{"id":38911,"date":"2015-11-06T13:43:24","date_gmt":"2015-11-06T18:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=38911"},"modified":"2015-11-06T13:44:00","modified_gmt":"2015-11-06T18:44:00","slug":"wright-states-wheelchair-mechanic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2015\/11\/06\/wright-states-wheelchair-mechanic\/","title":{"rendered":"Wright State’s wheelchair mechanic"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jim<\/a>

Jim Voisard, an assistive technology professional at Numotion, fixing a wheelchair pedal for Wright State student Dominique Jenkins. (Photo by Erin Pence)<\/p><\/div>\n

For Wright State students who use wheelchairs, loose bolts, squeaky pedals and other mechanical headaches can limit mobility. That\u2019s why having a wheelchair mechanic on campus every other Monday is a godsend.<\/p>\n

Numotion provides complex rehab equipment such as mobility and standing equipment, patient transfer systems, bathroom safety equipment, ambulatory equipment and pediatric equipment. The company has a local office in Vandalia.<\/p>\n

Jim Voisard, an assistive technology professional at Numotion, voluntarily comes to Wright State to assist students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve been visiting patients here since the mid-90s, but most recently with the start of Numotion Mondays, I am here regularly,\u201d said Voisard. \u201cI’ve gotten to know some of the students and enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A busy day consists of a line of about a dozen students. On slower days, Voisard assists three to six students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI absolutely love Jim coming a few times a month. It’s so convenient and easy to get to,\u201d said Dominique Jenkins, a Wright State student whose wheelchair company is three hours away. \u201cSince Jim is here, I won’t have to call them to fix something on my chair, and I love that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students commonly visit Voisard for tightening bolts, replacing a missing nut and getting new equipment and seating and positioning devices. In the winter, Voisard said he is commonly asked to clean off road and sidewalk salt from the wheelchairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it\u2019s just good old advice, making a student aware of an accessory or feature that is available to them that they didn’t know about before,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJim helped me with a minor fix,\u201d said Jenkins. \u201cHe had to tighten up my footplate, and I couldn’t be happier. My footplate has been bothering me for a while, and now he has fixed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I could say anything to Jim it would be that he is an amazing and helpful worker, and I love that he comes to help us,\u201d said Jenkins.<\/p>\n

Voisard had a friend in high school who is a paraplegic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my first look into the needs of the disabled, and I learned a lot from him,\u201d Voisard said. \u201cIt stuck with me, and I have managed to make a career of it. He is still a good friend of mine too, and I have been able to help him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Voisard served in the Army for three years before entering the rehab equipment industry in 1987.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also fell in love with the woman who would be become my wife back then and college took a backseat to my relationship with her and my work,\u201d he said. \u201cI am now credentialed through the Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America as an ATP.\u201d<\/p>\n

Numotion has offices located across the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have access to therapists who are needed to justify equipment needs right here in the Dayton metropolitan area, so I can and do encourage the students I see to pursue their needs wherever they are because chances are wherever they are there is a Numotion nearby,\u201d Voisard said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn’t be in the line of work I’m in if I didn’t get a sincere sense of satisfaction from helping people,\u201d he said. \u201cOpening a child’s world to mobility is very rewarding, and many times they are the most appreciative patients I serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information about Numotion, visit numotion.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Wright State students who use wheelchairs, having a wheelchair mechanic on campus regularly is a godsend. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":38913,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[729,2041,725,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-around-campus","category-office-of-disability-services","category-home-news-sidebar","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38911"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38916,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38911\/revisions\/38916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}