Centuries ago, a wise philosopher said "necessity is the mother of invention." Bronze Age men proved the point when they developed the wheel and cart to transport heavy loads such as the spoils of successful hunts.

Necessity in today's disability population has led to the development of hundreds of items that make independent living possible. Items from wheelchairs and vertical standers to no-tie shoelaces and automatic potato peelers can be found in mail-order catalogs or at medical supply companies.

However, they often come with high price tags.

Out of sheer necessity, people have found innovative ways to make inexpensive do-it-yourself devices.

INDOOR DEVICES

Of course, making a wheelchair would be difficult for most of us, but smaller items can be customized to fit particular needs. Dan Weber, 41, an avid computer user from Sheffield Lake, Ohio, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), found that commercial assistive devices didn't always fit his needs and prices were high.

He took matters into his own hands and started making what he needs. Here he outlines a few of his most useful devices.

Typing Splints. Devise items rather than depend upon the marketplace. "As my hands atrophied and fingers weakened and constricted, typing became very difficult," Weber says. "I didn't find typing splints that I liked in the catalogs, so I purchased slip-on plastic finger splints that were lined with foam rubber. For keystrikes, I hot-glued beveled black rubber plumbing washers at an angle to the ends of the splints. The cost is $2.40 per splint at the drugstore, and 10 cents per washer at the hardware store."

Button Hooks. Often it's possible to copy ideas from catalogs to meet your needs. "There are many button-pullers available for about $10 and they do a fine job on shirts," Weber says. "However, the first time you try them on a coat or a pair of jeans, you'll bend them completely out of shape. I fabricated my heavy-duty hook from a piece of stainless steel wire about 8 inches long. The hook end must be heated cherry-red to be bent, and then immediately plunged into water.

I made the handle from a piece of hardwood dowel three-quarters of an inch in diameter and 4 inches long. All the older people who have seen this hook inform me that I have reinvented the boot-pull. The cost is less than $1."

Scissors. Another tip by Weber is to look at places other than medical supply houses or specialty catalogs. "As hand strength and range of motion diminished, regular scissors became unusable. Fiskars manufactures a pair with large, comfortable handles and a very smooth, spring-loaded action. Medical suppliers offer them for $22, but at Sam's Club they're $8."

Wheelchair Chin Control. Never stop adapting. "Since I have no use of my hands, I use a chin control to operate my power wheelchair. As supplied by the vendor, the original control was a joystick with a 6-inch flexible plastic rod. Operating this control required large, exaggerated head movements that were both tiring and cumbersome. We removed the plastic rod and replaced it with a small kitchen funnel lined with foam padding. This set-up not only provides precise control with minimal head movement, but supports my chin as well. The cost is about $1."

OUTDOOR DEVICES

Do-it-yourself adaptive devices are a big part of Kevin McCrory's life. He continually develops them, uses them every day and shows others how to make them. His imagination, as well as his simple adaptations of devices already available in stores, makes it possible for him to live the life he loves -- that of an outdoorsman.

Spinal muscular atrophy doesn't keep McCrory, 35, from enjoying bow and rifle hunting, fishing, photography and trekking through the countryside. Nor does it keep him from working odd jobs in Fostoria, Mich., a rural area near Detroit where he lives with his wife and two children. Besides his family life and jobs, he also enjoys working with children at MDA summer camps; playing wheelchair sports such as basketball, bowling, football and pool; coaching four baseball teams, and playing keyboards for a country music band.

McCrory is also vice president of Outdoors Forever, a group devoted to making outdoor activities possible for people with disabilities, and is a popular speaker for various local and statewide groups. How does he do it all? With a little help from the devices he's adapted to meet his specific needs.

An Icy Trek. When McCrory goes ice fishing, he travels the countryside in his 4-wheeler and tows his gear on an attached sled. Along with his food and water, he carries vital outdoor adaptive devices such as an ice auger that allows easy cutting through many inches of solid ice, a fishing pole with an automatic reel and a gripping mitt made from leather and Velcro.

McCrory opens a fishing hole with his adapted ice auger that's started by simply touching the wires of a Chrysler starter to the battery on his 4-wheeler. "I don't have the strength to pull on an auger starter cord or chop open a hole," he says. "But with this automatic starter modification, once it (the auger) starts, it simply zips through up to 9 inches of ice."

Get a Grip. The gripping mitt, one of McCrory's handiest and least expensive devices, is a must for any outdoor activity. The leather mitt keeps his hand wrapped around a fishing pole without having to make a fist and keeps the pole in hand when he lands the big ones. He lost several poles before his mitt days.

