Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers for the Disabled

The Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers for the Disabled is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to training capuchin monkeys to assist severely disabled individuals. The monkeys are raised in a nationwide network of volunteer foster families as though they were human. At five years of age, young monkeys are mature enough to begin their training. They are then trained to accomplish the chores of everyday living including feeding, retrieving fallen objects, turning the lights on and off, and loading a floppy disk or videotape. At the end of the training phase, each monkey is placed with an individual who has lost the ability to use his or her limbs. Educational materials produced by Helping Hands include brochures and fact sheets detailing the program and its requirements.