pictured: A rendering of the 3D printed design, which will soon be available for download. Photo courtesy of MakeGood NOLA

“We think this sort of 3D printing and design is going to be huge for accessibility, and for wheelchairs specifically,” Platt said in his social media video. 

In the meantime, people can request a free chair from MakeGood.

“We have a growing list of people who’ve requested these, and once we finish the design, we’ll start filling those requests with custom-printed chairs, including things that you might need for your particular chair,” Platt said in a follow-up video.

Because the chairs are easily 3D printed, they can come in any color and can be modified to include other accommodations, like a section to hold a breathing device or other aid. With years of customization and design experience under his belt, this new innovation is simply an extension of Platt’s dedication to inclusive design.

In 2023, Platt told New Mobility: “I feel like every time I deliver one of these [assistive] devices, I get a hopeful feeling that the world has been changed a little bit for the better for the next generation.”"

I thought it was something you can't "cure" you know like autism, bpd, down... you can't woke up one day and stop being autistic

So, not all depression you can get rid of, mine will be with me forever. And I think that’s important to point out/correct when the opportunity presents itself. A lot out there don’t take depression too seriously due to common misinformation on it, including thinking each type of depression is curable.

Again, I would know. I’ve had MDD since 11. I’ve gotten enough comments asking if I’ve “tried curing it yet” and often have to correct “treating it, yes. But I can’t cure it like a cold.” Or comments of “do this and I’m sure you’ll no longer have depression!”

I thought it was something you can't "cure" you know like autism, bpd, down... you can't woke up one day and stop being autistic

I think what people don't realize when they say stuff like that is that those are literal Hay's Code guidelines. "Yes you can portray the bad thing, as long as it's explicitly said to be bad, and done by bad people, and all the bad people are punished for it".

Saying "dark themes can be portrayed, but only if they're portrayed as bad" is not advocating in favor of art, it's more advocating in favor of propaganda. The main purpose of art is not to be didactic, or to teach good morals or a guideline to tell people how to live their lives.

So yeah, characters can have shitty harmful opinions and never learn or be corrected in the narrative, villains might never be punished for their actions, the evil toxic romance might be portrayed as sexy, and no one will turn to the camera to tell you how the bad thing is bad and you shouldn't do it in real life.

(I know there's not, really, but just pretend for a second that "violent video games make people more violent" or similar is simply a true statement.)

There is a difference between paternalism and actually being a parent.

When you are a parent, you are responsible for the actions of a person who does not have the experience/knowledge to reasonably make informed decisions, and who may not be capable of differentiating between fantasy and reality. My 2-year-old niece, for example, is not currently capable of comprehending the consequences of stabbing someone with a sharp implement, because she's 2. The contextual knowledge very simply isn't present in her mushy toddler brain.

When you are exercising paternalistic moral authority, you are telling a Whole Ass Adult that you have the right to limit or remove their autonomy because you disagree with their preferences or opinions.

Regardless of what potential future actions you may or may not be exerting an influence over by doing so, you are literally curtailing someone's freedoms based on your personal opinion. That is never an acceptable course of action.

Hot Take: Paternalism is Bad, Actually

That’s the deal. That’s the legend. And it’s true… kinda.

Listen. I’ve been trapped in this tape for a decade now. I don’t want this. I don’t like this. Who would?

But the curse is the curse is the curse. You find yourself in possession of the tape. You are tempted to watch the tape. Eventually, you cave and you pop it in the machine. Then I haunt the eff out of you for a week. Then you expire.

Dang, how I wish folks wouldn’t watch the tape.

The thing with ghosts, right? The thing is: we are deeply traumatised.

Like, I haunted a therapist once and we talked it over. (I mean, he didn’t really know we were talking it over. He thought he was having a series of very trippy, vaguely work-related dreams.)

People think ghosts trapped in cursed objects are all “look at me, I’m trapped in the horror of my supernatural demise, so I’m gonna enact the horrors on the living world”. And, like, I can’t speak to every spirit, right? Some of them might be like that.

