Helpful Little Things

This is a contribution from a patient.

To be clear: I am not a doctor or any related professional.

Where you see italics that's my precocious inner monologue. Less serious, less factual.

I will start by sharing two contributions to an online discussion about public bathrooms. Both are my statements adding a bit of disability evangelism and education. The context is obvious and I am dropping this here because what use is a moral at the end of a story?

❠ The way to look at it is this: Public bathrooms are 'within tolerance' for able users. Until about the age of 40, I used public bathrooms without impediment. The bathrooms I visited in restaurants, malls, and airports varied. Some were cramped while others were spacious. Some had small (for me) toilets, and some had oddly placed sinks. (Oh, well.)

Adding a disability to the mix makes it all the more problematic. ❠

If you hear footsteps, that is you dignity leaving you.

♿

🚹

🚾

🚺

❠ True story: My dear wife Janet and I were travelling long ago. I was in a wheelchair, and we were switching flights en route, so the airline or airport sent a staffer to shepherd us from flight to flight.

The staffer was pushing my wheelchair. I saw a bathroom marked handicapped. I asked her to stop... When we were about to be on our way again I turned my head and said, "So the sign on the door says 'handicapped' but would it ruin the delicate interior design if a few grab bars were installed?" There were none.

To her credit, our airport helper stopped and noted the room number promising to report the situation. ❠

A little dark humour helps now and again. I said that about my dignity one morning. My HCA reacted with a warm chuckle.

So does self-talk¹. I regularly remind myself, "We are all friends now." For example, when I realized I needed HCAs to clean spots I couldn't reach anymore.

Sigh. We're all friends now...

📖 The Dictionary of $20 Words states the following.

¹ "Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that aims to treat various conditions including depression, PTSD, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, marital problems, ADHD, and eating disorders." (Summarized from Wikipedia.)

Self-talk is a method used in CBT treatment (among others, I assume.)

Disability makes the easy difficult and often makes the inconvenient impossible. Do what you have to do to get around.

This page features some knowledge picked up along the way. It is surprising how many ways there are to overcome challenges and how many challenges there are to overcome.

A brain 🧠 pictograph (Scrabble word!) indicates a brain distraction, a place to pause and give your mind time to relax.

Thanks for coming to my run-on sentence talk!

I have placed some uncredited product images that I snagged from Amazon.ca or ShopperPlus.ca / PrimeCables.ca. The images remain the property of the original copyright holders, but as I am only likely to drive up their exposure, I take a No Harm, No Foul stance.

Case in point. Here is your future home security camera chasing away a scruffy miscreant. All the while, you (or the confident man with impeccable taste, style, and a beard that makes you fall in love even if you have never had feelings for other men before) watch safely from a distance.

More interesting and useful things about home automation are further down.

🧠 An on-topic brain distraction. In case you need to explain what a world not built for you means every damn day.

The objectionable word 'damn' is not just me showing frustration. It keeps Gramerly™ from turning 'every day' into 'daily'; further down I had to fight over 'three times a day.'

🧠 Also on the topic of the word 'damn,' there is a historically misattributed quote... 🌈⁂ The more you know...

Common Things For Uncommon Uses

Velcro (Cheaper by the Roll)

Velcro holds wheelchair cushions so they don't slide around. You can also use Velcro to give your TV remote a reliable place to hang.

Magnetic Cell Phone Mounts

If it can hold a cell phone on your car's dashboard why not the side of your wheelchair or nightstand? Next to your usual spots any place in the house?

Plus, scissors and other metallic objects; or any item you attach a self-adhesive metal plate to.

Spiffy traction pad

Good enough for your dashboard, good around the house, too.

Listed with keywords such as Anti-Slip Non-Slip Pad Mat Sticky Mats under "Dashboard Accessories."

Rubber bands

Lifted from 15 Things You Can Fix Around the House with a Rubber Band (TV Remote image and quote below.)

"...[Add] an element of non-slip to some of your more delicate household items (like an ashtray or remote control)..." I have used rubber bands on the feet of an arm bike, too.

Sit/Stand Desks

Another product group that has missed an opportunity is adjustable sit/stand desks.

The product should be marketed to any household with a wheelchair user. These desks can be adjusted manually (hand-cranked) or equipped with an electrical motor (or two) and operated by a connected controller. The table height can typically be roughly 29 inches (a dining table) to 46 inches. My computer monitor is on top of a desk with its height adjusted to 31 inches (+½ inch thick tabletop.)

Eating and Drinking

Chinese Soup Spoons

I discovered that Chinese Soup Spoons (shop for them by that name) made from plastic are much better for me. Plastic does not heat up and they have a deep bowl (the part at the end of the spoon handle.)

(That's right — a spoon is a tiny bowl on a stick; you hold the stick to dip the little bowl into the big bowl.)

Image by hartono subagio from pixabay.com

Plastic Soup Mug with Handle & Lid

Make sure it is microwave and dishwasher-safe. A handle makes holding and eating more successful.

A story with a lesson: An elderly pensioner comes to live with the family of his or her grown child. The time comes to admit that with age (or disability) there comes a need to choose plates, bowls, and cups that are lighter to hold and that will not break if dropped.

