We’re a unique South Australian charity that has been making life easier for people living with disability and the aged for 40 years.
Technology for Ageing and Disability SA (formerly Technical Aid to the Disabled SA) or TADSA began its service in 1978. Over those 40 years, hundreds of volunteers have designed and built or modified thousands of devices that are not commercially available to improve the quality of life of clients.
It can be something as simple as a device to assist someone with arthritis to turn on a light or power switch, to modifying four wheel walkers to allow people to play lawn bowls. Although most volunteers are based in metropolitan Adelaide, TADSA is a state-wide charity and regularly completes projects for clients living in regional South Australia. One such project was a powered art easel built for an indigenous artist who lives in the far north of the state. At the push of a button the easel can raise or lower, tilt or rotate, so at whatever angle the artist feels comfortable painting, the easel can be adjusted.
TADSA’s patron is Paralympian Libby Kosmala who has been a client of the charity for over 30 years. When Libby began competition shooting, she not only needed something she could rest upon, while shooting in her wheelchair but a place for her ammunition. A TADSA volunteer built a table which attaches to her wheelchair and can be taken apart and transported in a suitcase. She has taken it to the 11 Paralympic Games in which she competed in rifle shooting, winning nine gold medals.
Apart from the devices it creates, TADSA also has the Freedom Wheels modified bike program for children with disabilities. TADSA volunteers take regular bikes and fit them with prefabricated accessories or invent accessories which will allow a child to ride a bike usually for the first time. TADSA volunteers have invented rear steering systems, modified handle bars and pedalling systems.
TADSA is a registered charity, accredited at Certificate Level of the Australian Service Excellence Standards and is registered to provide supports for National Disability Insurance Scheme participants.
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