Jack gears up for class with special wheel deal

By Claire Low, 24 February 2011

Eight-year-old Jack Williams is just like any child his age: super active and keen on dashing around, drawing, and playing computer games with his family. The Duffy Primary School pupil can ace around thanks to his very own set of wheels; he has a kinetic stander and walker cutom built for him by Technical Aid to the Disabled ACT. His mother, Donna, is for this reason full of praise for the organisation that has in its time built about 6000 technical aids for people in Canberra. The special gear made the boy with cerebral palsy feel more normal. "It's wonderful," she siad. "He can stand up and join the kids playing the Wii. He can play it with both hands instead of sitting on the floor. He can stand at the computer and play computer games, he can stand at the table and draw. He is up at normal height with everyone instead of seeing everyone from a sitting position." Jack was a guest of honour yesterday at the Legislative Assembly where he mingled with newly minted Technical Aid to the Disabled ACT ambassadors Michael Milton, an Australian Winter Paralympic skier and cyclist, and WIN News presenter Danielle Post. Milton, who in childhood lost a leg to bone cancer, said, "One of the interesting things about disability is that you simply can't learn from other people. You have unique strengths and weaknesses. To me, disability is about being a problem solver; finding solutions on an everyday basis to the challenges you face. The team at TADACT is all about supporting the person with a disability with many of those problem-solving skills." Post said, "TADACT helps [the disabled] do what we all take for granted," At the function, ACT Minister for Disability Joy Burch launched the organisation's new website through which it can solicit donations or have potential volunteers get in touch.