Web site swaps equipment for disabled

Web site swaps equipment for elderly and the disabled
Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Looking to buy a lift chair, a reacher or a walker? Or how about a commode?

On ATxchange.org, you could find one at a great price -- maybe even for free.

The site is a sell-or-swap forum for assistive technology, the term used to describe machines, gadgets or furniture that help elderly people or those with disabilities perform daily tasks. They can be low- or high-tech, ranging from a toilet chair to a motorized scooter.

Users create a screen name and log in, post their items or view other postings. Anyone wanting a posted item can send a request to site managers, who respond with the seller's contact information. All items are used.

Jo Corder, assistive technology specialist at disAbility Connections, 409 Linden Ave., said sites like this help redistribute resources to those who need them. Often when a person with a disability dies, the assistive equipment stays with a family member who doesn't need it.

"The family doesn't have a resource for recycling these devices and they become obsolete," she said.

Corder said the main benefit is that ATxchange has postings from across the state and allows users to narrow search results to locations near their homes.

The East Lansing-based Michigan Disability Rights Coalition set up the site in February using more than $130,000 from the U.S. Department of Education.

But there have been only 30 postings, 99 users and four transactions. The Web site itself has only been viewed 629 times.

But project coordinator Aimee Sterk with the Michigan Disability Rights Coalition said it is set to grow as she and her colleagues send pamphlets and information to local organizations like disAbility Connections. Her group is also touring the state, giving presentations on how to use the Web site.

Cool like a Freecycle (you know how much I LOVE freecycle) for medical equipment.

"It has grown some, but we have not done any marketing of the site until this month," she said. "It's been very much word of mouth until now."