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Out-of-the-Box Treatment at Alyn Kids Rehab
(Times of Israel) Ariella Gentin - Jerusalem-based Alyn, Israel's only pediatric and adolescent rehabilitation facility, serves 300 people every day: children with congenital and acquired conditions, including cerebral palsy, brain injuries, and terror-related injuries. Alyn's Innovation Space, founded last year, is geared to creating technologies that improve the lives of children with disabilities. Thala, 11, who was severely burned in a car accident and lost her fingers, wanted to work in Alyn's therapeutic garden, but she couldn't hold onto gardening tools with just one hand. So last month, Elinor Tal and Nevo Fryd, students at the Holon Institute of Technology, came up with a gripping device that attaches itself to her arms. When a wheelchair-bound child wanted to feed the animals in Alyn's petting zoo, the Innovation Space created a device with which he could put food in a tube and press a button that let the food out near the animal. The innovation center runs the Pele program, which works on personalized solutions, including finding ways for children with physical disabilities to eat, dress, and communicate independently, and Alynnovation, which assists entrepreneurs in developing products for children on a global scale that are affordable and attainable. Alyn developed Wheelchairs of Hope, a plastic wheelchair for children with disabilities in developing countries that costs less than $100.