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Tetra Society of North America

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Tetra Society of North America
Founded1987; 37 years ago (1987)
FounderSam Sullivan
Location
Volunteers
300
Websitetetrasociety.org

Tetra Society of North America is a not-for-profit organization that provides volunteer engineers across Canada and the US to design and construct custom assistive devices for people with disabilities.

History

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The Tetra Society was founded in 1987 in Vancouver, British Columbia, by quadriplegic Sam Sullivan.[1] It grew to more than 300 volunteers in 45 chapters across North America. It states that, over the years, its volunteers have completed 5,000 projects for people with disabilities.

Tetra devices

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Tetra volunteers create devices that “facilitate education, work and recreation” by tackling barriers to mobility, personal care and communications.[2] Projects can relate to the home, workplace, leisure location, or anything in between, such as a wheelchair or motor vehicle.[3] They were involved with adapting Sullivan's wheelchair when he became the first quadriplegic to accept an Olympic flag.[4]

Affiliated societies

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The Sam Sullivan Disability Foundation consists of six affiliated societies:

See also

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  • TAD, a similar organisation in Australia

References

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  1. ^ "Sam's Story". Disability Foundation. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  2. ^ Chandler, Felishia (2021-06-28). "Advocates say more wheelchair training needed for N.S. occupational therapists". Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  3. ^ About Tetra retrieved February 9, 2010.
  4. ^ "Vancouver's Sam Sullivan first quadriplegic to accept Olympic flag". Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
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