Because of this disability I use a fair few 'aids' to help me live normally. I don't need a wheelchair (yet!) but I do use a stick for balance, especially on uneven ground or in busy places where people might bump against me. I don't want a repeat of the falling down the escalator on the London Underground experience! I have a few sticks and I'm thinking of getting another. I like them fancy and the collapsible ones are handy. There always seems to be a good selection on Ebay.
In this post I thought I would share a few of the things I use to make life easier. There are Amazon affiliate links, that doesn't cost you anything to use but Amazon give me a tiny (and I mean tiny!) percentage of the profits of any sales from them.
To help me dress in the morning, as I have very poor fine motor control in my hands and fingers, I use a sort of modern day button hook. To say it's been a life changer is an understatement! For years I relied on my husband to button up the duvet cover and to do up the small buttons on my shirts. I had actually stopped buying clothes with buttons until I bought this gadget! It also helps with fiddly zips, as long as they have a hole in them, those annoying 'cute' zip pulls you often see on ladies clothes that have no hole in are a pain! (since buying this gadget I have also purchased some beautiful vintage button hooks, once needed for fancy lady's boots and gloves they are excellent for zips and pretty as well!)
You know how in the movies when the hero gives a necklace to his lady love and he just reaches round behind her neck and 'click' the clasp is fixed! Or the lady removes her jewellery at the end of the day, just a quick movement under her hair and the necklace clasp is open... well I have never been able to do that, and now I struggle even using a mirror and doing it where I can see! So I bought some magnetic necklace clasps, I worried they would be weak and fall open but they are amazing and now I wouldn't be without them.
I can't open jars because of weakness, there are lots of things o the market to help to open jars, gadgets that release the air pressure, twist grips. rubber sheets, but I now use a tiny robot. My electric jar opener is just the best thing!
I am also the proud owner of a granny grabber. I'm fairly sure that isn't it's real name, but standing on a chair when you are wobbly is pretty risky, so I use a long handled grabber when I can.
When walking upstairs I need to hold onto the rail because of poor balance. This means carrying anything up or downstairs is difficult, small items I can put in a stair basket but cups of tea? I can't use a regular tray one handed, but this modern take on the butler tray is perfect and I use it a lot. I feel like it would be useful to anyone really, allowing you to open doors etc and giving you one free hand while you move things about.
Modern cans and tins no longer need can openers (though if they did there is an electric option) but eve a ring pull is tricky when your hands are like mine. So I have a small gadget to pop the pull up and then to pull off the lid.
Life is not all doom and gloom of course and I enjoy a tipple. I love to drink cava (Spanish champagne) and of course the cork can be a struggle. You can buy a proper thing to loosen the cork I think, but I use a set of antique nutcrackers, just because I can.
At our entrance way is a boot remover, I am finding it increasingly tricky to bend down and VERY tricky to have the strength to remove a book without hep. Ours is a cast iron boot beetle.
So there are some of my useful things, and yes I notice being disabled is expensive. If I find any more useful gadgets I will let you know and you can share any you use in the comments.
