THANKS
This book has been a cooperative effort. Many persons have contributed in different ways. Some have helped
to write or rewrite different sections; some have criticized early drafts; some have used it in their programs and
sent us feedback; some have sent original ideas or technologies that we have tested and then included. In all,
persons or programs from 27 countries on 6 continents (North and South America, Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia)
have contributed.
The entire book has been carefully reviewed by specialists in related fields: physical therapists (PTs),
occupational therapists (OTs), orthotists, prosthetists, wheelchair designers, rehabilitation engineers, and leaders
from among the disabled. We cannot include the names of all those who have helped in so many ways, but the
help of the following has been outstanding:
Sophie Levitt, PT; Ann Hallum, PT; Terry
Nordstrom,PT; Anne Affleck, OT; M. Miles, rehab
planner and critic; Christine Miles, special educator;
Farhat Rashid, PT; Bruce Curtis, peer disabled
group counselor; Ralf Hotchkiss, wheelchair rider/
engineer; Alice Hadley, PT; Jan Postma, PT; Jean-
Baptiste Richardier, prosthetist, Claude Simonnot,
MD/prosthetist; Wayne Hampton, MD/prosthetist;
Jim Breakey, prosthetist; Wally Motlock, orthotist;
Valery Taylor, PT; Dr. P. K. Sethi, orthopedic surgeon/
prosthetist; Pam Zinkin, pediatrician/CBR expert; Paul
SilvWa, wheelchair builder; David Morley, pediatrician;
Elia Landeros, PT; Teresa Paez, social worker; Rafiq
Jaffer, rehab specialist; Kris Buckner, parent of many
adopted disabled children; Barbara Anderson, PT;
Don Caston, rehab engineer; Greg Dixon, Director,
Partners’ Appropriate Technology In Health; Susan
Hammerman, Director, Rehabilitation International;
Carole Coleman, specialist in sign language; Suzanne
Reier, recreation therapist; Sarah Grossman, PT; Donal
Laub, plastic surgeon; Jean Kohn, MD in rehabilitation;
Bob Friedricks, orthotist; Katherine Myers, spinal cord
injury nurse; Grace Warren, PT in leprosy; Jean M.
Watson, PT in leprosy; David Sanders, pediatrician;
Jane Neville, leprosy expert; Stanley Browne,
MD, leprosy; Alexandra Enders, OT; John McGill,
prosthetist; Victoria Sheffield, Rita Leavell, MD, Jeff
Watson, J. Kirk Horton, Lawrence Campbell, Helen
Keller International; Owen Wrigley, IHAP; Roswitha
and Kenneth Klee, Winfried Lichtemberger, Jeanne R.
Kenmore, Christoffel Blindenmission; Judy Deutsch,
PT; Jane Thiboutot, PT; R.L. Huckstep, MD; Linda
Goode, PT; Susan Johnson, PT; David Hall, child health
consultant; Ann Goerdt, PT for WHO; Mira Shiva,
MD; Nigel Shapcott, seating specialist; Ann Yeadon,
educator; Charles Reilly, sign language consultant; Eli
Savanack, Gallaudet College; John Gray, MD; Molly
Thorburn, MD; Lonny Shavelson, MD; Margaret
Mackenzie, medical anthropologist; Rainer Arnhold,
MD, Gulbadan Habibi, Caroline Arnold, Philip Kgosa a,
Garren Lumpkin, UNICEF.
Above all, we would like to thank the team of
disabled village rehabilitation workers in Project
PROJIMO, Ajoya, Sinaloa, Mexico, along with the
hundreds of disabled children and their families. Their
involvement and interaction in exploring, testing,
inventing, and discovering simplified alternatives has
led to the formation of this book. Key among the
PROJIMO team are: Marcelo Acevedo, Miguel Álvarez,
Adelina Bastidas, Roberto Fajardo, Teresa Gárate,
Bruce Hobson, Concepción Lara, Inés León, Ramon
León, Polo Leyva, Armando Nevárez, María Picos,
Adelina Pliego, Elijio Reyes, Cecilia Rodríguez, Josefa
Rodríguez, Concepción Rubio, Moisés Salas, Rosa
Salcido, Asunción Soto, Javier Valverde, Florentino
Velázquez, Efrain Zamora, Miguel Zamora.
For this book we have borrowed information,
ideas, illustrations, methods, and designs from many
sources, published and unpublished. Often credit has
been given, but not always. If you notice we have
‘borrowed’ from your material and neglected to give
you credit, please accept our unspoken thanks and
apologies.
For their excellent and dedicated work in preparing
the manuscript for publication, special thanks go
to: Jane Maxwell, editing, page design, and art
production; Irene Yen, editing and paste-up; Kathy
Alberts, Elizabeth de Avila, Martín Bustos, Mary Klein,
Carlos Romero and Marjorie Wang, paste-up; Martin
Bustos and Anna Muñoz-Briggs, Spanish translation;
Myra Polinger, typing; Lynn Gordon, Bill Bower, Phil
Pasmanick and Dan Perlman, general review; Alison
Davis, reference section research; Elizabeth de Ávila,
Don Baker, Agnes Batteiger, Jane Bavelas, Leda
Bosworth, Renee Burgard, Michael Lang, Betty Page,
Pearl Snyder, Tinker Spar, Paula Tanous and Roger
Wilson, proofreading; Lino Montebon, Joan Thompson
and David Werner, drawings; Richard Parker, John
Fago, Carolyn Watson, Tom Wells and David Werner,
photography; Dyanne Ladine, art production; Martin
Bustos and Richard Parker, photo production;
Hal Lockwood and Helen Epperson of Bookman
Productions, Tim Anderson and Linda Inman of
Reprographex, typesetting and layout; and Trude Bock
for giving so wholeheartedly of herself and her home
for the preparation of this book.
We want to give an extra word of thanks to Carol
Thuman for coordination, typing, and correspondence
and Janet Elliott for graphics, artwork, and paste-
up, and to both for sharing the responsibility for the
preparation and quality of this book.
The main costs of preparing this book were met
with grants from the Public Welfare Foundation, whose
continued friendship and support of the Hesperian
Foundation’s publications is deeply appreciated.
Additional funding was generously provided by the
Gary Wang Memorial Fund,UNICEF, OXFAM UK,
the Swedish International Development Agency,
MISEREOR, and May and Stanley Smith Charitable
Trust. We would also like to thank the Thrasher
Research Fund, and Mulago Foundation for helping
meet the costs of Project PROJIMO, from which this
book evolved.
For updating this book, we thank Manisha Aryal,
John Bergez, Martín Bustos, Darlena David, Digital
Divide (Cambodia), Iñaki Fernández de Retana, Jacob
Goolkasian, Shu Ping Guan, Todd Jailer, Jane Maxwell,
Susan McCallister, Gail McSweeney, Elena Metcalf,
C. Sienkiewicz, Dorothy Tegeler, and Sarah Wallis.
Finally, we would like to thank David Werner for his
careful and hard work in preparing this book. His vision
and advocacy for disabled people around the world are
reflected throughout the book.