Wheeled luggage is great for surviving long lines when traveling, but dragging it by the handle can be hard on wrists, arms and shoulders. Reaching behind to grab a bar that seems to always be at the wrong angle gets old fast.
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Acessibility for Computer Gamers
A group from The Netherlands, the Bartiméus Accessibility Foundation, has a website devoted to encouraging and facilitating accessibility to computer games for “gamers who function under limiting conditions . . . such as blindness, deafness, or mobility limitations.”
medGadget recently posted a brief article about the HAL-5 exoskeleton, a Japanese invention that looks like Matsushita’s robotic arm on steriods (and with a few limbs added). The HAL-5 is also a wearable robotic device, intended particularly to give health care workers greater strength for lifting. There’s a link to an earlier medGadget article, as well as one to the original post at Engadget (English).
There’s a charmingly incoherent Google translation of an Engadget (Japanese) article from last October here, as well.
Life got a lot simpler for us when I made a medical notebook for my dad. His interest in accurately reporting relevant events and symptoms at any given medical appointment has always been minimal, and some days I was just too frazzled to rely on my own already overclocked brain.
An inexpensive three-ring binder from an office supply store made it much easier to keep information flowing and doctor visits productive. After I made Dad’s, I went home and made one for each member of my family.
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DIY — Do-It-Yourself Tricks and Tips
Get near a device that even smells of ‘disability aid’ and you’re also likely to encounter a nasty bit of sticker shock. Here’s a round-up of articles I’ve written recently that suggest DIY tips for vexing life issues that might plague anyone — all of them designed to help avoid ‘disability aid’ price mark-ups.
Elastic Band for Holding Paper/Small Objects on Tray Table
No-Slip Grips for Phones, Remote Controls
When a person’s ability to interact with the broader physical world is limited, creating intellectually and visually stimulating moments can become becomes much more difficult. At the same time, quality of life may depend even more on that kind of stimulation.
A kitchen accident a year and a half ago left me with two numb fingers, and a reasonable fear of knives. I’m right-handed, so I wield my slicers with that hand, leaving my left to hold steady whatever is up for chopping. Unfortunately, if the knife strays, I can’t feel it — a worrisome state of affairs.
Which is why I like these tools so much.
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Bristol Stool Form Scale
This post is about excrement. Yes, I’m afraid you read that right. Those readers who are surfing while dining, who are suddenly feeling faint of heart, or who are simply disinterested are hereby excused, and invited to scroll down to less scatological posts. The rest of us will explore the uses of the Bristol Stool Form Scale.
Getting in and out of cars was one of the first difficulties my dad faced when he began having problems with his spine. After his first surgery, he began clinging to the vehicle’s door for support. Watching it, and him, swaying back and forth was pretty scary — it seemed like a miracle when he got through a trip without smashing his fingers — or worse.
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Don’t Try This At Home
Ever watch Malcolm in the Middle? Remember the episode when Stevie runs away and ends up in a grocery cart being pushed through skid row? Remember another one when he doffs his wheelchair and becomes a luge-street-racer?
That was nuffin’, parents. Check this out, and then go and padlock your kid’s wheelchair:
World’s First Wheelchair Backflip
Yeah, I know — I should have titled this post ‘When Paraplegia Is Not Enough’.
Malcolm photo via AntonioGenna.com