"You can also make mitts out of the brown jersey gloves found at most hardware stores for just a few dollars," McCrory says. "Add some Velcro, and you can adapt it for many things besides holding a fishing pole. A mitt allows me to hold a baseball bat or even a badminton racket when I play with my sons. Now, they don't have to duck when I swing a bat. Before the mitt, I would try to hit a ball and the bat would fly from my grasp."

Another low-cost method of getting a grip is to follow the lead of professional football and basketball players. Buy a can of "sticky grip" from a sporting goods store and spray on both hands. It allows anyone with a weak grip to hold items better.

A Fish Story. For winter fishing or any cold-weather activity, it's important for people with disabilities to stay as warm as possible. "I can't make a fist, get any type of grip or hold on to items at all when I get cold," McCrory says. To prevent this, he suggests carrying a few microwaveable heat packs in various pockets. They can usually be found in most hunting and camping stores and, he says, "they stay warm for several hours after zapping in the microwave."

His fishing reel is the closed-face type and he also recommends using an electric reel (which is easy to make) to bring in the heavier fish. "I enjoy volunteering at the MDA summer camps and showing kids who've never fished before how to simply press a button and automatically reel in their catch."

McCrory also makes a sling device (it looks a little bit like a weight lifting belt put on backwards) for people who can't easily hold a fishing pole. It straps to a person's waist and holds the fishing pole next to the body. Similar to the rigs found on deep-sea fishing boats, but on a smaller scale, the sling allows a person to use his entire body to reel in fish and hold the pole in place.

Gun Ability. Firing a gun may not be possible for those who lack finger dexterity. McCrory found a solution for adapting his gun. A gunsmith friend drilled a hole in the trigger guard of his shotgun and inserted a very small piece of steel with an attached spring. The apparatus extends toward the barrel, where it's attached to another trigger.

"This allows me to rest my left hand under the gun and pull the second trigger," says McCrory. With the help of this simple adaptation, he recently placed first in a state air gun contest and will travel to Minnesota for the national wheelchair competition.

He shares his firing techniques with other people with disabilities through Outdoors Forever.

"As a matter of fact, I'm helping to develop a sip and puff shooting technique for quadriplegics," he says. "Being from the country, I've used automatic milking machines quite a lot and it gave me an idea. With help from some others, I've found a way to attach a sip and puff device to activate the squeezing movement of the milker, which, in turn, is attached to the trigger of a gun."

Bow Ability. McCrory's favorite form of hunting is with a bow. He adapted his bow so that he can trigger it with his chin. He's one of a limited number to receive a modified bow permit from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

In fact, during deer season, he can be found camouflaged up in the trees (yes, he devised a method of hoisting himself into the branches), patiently waiting for his prey.

For more information about Outdoors Forever, call (517) 337-0018.

FOR THE HOME AND OFFICE

Here are more simple devices shared by people with neuromuscular diseases:

• Use wooden "backscratchers" to turn on/off lights and to move arms and legs in bed.
  
• Tie long strings to inaccessible light switches.
  
• Use a shoestring to work the flipper knob of disc drives on certain computers.
  
• Tie dog leashes or straps to refrigerator doors to open them.
  
• Line the edge of a refrigerator door with duct tape in various spots if the door is difficult to open because of suction.
  
• Make a long dowel with a hook screwed in one end to pick items off the floor, take clothing from a closet, assist in dressing, etc.
  
• Scotchguard favorite chairs so food and spills come right up.
  
• Use a small rubber plunger to help wash clothing by hand.
  
• Mount an angled mirror at the back of a stove to view items in pots from wheelchair or scooter height.
  
• Fasten a scrub brush (bristles up) to kitchen or bathroom sinks with a suction cup to scrub fingernails, vegetables and even some dishes.
  
• Carry a short plywood plank in a wheelchair backpack as an emergency ramp for small steps or curbs lacking cuts. (If you find yourself doing this in public places, the ADA is being violated and the proper authorities should be notified.)
  
• Sew loops of cotton tape to pants or underwear so that they can be pulled up using two dowels with hooks on the ends.
  
• Cut certain meats, vegetables and fruit with a sharp pair of scissors.
  
• Use a bowl and spoon rather than a plate and fork.
  
• Use a funnel to separate egg whites from the yolk.
  
• Try modeling clay to build up handles for eating utensils, toothbrushes, etc.
  
• Attach suction cups to bottoms of bowls and containers to keep them steady.
  
• Remove buttons and zippers from clothing and replace with Velcro.
  
• Have a print shop remove the binding of a favorite book and replace it with a spiral or three-ring binding so that the book lays flat when opened.