The story ends with a reminder that we will all become old one day. (Naturally.)

Wheat Straw Dinnerware

Dinnerware made from processed straw fibre is light and safe in the microwave and dishwasher. It will survive being dropped.

Home Automation

I am going to do what marketing departments refuse to do. Suggest real-life uses for home automation equipment for disabled users. (Advertise a security/accessibility product as being used by anyone who is "imperfect" ― inconceivable!)

🚑

One lesson you learn when you live with a chronic condition or a period of fragile health is that 911 operators will ask you to unlock the front door. "Aha!" I hear you thinking, "How is a disabled person —who is stuck in bed/fell out of a wheelchair/tangled in some other way/prevented from getting close enough to the door — going to get to the door?" You may even be asked to ensure the porch light is 'on,' any furniture or other impediment (to the EMTs) gets moved away, and all pets will be secured. (Again, how ... disabled person ... and all that.)

The same happens if you receive help from Health Care Aides (HCAs,) who might visit as often as three damn times a day.

(The second use of damn I warned about. I'll be damned if I am forced to use 'thrice daily' like a tween spelling bee champ.)

The images below are examples of home automation equipment. If you already use a home automation hub (Amazon's 'Alexa,' Google's 'Home/Nest,' Apple's 'Home/Siri,' and many others are available now.) Equipment in this group should come with a statement like "Works with... Google, Apple, Amazon..." Your security alarm system company (if you use one) may be providing and supporting home automation equipment.

Front door locks come many styles like ⓐ and ⓑ. Either way, choose the locks you can control through your smart home hub, a dedicated product app on a cell phone, or your security system service app. Pick your option but also consider these use scenarios.

‣ My morning HCA arrives at 7 a.m. (give or take.) I let Alberta Health Home Care know a code to unlock the door and they shared it with their HCA staffing service. The helpers can come and go as timing permits.

This is the most exciting nighttime action our doorbell has recorded: a spider so close to the lens it is out of focus. (The second most exciting was our neighbour "food bombing" us under the cover of darkness — leaving a container of food on our steps. Her retirement hobby is large-volume cooking which she donates.

ⓐ

Smart, smarter...

ⓒ

A video doorbell

ⓔ

A smart wall switch

ⓑ

and smartest.

ⓓ

A smart power socket

Image ⓐ by Dean Moriarty from Pixabay

Image ⓑ by Hafele Digital Locks from Pixabay

‣ We have a video doorbell similar to ⓒ. I can see whoever rings our doorbell through the camera and talk to them through the doorbell speaker using the connected cell phone app.

I get regular deliveries from my pharmacy. Other deliveries, too.

On occasion, I have asked delivery drivers to leave prescription drugs inside or come in so I can sign for a package.

‣ Image ⓓ is a plugin power switch. It will take over for the switch built into the lamp on your nightstand. On the side is a button with ⏻ moulded on it and that is your manual power button.

‣ Image ⓔ is a replacement for the light switch on your wall.

ⓓ and ⓔ will connect to your home wi-fi. Use a dedicated cell phone app or integrate with your home hub to control these.

Unabashed plugs

I snagged the image to the left at ShopperPlus.ca.

On the right is a similar product at Amazon.ca.

Anything that will stick to painted drywall or tile will also attach to your nightstand and other places where needed.

My real bathroom

To the left: My toothbrush and toothpaste cup. Mouth rinses and small bottles of things.

To the right, in the space between my wall-mounted sink and the wall, are some of the cleaning supplies my HCAs use. In front is blue dish soap in a condiment squeeze bottle, useful for squeezing a few drops of soap into a tube for flushing. The long-nose squeeze bottle is vinegar.

Are you sliding when you sit in a car or smooth-upholstered recliner? Try sitting on a rug pad (left.) Is your mattress not staying in place? A yoga mat between the mattress and box spring is the solution (left again.)

Yoga straps (right) make good foot-pullers (to get your foot on a wheelchair foot plate or up a stair — something I did in the early MS years with just one uncooperative foot.) Cut a strap shorter to hook on a grab handle in a car.

Physiotherapy patient pro tip: Avoid judgmental language ("my good vs. bad leg".) Limbs, muscles, and joints do not have virtues.

How to run a yoga strap for lifting a foot with a "drop foot" condition

Find the middle of the strap. That spot goes under the ball of your foot.
Cross the strap in front of your calf.
Proceed to cross behind the calf and under the knee.
Bring up and hold together.

Yoga strap wrapped under a foot used like a handle above the knee.

Good old safety pins can secretly attach underwear to pants so both get pulled up simultaneously. (I did that while I could still stand up for enough time to pull up shorts or jeans.)

Passive Aggressive Fun With Signs

If you install a wall-mounted sink (and I highly recommend you do) you may need a sign like this.

You are welcome to two versions of the image above: the one you see here (Safe For Work — SFW) and the one without the modesty fork pictures (Not Safe For Work — NSFW.)

(Yes, I put up the NSFW one near one exit I could use if not blocked. Yes, someone got annoyed and removed the sign, then had a change of heart and quietly returned it to where it was. Point made.)