D4E1 Wheelchair Drawing Board

Madeleine is a 27 year old woman with cerebral palsy who would like to be able to draw/paint/colour herself. 

During the week, she stays in an institution for people with disabilities and at weekends she goes home. She has many activities, but there are times when she has nothing to do. 

When she was with the speech therapist, they broached the topic of leisure activities and she expressed the request to be able to be creative herself. 

She knows what she wants to do, but is physically limited in her abilities. Due to her cerebral palsy, she has uncontrolled movements and experiences difficulties holding something in her hands by herself.  

We tested a lot in the occupational therapy room (materials, prototypes...) and Madeleine showed great enthusiasm. We came to the conclusion that the drawing surface must be fixed (paper crumples and shifts because of her abrupt arm movements) and there must be a boundary on her right side to keep her right arm above the drawing surface (she manages best to draw with her right hand).  

After a lot of testing, restarting, adjusting... we came to this final result and can proudly present to you: 'the wheelchair drawing board'.

Have fun while making it (or having it made), but also and especially while using this drawing board! 

• wooden board A: 2mm thick (bottom, larger than thicker board) 60cmx45cm
• wooden board B: 5mm thick (bottom) 62cmx46cm
• wooden board C: 2mm (for frame large or small and edge around metal plate) 60cmx45cm
• wooden board D:1cm (large side right) 60cmx40cm
• wooden board E: 7mm (side front and left) 60cmx7cm and 45cmx7cm
• whiteboard (for the metal surface)
• 4 magnets (or several as needed)
• 4 or 8 nuts and bolts (depending on number 
• 1 or 2 stainless metal holders from a wheelchair table top
• nails of 2cm
• nails of 1,5 cm

• drill
• wood drill
• impact drill for wood
• sander
• sandpaper
• allen wrench 
• polymer glue 
• wood glue (and possibly a glue clamp to tighten wooden parts while the glue dries)
• super glue
• open-end spanner
• wood varnish
• optional: paint

• mark out a semi-circle on the belly side (we used the shape of our cardboard prototype, otherwise measure width needed and mark on the board). 
• cut out half circle. 
• sanding

• detach metal holder from plastic table top
• keep nuts and bolts separate, to be used later

• lay wooden board (B) on the armrests 
• place holder correctly (metal tube must be at height of tube under armrest)
• mark where the holes for the bolts should be drilled (best in the middle of the black slots, then there is room to move if necessary)

-> the whiteboard is too heavy to be used as a whole, only the metal plate is needed and so the whiteboard is taken apart to recover this plate.  

• loosen the metal edges with a flat screwdriver
• detach plate from wooden backing 

• lay wooden board B on top of board A and mark out the shape, making sure there is an edge on the 3 outer sides (not on the belly side) (this is where the sides come on)
• apply wood glue and glue both boards together 
• measure the height of both planks and hammer nails (shorter than the height) into the planks in several places for extra sturdiness (if necessary, apply some clamping screws while the glue dries) 

-> make the two low side edges (in this example, the left is the lowest side edge and the right is the highest, this will be

made later) 

• wooden board E: measure and saw the length of both 
• sanding
• glue on the left and front edge of the board and at the bottom of the sides
• put sides on the edge 
• hammer in nails as reinforcement 

• drill the holes for the bolts

-> the top of the bolts will be higher than the top of board B, but the surface must be level to attach the metal plate to it

later => make holes at the top larger. 

• required: impact drill for wood 
• widen at the top until the top of the bolt is flush with the surface of board B 

• bolts through the holes of boards A and B and through the slots of the holders
• fix the nuts
• adjust spacing (fit on wheelchair) and tighten nuts properly

• wooden board D: apply adhesive to the underside
• apply glue to the remaining edge on the right 
• put both parts together 
• hammer in nails on the side as additional reinforcement 

• mark out where the plate should go (on the right-hand side in this example)
• apply polymer glue to the wood and spat it open
• lay the plate on top and press firmly
• let it rest for two days to ensure good adhesion 

• take wooden board C
• mark out size of metal board (this will be the frame)
• mark out frame (edge must be slightly larger than the diameter of the magnets, we took an edge of 4cm)
• cut everything out
• sanding

-> In this example, we chose a smaller frame (left cannot be drawn, not possible due to physical limitation). You can

also choose to use the entire surface of the metal plate and make a frame the same size.  

-> chosen for smaller frame: space left between border and frame must be filled.  

• stick the part remaining after cutting out the frame and border with polymer glue on the left part next to the border (can also be on the right, depending on the artist) 

• mark off the magnets on the four corners (possibly also in the middle of the long side if you chose to make the big frame)
• cut out the holes
• glue the edge of the magnets into the holes with superglue 

• sand and varnish all wooden parts

• underlay made of thin plastic and cut out shape of your or the artist's choice with a cutter knife or scissors
• thin plank of wood (size inside frame) and saw or laser-cut a figure out of it 

= depending on the artist's choice 

• put sheet under stencil!
• frame it!
• test it!