#assistive devices

[spooniestrong]

📷: @zebrarae

[justseveralowls]

Reminder to my fellow spoonie/ disabled humans

-your mobility aids are not ruining you aesthetic

-your conditions do not make you a burden

-you are allowed to be angry

- you are allowed to grieve

- you are alllowed to seek joy

-you are allowed to make your life easier

-Your assistive devices are not weird or ugly they help you live and experience the world

-You are lovable

-you are valued

-Struggling or having flare ups is not a failure

- You dont need to explain yourself to anyone

- Your succeses are amazing even if they dont happen in the typical form or on a certain timeline

- You are allowed to take up space

- You dont have to be productive or inspiring 

- You aren’t alone

[disabilityaware]

Assistive devices are part of one's personal space. Always ask for permission before handling a disabled person's assistive device. This includes the less obvious ones like oxygen tanks and communication boards.

In solidarity,

- Aalya

[rosesandthorns44]

I lowkey forgot how helpful my grabber tool is for tidying up my room...

I can sit in a central location and just pick trash/laundry/recyclables and put them where they go!

I've had the dang thing for probably close to a decade. Why don't I use it? IDK. Internalized ableism? Imposter Syndrome? Denial?

I always tell myself, "I'm better now. I don't need all those things anymore," and avoid using any assistive devices unless I'm in so much pain I can barely move. It's bullshit! I'm making things so much harder for myself.

I keep thinking about getting a rollator so I can get out of the apartment more on my days off. Then I tell myself that's being overdramatic, and i don't need it. Lately, I'm resistant to even using my cane.

I get scared to go places on my own in case I get too tired! Clearly, I need SOMETHING.

I didn't use to be so self-conscious about visibly appearing disabled. It's more since I've entered the workforce, and I'm the only one at my company who uses mobility aids. Also, I got severely harassed/discriminated against by my ex-boss (reported her ass and got her fired!).

I'm fucking tired of being the odd one out at work and working in a completely NOT accessible building where the only mobility aid I even have the option to use is my cane.

Heavily considering applying to an independent living center a few cities over so I can be amongst peers and do some good for the local disabled community. It's just hard to make the leap and change careers.

[sweaterkittensahoy]

She's here! Just arrived, so I haven't practiced yet, but step one (obtain cane) is complete!

I've named her Letty. Because she'll let me get around more easily when my hip hurts.

Thanks to everyone who let me know about fashionablecanes.com. It really is an excellent site with a lot of good information about how to size/use a cane and also has a super robust search engine.

[freedrinksandbadadvice]

Ouch

I am in an unfamiliar town traveling for the eclipse, and on Saturday I went for a walk with a friend and tripped on a heaved sidewalk. My hip locked and I fell, luckily to the boulevard side so I landed mostly on grass. It hurt a lot, and I sat for awhile before determining nothing was broken and I could stand up, but wouldn't be able to walk back to where we were staying. My friend called her husband and said we needed a ride, and he picked us up. In the immediate aftermath I iced my hip, took ibuprofen, and took a hot shower and did some gentle stretching. It was pretty obvious to me I didn't need to go to urgent care, but one of my friends was skeptical and consulted a doctor friend of ours, who agreed but told him danger signs to watch out for that would indicate I did need to get checked out.

But by evening I was thinking about how I was going to handle the rest of the trip, not to mention getting home at the end, and quickly realized that the answer was to go buy a cane. And I'm not sure I would have realized that if I hadn't been listening to disability advocates online talking about the importance of normalizing mobility aids for several years now. So in the morning we swung by a pharmacy, I picked up a cane, and it hasn't really been a big deal. I move a little slower than my friends and can only carry things with one hand. But I brought a crossbody reusable shopping bag, because I usually do on vacation, so I can shove stuff in it. I thought about requesting assistance at the airport tonight but my hip's been feeling better every day and I'm walking almost normally for short distances, so we decided to check our bags instead of carrying on and I'll be fine with my cane.

