Barbara Beskind facts for kids

Barbara M. Knickerbocker Beskind (born 1924) is an amazing American inventor and designer. She has always loved creating new things and helping people.

Early Life and Dream to Invent

Barbara Beskind grew up during a tough time called the Great Depression. Her family had to grow their own food and make their own clothes. From the age of 10, Barbara dreamed of becoming an inventor. However, she was told that engineering schools didn't accept women back then. So, she studied home economics, which included design.

She went to Syracuse University and graduated in 1945. While there, she volunteered as an occupational therapist. This led to a 20-year career helping people in the Army. After leaving the Army, she started her own practice to help people with therapy. She even got six patents for her ideas, like a special pillow to help kids with learning disabilities improve their balance.

Even after retiring in 1989, Barbara kept learning and writing. She published three books. Barbara also takes great care of her health. She stays active and goes to a fitness center often, even though she has a condition that makes her legally blind.

Designing for a Better World at IDEO

In 2013, when Barbara was 89 years old, she saw David Kelley, the founder of a famous design company called IDEO, on TV. He talked about how important it was to have people with different experiences on a team to create new products.

Barbara, who couldn't use computers because of her vision, typed a letter to IDEO. She offered to help design products for older people and those with low vision. Within a week, IDEO invited her to share her ideas!

She became an adviser for IDEO, helping them design products and services for the elderly and people with vision problems. She has worked on many cool inventions. For example, she helped create an improved shower handle for people with smaller hands. She also designed special glasses with a camera and microphone to help visually impaired people identify obstacles and understand voices. She has designed about 28 other pieces of equipment or clothing!

The "Trekker" Walker

Barbara believes in the idea of "design with us, not for us." This means that designers should work with the people who will use the products, not just for them.

She has lived in senior homes for many years and noticed how people used walkers. She saw that some people had poor posture or struggled with regular walkers. In 2016, Barbara started working on a new kind of walker called the "trekker."

Her "trekker" design has long, vertical handles. This makes it harder to lean on the walker, which helps people stand up straighter and improves their posture. She hopes this design will help many people. For her own use, Barbara uses modified ski poles with flashlights to help her see and markers to tell them apart.