The Special Needs Mask integrates a grill onto the front of the original Montana V2 mask. This is designed to lift the cloth mask away from the mouth to prevent chewing on the cloth mask. The Special Needs Mask modifications were made by Cody Sandahl from Sand Dollar Innovation.
From Cody:
One of my sons tends to chew on his cloth mask, so I modified a 3D printed surgical mask so he can no longer physically get the cloth mask into his mouth. Since creating this plastic mask, he has worn masks for therapy and in the community as needed with almost no fuss. Masking during COVID-19 went from major stress to no big deal! His school team asked me to make some plastic masks for some of the other special needs kids at the school, and they had similar success as well.
2021 Update
Working with Code4Kids, we were able to manufacture and ship about 150 masks across the country to special needs families! Thank you to the donors who allowed Code4Kids to provide free shipping!
NEW Ventilated Mask Design
Some families reported that teachers were having a hard time hearing the kids through the mask, so we created a new design with extra ventilation holes.
Gallery
Source Files and Build Instructions
If you have access to a 3D printer, you can find STLs and assembly instructions on GitHub. It’s a 3-4 hour print on a Prusa MINI, depending on the size of the mask you need. There are also Amazon links to purchase the padding, elastic, and ear loop sizing supplies.