What Makes a DAFO® Unique

The intimate contact of a thin, flexible, contoured brace, wrapping around the entire foot, provides better foot sensation and alignment than a traditional rigid AFO.

We believe children learn movement by moving. Rather than bracing heavily, we want the foot to experience as much useful movement as possible. A child needs to explore foot position in a guided range — like guardrails on a highway, with the freedom to move ahead but with protection from danger. That's why we make braces with as much flexibility as possible along the planes where a child has good foot control, providing support only where needed. We believe in the least amount of support to get the job done.

Since Cascade Dafo's sister company, Cascade Prosthetics & Orthotics, serves patients who have mobility challenges, clinical experience actively influences every product refinement. And clinical practice keeps us close to why we're doing this — we are committed to pediatric mobility.

What Makes a DAFO® Unique
The Team Approach

The Team Approach

The creation of DAFOs remains a testament to the power of collaboration. The original design came from the joint efforts of Don Buethorn, our founder, an orthotist, and Nancy Hylton, a physical therapist, working together to develop a product that could offer both stability and flexibility for pediatric patients. This collaborative, patient-focused approach continues to be at the heart of every orthotic solution we offer.

We believe that when patients, parents, therapists, caregivers, orthotists, and doctors work together as a team, the result is a bracing solution that best serves the child’s needs. Whether collaborating in-person, over the phone, or by email, we ensure open communication so that each patient receives the best possible care.

Cascade Dafo is known for innovation. We're your partners in bracing, with comprehensive customer support to help you choose, order, use, and adjust our products.

Our History

Cascade Dafo is the original creator of the Dynamic Ankle Foot Orthosis — commonly known as the DAFO®. More than 40 years of manufacturing, testing, and continuous innovation have made us leaders in pediatric bracing, and have even sprouted DAFO imitators.

In the early 1980s, Cascade Dafo founder Don Beuthorn, CPO, met Nancy Hylton, PT, LO, at a seminar. Nancy had a patient who inspired her to make a new two-part plaster brace for therapy. It was effective but hard to live with because of the plaster's temporary nature. They solved the technical fabrication problems using plastic instead, and Don began supplying thin, flexible, wrap-around DAFO braces to patients in the area. Word spread — DAFOs were demonstrating high effectiveness — and other practitioners requested them. Today, we are the industry's leading manufacturer of pediatric orthoses, creating effective solutions for patients worldwide.

We focus entirely on the mobility challenges of patients. Our products are primarily for pediatric patients, most of whom have neuromuscular challenges, but many adults also benefit from our DAFOs. Better mobility gives patients access to more experiences, more success in the activities they choose, and more control over their lives.

At Cascade Dafo, patient needs stimulate product design, customer support, educational programs for practitioners, and research and development to improve our braces. Cascade Dafo encourages the team approach: patient, parent, caregiver, orthotist, physical therapist, and physician all collaborating for the best patient outcome.

1980

Cascade Dafo founded by Don Buethorn, CPO, in Ferndale, WA.

1990

First DAFO design created providing flexible support for pediatric patients.

Present

Cascade Dafo grows into an industry leader in pediatric orthotics, continually innovating to meet the needs of patients worldwide.

Don Buethorn

Founder's Note

“Dafo's focus is on encouraging movement, not restricting it. To practice voluntary motion and experience all the benefits and enrichment that movement offers. We believe in using the least amount of support necessary so that the foot maintains the freedom to move as needed while receiving the support that helps it maintain a more ideal position of balance. The idea is to practice voluntary motion."

- Don Buethorn, Founder, Cascade DAFO