My Most-Used Disability Aid
When I was younger, even living with cerebral palsy, it was a lot easier to get around and accomplish the tasks I am able to do for myself. Granted, I will never be able to change a ceiling light bulb, but I can take care of my own basic needs, cook-if I have too, do household chores, and basically get by enough to live independently with a disability. However, with age, I have come to really appreciate those inventors who’ve created tools to make our lives a little easier; and, I want to tell you about my most used disability aid.
Never Leave Home without It
I actually forget which commercial it was, but I remember a company advertising their product with the slogan ‘never leave home without it’. Well, that is how I feel about my ‘pinchy stick’. Actually, the appropriate term is reach extender. I use this device for so many daily activities, like dressing myself, that I am really in a pickle if I go out of town and leave it at home.
In fact, I wish I had a reach extender for every room in the house, because I am always laying them down somewhere. Then, I freak out, if I can’t find them. I am always asking the kids if they have seem my ‘pinchy stick’.
My Multipurpose Tool
I use my reach extender in every room of the house. In fact, it would make grocery shopping a lot easier, if I took them to the store-for reaching those higher shelves.
In the laundry room, I use them to pick up the laundry and put it in the washing machine. Unfortunately, I also use them to pick up trash in that room, when my son leaves things in his pockets.
In the kitchen, I use my ‘pinchy stick’ to grab lightweight dishes off of the higher shelves. If I drop something on the floor or need to use a towel to mop up a spill, they also come in handy.
In the livingroom, I use them to pick up stuff off the floor. My son has this annoying habit of leaving stuff laying around. He also likes to work on art projects, while watching television. It seems like there is always crud on the floor.
Unfortunately, he is not always the most observant. He will leave paper scraps on the floor that will clog the vacuum cleaner. Of course, I am not the neatest individual on the planet either, so they are just great for helping me pick up the house.
The bedroom and bathroom are when I use my reach extenders the most. They help me get dressed every day, put my shoes on and off several times a day, pick stuff up off the floor, extend my reach to pick something up, if I do not want to transfer into my wheelchair and go get it.
I went to Amazon.com, in order to find you a picture of the reach extenders I use every day. But, when I went looking around, I actually found some that I think would work better. In fact, I may have to get some for myself. I know they are at least a foot longer. Plus, instead of pinching what I need to pick up, they look as if they grab more like a hand would.
Not just for People Living with Cerebral Palsy
Of course, reach extenders are not just for people that live with cerebral palsy. My son borrows them to reach an object that has fallen behind the furniture.
My mother, who suffers from back and hip problems, uses them to pick stuff up. It is a lot easier and less painful than bending over. Some people are just shorter than average, and a reach extender is a lot easier than dragging a stepping stool around everywhere.
The Idea is Independence
For me, the whole idea behind using the reach extender is using a tool that enables me to live as independently as possible. I may get dressed differently than an able-bodied person, and it may take me longer, but I get the job done. The activities that most people take for granted, and do without giving it a second thought, can be made a lot easier, as long as I am never to far from my most-used multipurpose disability aid.