But most of us? Our spooky PTSD response is flight or freeze or faun. Like, you run so fast from the end that you literally escape the reaper. Or you freeze so hard you form a calcified knot of nerve tissue in reality. Or you faun at the powers that be so convincingly they offer you a Real Bad Deal and you take it, because of course you do.

Even ghosts who hit the fight response… it mostly fades when the perceived threat is gone. Then you’re stuck in the aether, knowing someone has cast you as the monster in a bad slasher flick and they’re gonna call action someday.

Sorry. I’m rambling. I do that. Look, I can get to the point if you really want, but you won’t like it any more than I do.

Sure I can’t regale you with more tales from beyond the veil? I’ve got a bunch!

Okay. Fine. Look…

Here’s the tea: the video tape only finds its way to folks who were gonna pass in seven days anyway. The chilling visions, witchy dreams and creeping terror? That’s all just set dressing. I’m more of a ferryperson than a ghost, really. A psychopomp, to give it the fancy term.

The real kicker? The sting in the tail of every curse is a gift. By which I mean…

If you don’t watch the tape, then you won’t pass on.

Still, everyone always watches the tape. Eventually.

Oh, I beg with them. I plead them. I promise to be a good roommate in their psyche and not take up too much space or get too much ectoplasm on the couch. But communication from beyond is complicated. Sometimes, I terrify them. Sometimes, I just make them curious. Sometimes, I’m just quiet and I pray and I try to fill their subconscious with quiet, fervent hope.

Some of them hold out a while. One woman lasted a whole six months.

I reckon if someone holds out long enough… maybe a year? Maybe more? Then the curse will be broken and we can both escape our fates.

That might just be wishful thinking, though.

In the meantime, I just try to be grateful for every day I go unwatched.

Every extra day I can give you is a blessing.

"But I hyperfixate!", or so you might say. So do I at times, but putting food on the table and a roof over my head at 42 are both so imperative and time-consuming that my energy and willingness to subsume my entire sense of Self to some Thing or another reaches a net Zero value.

This. Absolutely this. I entered fandoms around the time I was eleven years old or younger, which was around the time I was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder and OCD. I was pulled out of public school due to these two mental mindfucks of an illness that caused me to almost “visit the afterlife on my own terms” at that age, and I could go on for hours about the rest of the bullshit I had to deal with prior and after.

As well as what I still do. Having to stress about keeping a roof over my grandmother (with severe PTSD, at that) and (ill) older brother’s heads, helping keep the bills paid, keeping us fed, and damn—what basic care will I be denied this time because of America’s shitty insurance?

And I’m only twenty years old.

I cannot stress enough the amount of turmoil it is knowing there are people around my age range or younger (god forbid, sometimes way older) who have enough free time and money to travel, to go out with a friend or two, etc.

Or hell, even arguing over the internet about if being into Pokemon P0rn makes you one of the most morally disgusting people on planet earth, if at all, or not.

This is not to sound as if I’m playing trauma olympics. They’re just examples, of which I clearly don’t mind sharing. And it’s fine to have tiny, silly things in life that aggravate you or even straight up make you ask outloud “why”—hell, I do myself.

People who spread rumours that get way out of control in fandoms, people who have the attention span of chickens (which seems to be increasing each day) enough to comment “I ain’t reading that essay” over a singular paragraph, and more.

Are you especially affected by horror movies? Having to watch a comedy after a horror movie to diffuse the tension is aftercare. Did you get so into a tragedy that you sobbed over it? Having to do things to comfort yourself afterwards, like tea and a hug, is aftercare.

Being responsible for making someone else feel better is genuinely hard to deal with. It's emotionally and mentally draining. Some people are capable of doing it, some people aren't.

I used to be someone who could listen. I used to be someone who enjoyed being the supporting friend that people could vent to. Until I got into a toxic friendship that involved that friend venting to me every single day, sometimes multiple times a day, to the point it was taking me away from things I actually enjoyed and school work until I literally wasn't doing anything accept comforting them. Now the thought of someone venting to me gives me so much anxiety and dread that it makes me sick.

