The power to make a difference
A special desk that changed a child’s life
Story and photos by Ed Marchand
It is a look on the face of a young man from a picture that I won’t soon forget.
A student at Emily Follensbee School, a unique school for special needs children in Calgary, Alberta had just received a special desk. Unable to sit up in class until the arrival of the new desk, he was relegated to being on a platform near the floor. It meant long days of an odd view of the world, artificially held back from being high enough to engage classmates, teachers and others face-to-face.
Then his special desk arrived. It brought him up to normal level. From the look on his face in the picture taken at the school, it was life changing.
In some ways it changed my life too. Because I had built it in my shop.
The desk project was overseen by an organization in Calgary called The Ability Workshop Society. Some in our Southern Alberta Woodworkers Society (SAWS) woodworking group may have heard of it. It brings together a broad selection of volunteers from many different skills to build a wide variety of projects to enhance the lives of people with special needs from across Alberta.
The desk was built in my shop with plans designed by his therapists, teacher and me specific to the student’s needs.
Well established process
The Ability Workshop Society project process is well established by now. Requests come in from across Southern Alberta for a huge range of needs. Obviously not all projects are able to be accommodated. But those that look promising are assessed by an organizational team who then frame up the goal.
That project outline goes out to the list of Ability Workshop volunteers with a request that anyone who feel they have the skills and interest can ask to join. That team is narrowed down to a final crew.
Some projects are simple, with one or two people involved. Some are more complicated, with several people with different skillsets.
In many cases parts of the work are done in member shops. In others, they come to the Ability Workshop facility to do the build. There is a process for purchasing supplies needed and establishing workflow. All usually rather quickly established on projects from many years of these efforts.
A productive SAWS linkage
The satisfaction I received from this project as a woodworker and Southern Alberta Woodworking Society (SAWS) member was far from an isolated example. Over the years numerous people from SAWS have participated in these projects. And they continue to do so.
So many different projects, so many different personal stories. But if you listen around SAWS meetings or monthly coffee chats, one thing is pretty universal. Enthusiasm. Members find these projects some of the most rewarding work they have ever done. Most sign on for more project work.
Desk number two
In typical Ability Workshop fashion, one project often leads to others. In the case of this desk, it happened quickly. The first student was away from school for a day or two one week and another student with a similar condition tried it out.
She liked it so much we got the project band back together to build a second desk for her. The main build is underway in my shop as I write this.
I am an example of someone who has grown personally and as a woodworker by participating in the Ability Workshop. So, I am an unabashed promoter of this work.
If you would like to consider getting involved in the Ability Workshop, there is always room for more woodworkers. Usually, there are more project requests than what can be accommodated. You can check out the Ability Workshop at www.abilityworkshop.ca. Or reach out to me at edsbusiness@shaw.ca or (403) 620-6026.
I would welcome a chance to show you some of the things we have done and to give you a look in the window of the organization.