From Tongs to Talking Computers

Kitchen tongs/Reacher Tool

One of the things I love about teaching is I get to learn so much.  Sometimes I learn while researching and preparing for a class.  Sometimes I learn because of the individual and collective wisdom of the students in the class.  Last year, while teaching a class on assistive devices, one of the participants was willing to share her ingenious solutions to a diminished range of motion she was experiencing.  The assistive devices class is all about different items that make life easier based on changing abilities.  This great student was also a vibrant educator.  She talked about common household items she was using to make her life easier.  Because of her limited range of reach, she kept a pair of long kitchen tongs tucked between the console and passenger seat of her car. If something dropped in the car, she’d use the tongs to retrieve it.  Which reminds me to mention that for people with limited range, there are attachments that can be placed on seat belts making them easier to reach to pull down.  Many of us wouldn’t think that this seemingly simple task could be much a problem, but I remember my Grandma Bernece couldn’t reach to buckle herself into the car safely following a shoulder injury.  A little, inexpensive device could end up being a life-saver. 

Car handle aid

I also think of the car standing aid and handle, which is a very sturdy-built item that temporarily locks onto door latch.  Grandma Bernece’s bout with polio as a toddler left her with one leg shorter than the other.  She struggled with mobility most of her life, but in her later years, that weak leg made getting into and out of a car more of a challenge.  I wish we had known about the standing aid that would have given her one more place for sturdy grip

Lotion Applier

as she got in and out of the vehicle.  Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. 

Last week, I was grateful the enthusiast student from the class who also shared that she used a long-handled kitchen spatula to apply lotion to her back.  As I was home alone several days last week, coughing and coughing, I wanted vapor rub applied to my back.  There were just a few spots I couldn’t reach, so I went to the kitchen and got a rubber scraper that had seen it’s better days for kitchen use, and dipped it into my vapor balm and within a few minutes was sleeping peacefully, letting the vapor do its thing.  Hooray for a student who shared a great idea!

Talking Calculator

Most assistive devices, it seems, are born from necessity.  They can be something as simple as an adapted kitchen utensil to as elaborate as a talking computer.  For those who need them, they can bring independence and relief.  Many devices can be tried for free, on loan from MonTech or through contacting LowVision Montana at 1-800-601-5004 or Great Falls Blind and Low Vision Services Team at 1 (888) 279-7527.  Or, you can contact your local MSU Extension Office because it is amazing what we have learned over the years through the classes and students we teach.