"If you're not willing to listen to me vent then you're not my friend" is a selfish and shitty mentality and doesn't make people want to help you. The thing that makes it so great that people are willing to help is that they aren't obligated to do so. They do it because they want to. Let people have the option of wanting to help you. All you're saying is "my feelings are more important than your comfort" and that shit doesn't feel great to be on the receiving end of!

Speaking as someone who used to be the toxic friend who would guilt my past friends when they voiced they were burnt out, and someone who used to be “the therapist friend.”

I was first the therapist friend who made herself so readily available 24/7, that even if I wasn’t in a good headspace myself in the least, I still listened to the problems and mental health of others. Even if I was having thoughts and urges of taking my own life—if they were too, then I listened. No matter how more awful it made my own already down the drain mental health.

One friend even sent images of their own fresh self harm wounds, because I never set a single boundary saying they couldn’t otherwise.

I set myself on fire to keep others warm.

I then soon developed the same highly dangerous and toxic behavior of “Wow, you’re too burnt out and not in a good headspace enough to listen to what I’m suffering with? That’s not a true friend” to new friends.

The people I deeply harmed with that behavior/mindset soon left my life.

And thank fuck for that. Because no one deserves to ever go through that shit.

At the end of the day, and I hate to sound harsh: But while community, trust, vulnerability, and honesty are direly important in friendships—none of them, no matter how close, can “fix” you.

And they, too, have struggles and scars of their own—that whatever you’re dumping onto them out of nowhere (keyword on “out of nowhere”) has a possibility of greatly and unintentionally worsening what they’re dealing with. Be it they realize that or not (e.g: Thoughts and urges of taking my own life, let alone self harm, worsened much quicker due to hearing about it even when I was in a good headspace).

I’m more than thankful I developed the habit of not only simply asking, “hey, are you in a good headspace to hear about this at the moment?” but also if a friend isn’t, then using the relatively healthy coping skills I’ve worked hard to find.

I can hold my own if need be now, and that isn’t an unhealthy thing at all—it’s being self efficient/responsible of my own mental health.

Understanding that hey, at the end of the day, it’s up to me. And I no longer always need another person to keep me from falling off the end of the thread.

Even licensed, good therapists cannot just erase your problems, let alone hold them off.

They can help you get by, listen, and teach good coping skills—but at the end of the day, the battle is up to you. You’re getting through and leading the pitch black tunnel—all your friends are doing is holding up a flashlight, giving some ideas, and helping with obstacles along the way.

Hopefully all of this makes sense.

And just to add on:

Please, for the love of a god I don’t even believe in, remember to ask any friends who just vented to you if they’d prefer you just sit and listen, comfort them, or give advice.

I’ve had a friend in my life who called himself “the therapist friend,” and after hearing me vent, started giving all this advice I didn’t ask for, which felt super condescending, as if I didn’t know what to do already. Then started psychoanalyzing me—as if I haven’t psychoanalyzed myself, let alone attended multiple therapists and psychiatrists, for years. Which made me feel dissected like a bug, and as if I was more like a client than a friend. And as if he genuinely believed he knew me better than I knew myself.

tagged by @yourlocalegotisticalqueerishere thanks for the tag!

