Ella Hunt’s New AT Switches

Ms. Ella Hunt, one of our long time friends and recipients recently had a horrible experience with spinal fusion surgery. Thankfully, the blood loss and hypoxia didn’t impact her mind, but it did rob her of the two switches she used to control her world.

We reached out to the wonderful Makers, Engineers and Occupational Therapists in our group and were able to come up with new solutions for her based on infrared sensors, strain gauges and lots of custom software.

Check it out! If you want to learn more about this project, here are some links that might help:

“How can I help Ella?”- We hear this a lot right now. If you’re technical, join ATMakers on Facebook or on our homepage and tell us your skills – we will put them to use for Ella and others like her. If not, the Hunts have new medical costs that are not covered by insurance (for ridiculous reasons) due to the new catheterization needs. Ella’s aunt has setup a GoFundMe page to help them with these costs (that ATMakers can confirm will all go to the Hunts) and we would encourage you to consider that instead of making a financial donation to ATMakers at this time. Here is the link: https://gofund.me/65475604

“Project I.M.P.Act” Resources

If you are following along on the ATMakers Facebook Group (and you should be!), you’ll know that we’ve been trying to make our approach to AT projects more consistent and reproducible. That that end, we’ve pulled together Project I.M.P.Act with its focus on Digitizing the Intent to help AT users accomplish more.

Here are some resources to catch you up on Project I.M.P.Act: we will update this post as more become available.

Project I.M.P.Act Overview Video

Digitizing the Intent (@ AAC In the Cloud)

Recent Facebook Live discussion w/ Project I.M.P.Act update

https://www.facebook.com/ATMakersOrg/videos/2829658440680217/

This #GivingTuesday, ATMakers could use your help!


This year has been a mess for everyone… and we get that many (maybe most) of you aren’t in as good a financial position as you were last year.  However, that’s also true for all of the A.T. Users we support, as well as all the Robotics teams & Makers who are having to re-invent themselves this year – we are handling more requests for help then ever before!

So, if you are considering making a charitable donation this year, here’s a few reasons to consider adding ATMakers.org to the causes you support.

  1. 100% of all donated funds go directly to our program participants.  Our founder (and the generous folks at his company, LessonPix.com) cover all of ATMakers’ overhead including our physical location, insurance, IT infrastructure, salaries, etc.  Donations are applied to raw materials to make devices and costs associated directly with activities we sponsor – we will waste none of your generous gift.
  2. You can earmark your donation if you wish: simply tell us where you’d like your money applied in the “Special Instructions” field or shoot us an email.  Current programs are our Accessible Gaming program (including the FreedomWing), our IntelliKeys Rescue program, our Robotics Outreach work or our work in building and deploying Custom AT Solutions that help Digitize the Intent of our users.
  3. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity (see this IRS page) so your donations may be deductible from your income taxes.  This year, the CARES act also allows a $300 deduction even if you are taking the standard deduction (obviously check with your accountant).

Not to mention, we’ve built a community of over 3,000 users where AT Users seek and find help every day.  Engineers, Makers, and students find meaningful engagement and are able to further their skills while helping others – it’s awesome!

So please consider making a donation here or consider starting a fund-raiser on Facebook.  We’d really appreciate the help!

Donate Now

Thank you, and stay safe!

Bill Binko & Your Friends at ATMakers.org

AbleGamers & ATMakers team up for the FreedomWing!

We’re so happy to partner with The AbleGamers Charity and GRA-V Robotics in Orlando to create and produce these powerful devices to control an XBox Adaptive Controller with the joystick from their power chair!

Check out this event at the Gaming Lounge at ATIA 2020 tomorrow, Feb 1 for the ATIA Maker Day, powered by ATMakers.org.  Registration is FREE and we’ll have dozens of adaptive controllers ready to help anyone with physical challenges play XBox on the big screen! Continue reading AbleGamers & ATMakers team up for the FreedomWing!

Camera Mounts for the Logitech Adaptive Gaming Kit

The Adaptive Gaming Kit from Logitech G is an amazing value for those who use Assistive Technology. However, the one thing on our wish list is 1/4″-20 mounts on the bottom so we can use normal camera mounts.

So, in keeping with our other mounts, we’ve released a full set of 3D printable mounts to connect these great switches to inexpensive mounting options.

Check them out here on Thingiverse Continue reading Camera Mounts for the Logitech Adaptive Gaming Kit

Helping Makers Help Others