Shari loves horse riding, swimming and scrap booking. One day Shari and her mother, Helen, saw another client using a head pointer that TAD had made to paint. As Shari has quadriplegic athetoid cerebral palsy, this item looked very useful.
Helen and Shari tried to find one commercially but could only find head pointers to use on computers, not to hold a paint brush. So Helen contacted TAD, who had made a bicycle adaption for Shari when she was little.
The project was given to Sydney volunteers Jim Barrett and Bruce Watts who had used their woodworking skills in similar projects in the past.
Jim made the easel which could be adjusted for different angles. It has a ledge with a groove and holes to hold the brushes and adjustable page holder. Bruce made the head pointer and a brush holder. He attached a brass plate with Shari’s name.
Shari’s father Gary built a table for the easel which allowed Shari to paint outdoors.
Sydney TAD volunteers, Chris and Bob Cook, travelled to take some photos of Shari painting and gave her some tips. Helen says ‘Chris showed us how to put a dab of paint on the page first and let Shari spread it out which has worked very well.’
‘Shari now paints once a week and the set gives her great independence and the joy of creating her own work. To do it herself means so much to Shari, it is momentous really.’