Last Song: currently listening to ICU by Citizen Soldier (at the time of starting this post). before that it was Gone Too Soon by Daughtry. at the time of finishing and posting this, i am currently listening to Lucky One by Simple Plan

Favorite Color: dark purple. always dark purple. dark purple my beloved <3

Currently Reading: nothing atm because i haven't had the chance to make another trip to the library, but the last book i read was The Meaning of Birds by Jaye Robin Brown! Very sad but very good. I've also recently read Stars, Hide Your Fires by Jessica Mary Best, The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor, and I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver! I very much enjoyed all 4 of them, but I will say that The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester was definitely my favorite :)

Currently Watching: rewatching Star Trek: Discovery with my dad (and introducing my mom to it at the same time), watching Only Murders in the Building with my mom for the first time, and my dad and I just recently finished watching Star Trek: Lower Decks. plus my mom and I are always in a perpetual rewatch of Legends of Tomorrow and/or Arrow (though they've been on pause a little bit lately). now I'm just waiting for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon: The Book of Carol to come back in late September lmao, among other shows

Last Movie: uhhhh I'm honestly not entirely sure. I think it might've been either Heart of Stone or Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, but I could be wrong about that

Sweet, Spicy, or Savory: definitely savory. i do love salt lmao. i do still have a bit of a sweet tooth but nowhere near as much as i used to, and now it's mostly reserved for white chocolate and other vanilla-flavored things lmao

Relationship Status: i am so, so incredibly, painfully single and i do not see that changing anytime soon unfortunately

Current Obsessions: uhhh, i guess my usuals? Citizen Soldier, of course, Legends, The Walking Dead, Star Trek. those are like. the main ones, idk.

Tea or Coffee: neither. i can't stand to drink either of them, they both taste nasty to me ngl. just let me have apple juice and i'm set

Last Thing I Googled: uhhhh ngl i think it was 'savory definition' just to make sure my "i love salt" comment would make sense LMAO but before that it was the 4 books I've read recently to make sure I was getting the names of the authors correct

andddd idk if i actually have 9 people to tag but i'll do my best.

Favorite Color: Pink and Green, 1000%. I love pink because it's cute, and I've come to really love green because of my whole alien motif. I don't quite love green as much as one of my friends, though, so I could never take that away from him hahah

Currently Reading: The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan. I finished the first book in this series, The Ranger's Apprentice, and thanks to it, I finally understand the ranger fantasy. I always had trouble understanding what "ranger" was supposed to evoke, only to find out that everything it's supposed to be is what my D&D 5e rogue character already is.

Currently Watching: Nothing yet, but I had just finished a rewatch of Dimension 20's Mentopolis. The summer campaign I'm going to run will be using the Kids on Bikes system, and Mentopolis was an amazing game that showcases it. Plus, I love Brennan Lee Mulligan <3

Last Movie: It's been a good while since I've sat down to watch a movie, so I think that would have to be The Menu. I was watching that as inspiration for the last campaign I ran which surrounded a cult :) The cult leader gave a speech to her townsfolk very reminiscent to how Chef Slowik talks to his kitchen.

Sweet, Spicy, or Savory: Sweet all the way. I love savory, and I can tolerate spicy, but ten times out of ten, I gotta pick something sweet, but not too sweet.

Relationship Status: Single 😩 And hopelessly gay

Current Obsessions: D&D and TTRPGs. I've been obsessed over that in general, but I've been itching to run a new game. I just wish schedules allowed it!

Tea or Coffee: Neither! I just don't like the taste of either, honestly. I haven't found a way of preparing coffee that doesn't taste bitter to me, and tea is not the most accessible thing for me. I'm a big hot chocolate fan, though :)

Last Thing I Googled: Technically? the IMDB page for The Menu lmao. Before I started this post? Some D&D 5e rules text for warlock invocations lmao

Last Song: Travelin' Man by Dead Poet Society--soo good. Recently also got into Convey and City of Skin and Bone goes so hard. They do not match at all the manuscript I'm working on atm though haha so my vibe meter has been all off.

Favorite Color: Pink <3 All things pink. I used to hate pink as a kid because it was too 'girly' (had a long 'not like other girls' phase because I didn't like boys, would turn out that I'm gay and very much like other girls) but have basically liked pink since I let that go as a teen.

Currently Reading: I just finished Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim, was a super nice, kind of cozy? Kind of thrilling? Fantasy. Loved it. Now I'm probably onto an audio book as uni starts up again and I lose all my time to long bus rides.