So this is a general thank you to people here and elsewhere who've been open about their disability needs, and particularly @yespumpkindoodlesthings who's both talked about her own supportive devices and put them in her fiction. I probably won't need the cane for long this time, but I wouldn't be surprised to need it again some day, or some other device, and it's good to know I can just do that and it's no big deal.

[tackedtothewall]

People posting gifs from a recent CR ep (I’m behind) of Talesin wearing glasses w very stylish frames - posters complimenting the look. Meanwhile I, a fellow middle-aged geek am sitting here thinking “Finally! You remembered your glasses!” because he’s been saying he couldn’t read his dice for a few eps now.

It’s so nice when you finally start remembering to bring your glasses with you to play DnD and no longer have to squint concernedly at your dice wondering just what number you rolled.

[thewitchesworkshop]

Hi there, Does anyone have a pair of M+D combo stix they’re willing to sell off?

I know I dont post much on here but I am in need of a pair of forearm crutches. I have FND which has caused me to have paralytic episodes and has also caused a lot of degradation of functionality in my right foot (so much so that i’ve started to need to stilt the toes on said foot because theyve begun to curl into themselves)

Reason I want the combo stixs specifically is because their unique ability to change modes and I think that they would be a good fit for me. Also because they’re very well built and I dont want to have to rebuy crutches for at least a few years because crutches are expensive and I am poor. I’ll also take other crutches that have similar functions to the combo stixs

I’m willing to pay up to the original seller’s price for the crutches, but a lower price will be extremely appreciated because once again, I am poor

If you’re willing to sell to me plz dm me so we can talk about it, thank you so very much for your time and I hope you have a good day

[worm-dark]

Accessibility Reader Wanted

I am looking for someone who regularly requires a screen reader to test-read my portfolio PDF for me and send me a brief review of how well it worked for them, and notes on what isn't working if they run into problems. I would be happy to pay them, and include a credit at the end if they would prefer. It's a thirty-seven page document with a mix of text and images. Hit me up if this sounds like you, or please tag a friend who might be interested.

[tyrelpinnegar]

An Assistive Device Concept:

A seeing-eye AI. A glasses-mounted stereoscopic camera that’s wired to a smartphone in your pocket. It uses machine vision to pipe a description of what it sees directly into your ears, and natural language processing that allows you to request further clarification.

Also it’s open-source. Because if you create an assistive device and don’t open-source it you’re a monster.

[mamalikescrochet]

[spooniestrong]

3D Printing Catalog – TechOWL

If you live in Pennsylvania, you can order free assistive tech! 💙🥄

[whilomm]

random Q for tumblr people, anyone got shower chair recs?

i'm (mostly) able bodied and kinda just want one bc i know showers save water but i usually take baths bc I Like Sitting and im lazy. so, dont necessarily need one thats got all the features needed for disabled ppl, and i would like it if it looks nice. been idly thinkin about it for a bit since i saw a post about someone getting a shower chair just cause and yeah i think that would help me switch from baths to showers, and my new apartment has bathtubs that are like. excessively big. waste of water tbh.

for instance i found some wood ones that look nice but i uh. dont trust myself to actually properly take care of st made of wood for this. again, im lazy. i dont wanna have to clean that shit.

if nah ill probs just get a boring but practical cheap one.

[mitzvahmelting]

holy shit this is cool

[the-spoonie-life]

Hi! Im a new cane user. I wanted to ask how to bring a cane or wheelchair through TSA at the airport? I know how to store my cane in a plane, im just not sure how to get it through. Do I have to put it on the item belt? Or do I contonue walking through with it? Do I need to have an official diagnosis to even bring it?

I personally have never had to go through airport security with a cane/ wheelchair but I have been with my mum when she needed crutches. They had her walk through with the crutches and then used the wand to check her. You may just have to let the person know that you need it to be able to walk through.

Any one with experience with this leave your advice please.