"When you cease to make a contribution, you begin to die" -Eleanor Roosevelt, 1960

Take a length of string and tie a single knot on each end of it. Easy? Yes. Now tie the knots using only one hand. Impossible, you say? Not at Eisenhower Center! This Milwaukee rehabilitation facility specializes in making "impossible" jobs possible through the use of staff designed adaptive equipment.

Eisenhower Center (formerly called Eisenhower Memorial Cerebral Palsy Work Center) is a daily work site for 80 adults, most of whom have severe physical disabilities. Each week day, this dedicated crew can be found performing various packaging, assembly and mailing jobs for area companies like Sax Arts & Crafts, Cornell Communications, Inc., and School Specialty.

Each staff member has a strong commitment to the belief that every person has the right to work and earn an income. "The possibilities for work for adults with disabilities is limited only by our lack of imagination," says Adaptive Equipment Specialist Leonard Riddle. "If we look at each task with enough creativity, we can make work possible for even the most greatly challenged person."

This creativity is evident in the wide variety of pieces of adaptive equipment (sometimes referred to as "jigs") used for almost every job performed at Eisenhower Center. this equipment ranges from very simple items (a diagram used as a counting aid) to complex machinery (a packaging machine that quadriplegics operate by applying light pressure with the sides of their heads).

How is the equipment designed? "We analyze each person's movements and look for the part of the body with the greatest mobility." says Production Leader Peter Hernandez. "Then we design equipment based on this strength. Work is done using a foot, knee, elbow, chin - whatever works best for a particular individual." Each job to be done is then analyzed step by step and equipment is designed to match the needs of each job and each worker.

Equipment is initially built using simple materials like cardboard and duct tape. After the design flaws are worked out, equipment is rebuilt with more permanent materials like wood, metal and plastic. A look around the work floor shows many creative uses of simple, everyday items. a window shade is a conveyor belt, a vacuum cleaner is now part of a packaging machine, tupperware is a motor housing - not fancy, but effective.

The result of the design and testing process? Pieces of equipment like the knotting jig pictured. This piece of equipment enables a person to tie a knot at the end of a piece of string with one hand (one step in the process of assembling hospital bed light pull cords for an area company). The equipment is built from simple materials ( a few pieces of wood and some clamps) yet it is priceless because it helps a worker with disabilities do something he or she has never been able to do before - and get paid for it!

"The benefits of the adaptive equipment vary from person to person," states Work Services Director Debbie Cabanantuan. "For some people, a particular piece of equipment can boost their production rate by 50%. For others, the biggest improvement is being able to work independently. But the biggest benefit the adaptive equipment has for most workers is enabling them to do a job that would be impossible for them to do without it!" 

Admission Criteria

1. Individual must be 21 years of age or older

2. Individual’s primary diagnosis must be:

• cerebral palsy
• other developmental disabilities
• other neurological disorder

3. Individual must be a resident of Milwaukee County (unless another county assumes financial responsibility).