Season Five - Episode Six - Andrew Baenziger

YXE Underground

Andrew Baenziger is in his dream job.

As the Adaptive Technologist for SaskAbilities, he is helping people overcome barriers they are facing due to disability or injury through his passion for technology and empathy to help others in need.

Andrew invited us to his workshop to show us how he uses technology, and perhaps a piece or two from his aquarium, to make a difference in lives of people here in Saskatoon.

It was wonderful spending time in his workspace at SaskAbilities for this episode.

The main space, which is a classroom inside an old school, has a few desks which are covered with different devices and creations made by Andrew that are designed to help people in a variety of ways. He calls it his showroom and it’s where most of our conversation takes place…

But his favourite space to spend time is definitely his workshop. It’s attached to the showroom and it’s where Andrew loves to fix things.

As an Adaptive Technologist, Andrew works with people who need help overcoming barriers in their lives. Often times, these barriers revolve around communication. Andrew shares some great examples in our conversation of how he has worked with clients to come up with creative and cost-efficient solutions to barriers they are facing due to disability or injury.

I think one of Andrew’s many strengths is how he combines his passion for technology with a genuine interest in helping people. You will hear a wonderful quote in the second part of our conversation from Andrew where he puts his job into a greater perspective that I think will stick with you.

You will also hear my friend and YXE Underground photographer Rona Andreas ask a few questions to Andrew. Rona is an Occupational Therapy Assistant at Sherbrooke Community Centre, which is where I work, and I wanted to make sure she had a chance to ask Andrew some questions because she would view his work through such a unique lens.

Let me tell you…Rona asks some good questions.

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Thanks so much for listening and I hope you enjoy Andrew’s story.

Cheers…Eric