When you or your child is disabled, activities that non-disabled people take for granted often take extra planning. Take, for example, getting a haircut. Few barber shops or salons are designed for wheelchair users, and most stylists aren’t well-versed in the needs of people with autism or sensory processing disorders. But recently, a speech therapist and sensory hair stylist in Louisiana took matters into her own hands.
Recognizing the need for sensory-friendly haircare, full-time speech therapist Madeline Johnson, decided to leave her job to focus on her avocation. She opened Miss Madeline’s LLC, in 2025. Johnson’s interest in supporting the disabled went beyond helping adults and children with sensory processing disorders. After hearing about a wheelchair user who fell while being transferred from a wheelchair to a salon chair, she came up with an idea for an adapted shampoo bowl for wheelchair users.
Johnson recognized that she needed assistance to put her ideas into action so she approached Louisiana State University School of Engineering’s Capstone Design Program. The program is a graduation requirement for seniors at the school. At first, Johnson was turned down, but the second time she tried, the program accepted her challenge. And it was a challenge!
According to an article from The Advocate that was reprinted on Disability Scoop, the “engineering students went beyond her ideas to meet their requirements for the project.”
Explained team member Tucker Poret: “We started building things, and we realized that a lot of it needed more work to actually be put together. For example, the different adjustments had to be redesigned on the fly the second semester after we realized that the first idea wouldn’t really work during testing.”
After working quickly “to redesign the vertical, forward and back adjustment parts as well as the tilting system,” the team was satisfied with their prototype.
The result is a shampoo bowl that can be adjusted to accommodate people who remain seated in their wheelchairs while they receive haircuts and other salon services. The invention enables clients to be safer, more comfortable, more dignified and more independent.
Nowadays, Johnson has partnered with speech language pathologist Rachel Guidry at Connections Speech, Language & Reading Specialists in Baton Rouge. At Connections, Johnson works part-time as a speech therapist and part-time as a hair stylist. Her current employment situation enables her to serve more clients and fulfill both needs and dreams!