Currently Watching: Also just finished The Bear, am on season 5 of the X Files, and am almost constantly rewatching Bob's Burgers when I need something light and easy.

Last Movie: I don't watch movies that often... Maybe Red Notice? But that was like months ago lol.

Sweet, Spicy, or Savory: Spicy everything <3 if a meal has the option or ability to be spicy I will make it so. I think everything is just a bit better when it's spicy.

Relationship Status: I move around too much to hold onto a relationship haha. Maybe better luck when I'm back from my abroad semester.

Current Obsessions: Is it narcissistic to say my own manuscript? I've been deep into writing and editing lately, I don't really think about anything else hah.

Tea or Coffee: Tea <3 especially matcha, or when I can afford it a London Fog. Coffee makes me anxious and weird, but tea doesn't so I'm a tea guy for life.

Last Thing I Googled: "Synonyms for disarm" I was writing a cover letter.

No pressure tags: I'm never good with knowing who to tag so let's say @bunchosnails @frostedlemonwriter @mrbexwrites @overdecorated-furniture @thewritinggrindstone @boxohobo @satinsolace and you all can let me know if you'd rather not be tagged in stuff!

Last Song: “Still a Child” by Lizzy Hilliard, I believe. I hardly listen to softer music such as this, I really need to be in a chill and relaxed mood enough to. This was also absolutely a song I heavily relate to, however!

Favorite Color: This is the question I always struggle on. Yellow? Green? Brown? Earthy colors? Depends on the shade, too.

Currently Reading: Honestly, with how busy I’ve been, I haven’t had the time to read. I also prefer reading from physical books, though haven’t had the money to buy any.

I badly want to read the manga “The Girl From The Other Side,” though. It sounds right up my alley: Found family, let alone a monster taking a parental role towards a little girl—and from my knowledge, zero romance. If there is any, I’m hoping it’s in the background and hardly noticeable. (And obviously, not between the little girl and monster. My favorite book reviews channel, Rachel Reads, recommend it though—so I’m trusting it to not disappoint).

Currently Watching: I’m picky with shows and other media I watch. I also just don’t remember what I’ve watched recently. 😅

Last Movie: ^^^^^^

Sweet, Spicy, or Savory: As the person who tagged me said, spicy everything! Same here that if a meal has the option or ability to be spicy, I will make it so. Though sweet is absolutely second on the list—I have a major sweet tooth that I’ve been trying to control.

Relationship Status: Single. More than happy and content with that, as I’m Aromantic.

Current Obsessions: In general, hobby, or media wise? Because in general, I’d say I’ve been extra desperate and determined to finally gain full independence, gain good financial stability, and permanently get out of the hillbilly, highly conservative, empty and lifeless hellhole that is my hometown from birth. I yearn to not only do that, but travel and study abroad as well—so, I’ve been doing almost nothing but work and saving up.

I’ve even apparently been “on the roll” enough that a relative told me I have a “one track mind.” I don’t think they’re wrong. And in the words of Marina: 🎶 one track heart, if I fail, I’ll fall apart 🎶

Tea or Coffee: Tea. Same as the one who tagged me; especially matcha.

Last Thing I Googled: "What do black hospital gowns mean,” though with my hometown location name. I wanted to remember which certain colored gowns mean at a hospital I work at.

Love to see more aromanticphobia on Pinterest. 👍🏾 (Sarcasm, if you need a tone indicator).

Then they resort back to the “abnormal/mentally ill/big issue/etc,” the very same language used by people back in the day who couldn’t wrap their heads around two guys and girls dating.

When people encounter something they’ve never heard of, what is entirely outside of their own experience—sometimes, instead of looking more into it and admitting while they still may not understand, they still accept it and appreciate that they learned something new about the human psyche—they grow defensive and suddenly want you in a freakshow.

Because there’s absolutely no way that thing exists, right? If it does, and it isn’t their normal nor personal experience nor society’s version of what’s acceptable, then it’s abnormal and whoever is that way needs to check their head. Right?