I had the honor of listening to Dr. Louis J. Gaston on Tuesday’s in-service day at the school.  Internationally known for his inspiring efforts with wounded warriors, Dr. Gaston works to create independence through innovation.  He presented on his company, G.R.I.P. Solutions, which offers unique non slip products designed to help with a variety of activities for daily living. GRIP™ features products in a variety of sizes and configurations, from general purpose rolls and mats to products designed to assist with specific tasks. The product line includes:

• Boards, pads and mats
• Rolls
• Hand GRIP™ and Writing GRIP™ to help with dining, grooming and writing
• GRIP™s for exercise and rehab

What makes G.R.I.P. different from other non-slip products is that it’s not sticky, but tactile friendly, easily to clean and long lasting. I like the fact that G.R.I.P. products can be cleaned quickly and thoroughly with dishwashing soap, disinfectant wipes or any common household cleaning liquid. This is a real benefit because we are very conscience of infection control with our students.

I see lots of uses for GRIP both in the home and the school environment. Many of our students require adaptive writing and feeding utensils. The grip rolls accommodate all sizes. Another struggle for some students is carrying their trays from the cafeteria line to the table. A G.R.I.P. board is a rigid non-slip, multiuse pad that is an idea platform to solve this problem. My son, Ryan, often watches TV on his iPad and writes emails as we do our Saturday morning errands. The iPad often slips from his lap as we travel on our snow covered streets. The G.R.I.P. wedge keeps his iPad stable, thereby allowing greater ease of use.

These products can help anyone, whether a student or adult, achieve the greatest level of independence. Dr. Gaston very generously donated a number of items to us and we are eager to try them out with our students!

You can learn more about the products at http://www.mygripsolutions.com