abilitysstuff

[abilitysstuff]

I dont know who needs to hear this

But I sure did:

You can and absolutely should modify the chore/self care task if it makes life easier. Sit on the floor while doing laundry. Clean dishes while in a chair. Sit in the shower.

Save your spoons. Accommodate your fatigue rather than fighting it.

[abilitysstuff]

I honestly do not know how to pull my pants up in the bathroom!

[abilitysstuff]

hair dryer stand

I have never been able to lift a hair dryer

[abilitysstuff]

update!

I posted these silverware grips and after using them I can say that they work so much better with silverware that's stem or handle is one size, rather than bigger at top and gets smaller.

[abilitysstuff]

winter coat

If you, like me, have trouble finding a winter coat; look no further!

I use a wheelchair 100% of the time and I can not wear a coat that falls below my butt since I am always sitting on my butt.

I've looked everywhere, in store and online and never found anything. Everything fell below the waist. My sister comes over one day wearing the perfect coat and gives me this website.

There are so many options here it's wonderful!

(pictured is he one i bought)

[abilitysstuff]

zipper sheet

I don't have these (yet)

You put the bedsheet on like normal he first time. Every time after that though you just zip the top on and off. You don't have to do the corners every time you want your sheet washed.

[abilitysstuff]

bed sheet suspenders

Keeps your bad sheet in place

[abilitysstuff]

clip on earrings

I have very little fine motor skills and earrings are impossible for me. With a little help though I can wear clip ons. Pictured and linked is my favorite pair.

[abilitysstuff]

mattress topper

[abilitysstuff]

key turner

[abilitysstuff]

reacher grabber

[abilitysstuff]

toilet stand

[abilitysstuff]

Being disabled is so expensive. I bought a teapot today because, well I like tea and drink a lot while I'm studying and hate breaking my flow to ask my carer for another cup of tea.

But I can't lift a heavy pot and can't control my movement well enough to avoid getting scalding hot liquid all over myself, so I have to buy a piece of equipment that will allow me to pour the tea from the pot. And it's not cheap

I could have bought another 5 teapots for the amount that this cost me. And, while it's functional, it's a pretty ugly off-white plastic thing.

[abilitysstuff]

bag clips

[abilitysstuff]

This is your daily reminder to not be ashamed of making your life easy for yourself.

Cut your food into small pieces, make the font size 30 on your e book, use straws to drink, get a pen that’s comfortable to hold, take more naps, walk slowly, eat another cookie, buy velcro shoes, re-watch the part you couldn’t understand the first time, write things on your hands so you don’t forget it… whatever you want and/or need

Don’t let anyone tell you how you should be doing things. We don’t need to prove each other anything

[abilitysstuff]

don't be afraid of buying things that make your life easier. don't talk yourself out of it, beat yourself up for being "lazy", or shame yourself for not being able to do things the "right" way so you don't deserve to try it a different way.

if there's a thing out there that can make something faster, more bearable, less painful, more tolerable, anything like that at all, and you can afford it? you have the right, you deserve it, and you should do it.

i've stuck for the last several years with exclusively those detachable sprayer showerheads, because i need to be able to sit down in the bath and it makes the entire operation easier, so i'm less likely to risk a concussion or pass out or wobble and slip.

for the last few years, i've been using one with a little powerwash spray setting and i use it before and after every shower and it keeps my tub and shower cleaner so much longer, which is great because i hate cleaning the bath and can put it off for months, and scrubbing kills my shoulders.

sometimes, whether it's the executive dysfunction, or the depression, or knowing that i become entirely detached from the concept of time when in the shower, if i can't bring myself to get in the damn thing and do a full-blown shower, and i know i'd just be uncomfortable and not clean and still keep putting it off (because i can easily lose well over an hour once in there), i will kneel on my (cushy, quick-dry, memory foam) bathroom mat beside the tub and lean over it to wash my hair and face and maybe soap up to my shoulders. then later when it feels like a way more manageable and shorter task i can do a quick scrub and rinse.

i've bought cbd for when my joint pain makes sleeping otherwise impossible (even though it's expensive) and a work desk that has expandable legs to be a bed desk if i ever need to work sick (i'm lucky to be remote since my job change).

i've bought the screw-top, 40oz, insulated mugs and extra long plastic straws (do not @ me) and the pop-bottom giant cube ice trays all because every one of those helps ensure i drink more water every day (and so does the faucet-mounted water filter).

i buy specific individual snacks that require little to no prep so even when the execution of making a sandwich is Too Damn Much, i can still make myself do some calorie intake.

i talked myself into a cushioned mattress topper to relieve my spine and because it's way cheaper than a new mattress. i bought blackout curtains for our old apartment because the outdoor lights were insanely bright at all hours and made sleep even more elusive.

i've purchased slip on-only shoes or no-tie laces because i hate tying shoelace knots, my hands are less dexterous than ever (and hurt), and because i struggle with time management and it's one small thing to shave off just a little more time so i'm a little less late.

i didn't buy all of these things all at once, definitely. i am, sadly, made of meat and not money.

but i started budgeting, slowly, more and more of whatever amount of disposable income i had after bills towards "thing to make life suck less and not be so hard" and i can't regret it in the least.

i deserve not only small comforts and joys, but also less pain and difficulty, and ways to make challenging parts of life a little more within my reach with not quite as much effort.

so do you.