Disability Management: First Set of Useful Products

Fighting disability is all about management. All such persons who led or are leading a great life with disability do know the skill of management very well. Although management skills are required by each and every individual as well as organization but a person with disability needs management to the core level. Disability management, if taken seriously, can have multiple layers and branches just like any other management stream. One of the very basic branches of disability management according to me can be “managing daily life more independently”.

This article is written keeping in view the needs of persons with disabilities to manage their lives and make things easier. Here we present a list of small things that can help individuals with disabilities to live their daily lives with much ease. And the most interesting fact is that none of these products have been made especially for persons with disability.

Female Urination Device

This name deserves to be on the top of the list when a female is preparing the list. Despite living in a patriarchal society and having my own share of challenges as a girl — I never wished to be a boy. But whenever I went out and needed a public toilet I crazily wished to have a male body. After meeting other girls using wheelchair or crutches, I found that more or less every girl in such situation feels that boys are luckier to have a different type of body. Many disabled girls and women keep themselves confined in their house just because they cannot manage to use public toilets.

This simple, reusable, easy to carry device can give females the wing to fly high leaving the comfort zone of their home. If you wish you can get one with extendable pipe and a proper container to carry… I’ve chosen the link based on cost effectiveness. You can easily make a pouch of a breathable cloth to store your device separately in your purse.

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Easy to use Mosquito net

With all those mosquito repellent in the market — it is quite tempting to believe that mosquito nets are not needed anymore. But the fact remains that we use and need mosquito nets to sleep calmly without inhaling poisonous gases or exposing our body to any chemical. Most commonly used mosquito nets need to be tied and untied daily. And this easy looking task is actually pretty tough for many individuals due to different reasons. As a wheelchair user, it was really tough for me to tie the four ends of mosquito net at an optimum height. I did want to take help from my family members for a daily activity so I would simply say ‘I hate sleeping in net’. I guess it would be even tougher for people with arthritis or the ones having usable muscles only in one hand.

Once you set up this mosquito net, you can open and close it with simply one hand that too sitting comfortably on your bed. This mosquito net can also be customized in accordance to your bed size.

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Nail cutter with magnifying glass

Nail cutters with magnifying glass have been made for assisting parents who are scared lest they clip raw nails of their small babies. Magnifying glass attached to the nail cutter is adjusted in such an angle that it magnifies the size of nails and makes it easier to cut finger nails. It is also preferred by some people as it makes cutting their toe-nails and small nail in pinkie finger easier. Doing your personal work yourself gives the great feeling of self-dependence. And so this small device can make a great change in the life of a person with low vision.

In addition to the nail cutters with magnifying glass — scissors with magnifying glass are also available. These scissors are meant for craft workers who need to cut things in finer details but can also be used by people with low visions for cutting paper and things in their daily lives.

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Long Handled Bath-sponge

Sold under the tag of bathroom accessories and luxury the long-handled bath sponge can prove empowering for individuals with limited hand movement and those who need assistance in bathing. Long handle of the sponge allows a person to clean body areas that are otherwise impossible or too difficult to reach. Back cleaning is very difficult for individuals with jammed frozen shoulder. Similarly a problem in pelvic joints makes it impossible to clean your legs and toes. Everyone who could would certainly like to bathe without assistance and in most cases it is possible with help of small devices.

There are some other variations of long handled bath-sponge. You can choose the one keeping in view your gripping power and design of the handle.

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Finger cap/guard protects fingers from cut

There is an unsaid rule followed by society ‘restrict people with disabilities to do any work in order to protect them from any harm’. The feeling or the intention behind this gesture is most often a genuine care for the person with disability. But many a times it becomes frustrating for the person who is being cared. There are many persons with visual impairment who love to cook but are restricted from entering the kitchen. Your loved ones should be given protection from danger rather than being restricted from doing the work they wish to do.

A finger guard may prove really beneficial for safety of a person with low vision while cutting vegetables and fruits.

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Slicer guide for cutting vegetables

If finger guard still feels unsafe then you must give a thought to slicer guide. Nothing can be safer than a slicer guide when you are using a knife and a chopping board. When a person with low vision uses the slicer guide for slicing vegetables and fruits the chance of accidental cuts are completely eliminated. This can be used for cutting vegetables and slicing salads without a fear of accidental cuts.

For making cutting safer and faster you can equip your kitchen with kitchen friendly equipment such as multi-blade scissors, knife and chopping board turned into scissor etc. Market is full of user friendly equipment you just need to scan it keeping in view your needs and desires.

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Simple key holder

Meant for and advertised as an organizer of your keys can come handy for arthritics and persons with dexterity problem. It is tough task for a person with arthritis to hold small sized keys and open the lock. A key holder can be easier to hold due to its bigger size and the person with arthritis and dexterity issues can easily use the keys by grabbing the key holder. Persons with issue in holding small keys can easily lock and unlock holding the key holder in their hands.

There are various shapes and sizes of the key holders that can be chosen keeping in view the person’s need. This will not only ease the task of locking and unlocking but also keeps all the keys organized.

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A multipurpose trolley

Wheels are by far the best invention done by humans. Wheels make things easier in lots of ways that we often keep on ignoring. All of us use trolleys in malls, railway station, airports but normally we don’t think about using it in home. As a wheelchair user I can take my food from kitchen to dining table with the plate in my lap. But it becomes quite difficult when I have to carry things like tea and coffee or too many plates when I’ve guests in my house. I would call my parents from kitchen to take the plates and glasses that I’ve served for guests. I wish to buy this trolley so that I don’t have to ask for help… I would like to serve my family and guests by myself. Similar problem might be faced by someone walking with crutches or someone who has only one arm. This problem can easily be solved when we can roll things in the multipurpose trolley.

Pushing or pulling something on wheels is a lot easier than carrying it. For certain people with disabilities carrying things is very difficult. And we keep on needing things to be taken from one place to another in our house. This trolley would make it much easier.

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There are plenty of common things that can bring huge changes to the life of persons with disability. If you chance upon something that you think can solve problems of people with any kind of disability, please do share with us.