Button Board

 

This morning when I open my e-mail I found the most interesting letter.  Dominic Valentino  wrote me about a website he constructed called Button Board buttonboard.com , which allows an individual to surf the web using just the mouse. He built the website for his own personal use but was wondering if it would be helpful to other people who have limited range of motion or other problems. I tried the website and it works great. It amazes me the technological skills that some people have.

There are two other commercially available products which may make your computer more user friendly. The first is the UBS Haspel 4 Port Web Hub which connects to a UBS port in the back of your computer. A 3 foot long cord on a reel allows you to place the plug in device anywhere you want it. There are four UBS ports located around a  4” circular hub. If your dexterity is limited when you go to connect something like a scan disk at least one port is usually facing the right way. The cost at Radio Shack is less than $10. The second, also available at Radio Shack, is a Logitech Trackman Marble (Computer Mouse) The mouse ball is on the top as opposed to the bottom. The entire device stays in one place and you just manipulate the ball. It can be setup for right or left-handed people. You can choose what function you want the easily accessible button to perform. Also it enables you to control the speed of the cursor. I encourage you to try the Button Board website and forward it on to anybody you believe would find it useful. Please if you have created something like Dominic which would be useful to others contact us.

ROLLING PROUD by Andrew Levinson

Who’s David Cameron and Why Should We Care?

In the past, I posted about Australia’s efforts to reform its long-term care system for people with disabilities via a proposal called the NDIS. It got me to thinking: What about Australia’s former colonial master in the United Kingdom?

It turns out that Britain has been making headlines in the area of disability rights as well. First of all, David Cameron, and the Conservative Party that he leads, is ahead of incumbent Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Labour Party going into a parliamentary election due to happen by June.

All right. So…who cares?

Well, Cameron recently lost his six-year old son to multiple disabilities, in the forms of epilepsy and cerebral palsy. (Remember Bruce Bonyhady of Australia and his sons with cerebral palsy)? Does this mean that disability rights advocates could have a strong ally in a new British prime minister next year?

Cameron would not only be inheriting a country with major economic problems that are similar to the U.S., but will also be taking the helm at a time when his political opponents in the Labour Party , in another British parallel to Australia, have been discussing long-term care reform in Britain. Britain’s universal health care system, the NHS (National Health Service), does not include provisions for home care for the elderly and people with disabilities. Would Cameron advocate for such reforms as well, with present budgetary constraints in Britain? This remains to be seen, although Cameron has already gone against members of his own party to oppose cuts to the NHS in memory of his son.

We also shouldn’t forget that Britain will be hosting the Summer Paralympics in 2012. What might a Prime Minister Cameron do to prepare and celebrate this event in the run-up to it? This also remains to be seen.  Stay tuned…

Quad Mitts

  I read Kelly Rouba latest blog with great interest. I have been trying to encourage people to think outside the box and telling them that there is more than one way to solve a problem. After looking at the “gloves” Kelly’s friend made for her it just demonstrates what I have been encourage others to do. She found an inexpensive way to solve the challenge confronting her. I was faced with a similar situation and came up with a slightly different solution. My problem was trying to keep my hands warm when I was outside.  My fingers are always clenched in a loose fist position.  It was very difficult for my wife or nurse to put regular gloves on my hands.  It quickly became evident that mittens would work best.  Unfortunately, mittens created problems of their own.  It was impossible to keep my thumb in the thumb of the mitten.  The major problem with mittens however, was that once I took them off I was unable to get them back on by myself.  So I designed what I like to call Quad Mitts. They have an opening at each end with the front one tighter. I was able to get my wife’s friend to knit a trial pair and they worked extremely well.  The picture below shows the pattern that we used.  Note that the cuff is extra long and can be folded over what I am wearing so I don’t have to worry about them coming off. When I need to use my bare hand I just push it though the hole in the front end and then pull the end back over my hand when I am finished. I am a big man so you may need to adjust the measurements according to your own size. If you know someone who will knit for you maybe you want to think about a pair of sleeves (my arms are always cold) and/or leg warmers. Often in the morning I will have my nurse put my sleeves on with a tee-shirt and then I will take them off when the day warms up.

Gloves for Everyone

By Kelly Rouba

All too often people without mobility restrictions take for granted the ease in which they are able to manage their personal care—from brushing their hair to bathing to putting on clothes. It is mundane tasks like these that can prove to be the most frustrating for those of us who struggle to accomplish them or simply cannot do them at all.

As someone who has difficulty with activities like putting on socks or styling my hair due to severe arthritis, I know that it can be embarrassing or bothersome to have to ask for help from others. In the past, there have been days when I simply couldn’t bring myself to ask or no one was around to help. In some cases, I just forego doing certain things all together, like putting on a hat or wearing gloves. Because of the limited range of motion in my shoulders, I cannot put on a hat. And whereas gloves are concerned, my fingers have so many contractures that I can only wear mittens, which I find to be restrictive and juvenile (sorry to those who like wearing them!).

However, from time to time, a stroke of luck comes my way and I happen upon an adaptive device or unusual product that allows me to accomplish things that I could never do or struggled with doing before. In fact, this very thing happened just a couple weeks ago when Christy Gibney, a darling woman I have collaborated with on work-related projects, made my coworkers fingerless gloves, so to speak. Although Christy made me a scarf, she quickly got to work on a pair of gloves for me after seeing how easy it was for me to put them on due to their design and that I could still maintain the function in my fingers.

Within a few days, my very own pair of blue gloves arrived at my home. My mother actually cried when she saw them because it has been years since I’ve worn anything to keep my hands warm when outside. It always pained her to watch me go out of the home in the cold. That evening, I proudly wore my gloves when we went out to eat and the warmth they provided to my fingers was an amazing feeling.

It is my belief that this type of glove would be beneficial for many people with disabilities and even those without. According to my coworkers, they are able to do so much more—from caring for their children to operating their cars—with these gloves than they could in regular ones and none of them have a disability.

Christy informed me that the pattern for fingerless gloves is available online; she also told me there are a number of knitting groups that donate items they knit. Those who can’t knit or don’t know anyone who does may want to search for these groups online in order to submit a request.

I am very grateful for Christy’s generosity and for eliminating one of my lifelong struggles. It’s a great feeling, and I hope readers of this blog find the gloves just as helpful.