#disability life hacks

[stonebutchooze]

anyone got any tips for making lace up boots more accessible? a lot of the accessible laces I see are more meant for trainers or running shoes, not boots with a protected ankle. Any punky crips got experience trying accessible laces on docs or solovairs? if so, what do you recommend? any accommodation advice is helpful

[fungushoney]

Does anyone have that video of the dude with Down’s syndrome who goes “this is the best way to put on your coat” and does a fantastic over-the-head maneuver and the coat just floats on?? Because ever since I saw that video I’ve been using his method to put on my jacket and my life is utterly improved

[bastetsbard]

Cane-using occupational therapist here: this is overall an excellent guide. However, ONE item (only!) is not what you’ll learn in therapy: stairs!

The guideline we are taught is “up with the good, down with the bad”. You should be using the unaffected leg to lower the affected leg down when descending the stairs—it minimizes the amount of time you are weight-bearing on the weaker side.

And as someone who has spent way too much time using a cane, it works out that way exactly for fatigue, especially when you have to do a lot of stairs multiple times in a day (a.k.a. Hell).

Other than that, this is thoroughly excellent and well-researched. Just remember, the goal is to minimize the gravity on the affected side!

A general cane guide for writers and artists (from a cane user, writer, and artist!)

Disclaimer: Though I have been using a cane for 6 years, I am not a doctor, nor am I by any means an expert. This guide is true to my experience, but there are as many ways to use a cane as there are cane users!

This guide will not include: White canes for blindness, crutches, walkers, or wheelchairs as I have no personal experience with these.

This is meant to be a general guide to get you started and avoid some common mishaps/misconceptions, but you absolutely should continue to do your own research outside of this guide!

The biggest recurring problem I've seen is using the cane on the wrong side. The cane goes on the opposite side of the pain! If your character has even-sided pain or needs it for balance/weakness, then use the cane in the non-dominant hand to keep the dominant hand free. Some cane users also switch sides to give their arm a rest!

A cane takes about 20% of your weight off the opposite leg. It should fit within your natural gait and become something of an extension of your body. If you need more weight off than 20%, then crutches, a walker, or a wheelchair is needed.

Putting more pressure on the cane, using it on the wrong side, or having it at the wrong height will make it less effective, and can cause long term damage to your body from improper pressure and posture. (Hugh Laurie genuinely hurt his body from years of using a cane wrong on House!)

(an animated GIF of a cane matching the natural walking gait. It turns red when pressure is placed on it.)

When going up and down stairs, there is an ideal standard: You want to use the handrail and the cane at the same time, or prioritize the handrail if it's only on one side. When going up stairs you lead with your good leg and follow with the cane and hurt leg together. When going down stairs you lead with the cane, then the good leg, and THEN the leg that needs help.

Realistically though, many people don't move out of the way for cane users to access the railing, many stairs don't have railings, and many are wet, rusty, or generally not ideal to grip.

In these cases, if you have a friend nearby, holding on to them is a good idea. Or, take it one step at a time carefully if you're alone.

Now we come to a very common mistake I see... Using fashion canes for medical use!

(These are 4 broad shapes, but there is INCREDIBLE variation in cane handles. Research heavily what will be best for your character's specific needs!)

The handle is the contact point for all the weight you're putting on your cane, and that pressure is being put onto your hand, wrist, and shoulder. So the shape is very important for long term use!

Knob handles (and very decorative handles) are not used for medical use for this reason. It adds extra stress to the body and can damage your hand to put constant pressure onto these painful shapes.

The weight of a cane is also incredibly important, as a heavier cane will cause wear on your body much faster. When you're using it all day, it gets heavy fast! If your character struggles with weakness, then they won't want a heavy cane if they can help it!

This is also part of why sword canes aren't usually very viable for medical use (along with them usually being knob handles) is that swords are extra weight!

However, a small knife or perhaps a retractable blade hidden within the base might be viable even for weak characters.

Bases have a lot of variability as well, and the modern standard is generally adjustable bases. Adjustable canes are very handy if your character regularly changes shoe height, for instance (gotta keep the height at your hip!)

Canes help on most terrain with their standard base and structure. But for some terrain, you might want a different base, or to forego the cane entirely! This article covers it pretty well.

Many cane users decorate their canes! Stickers are incredibly common, and painting canes is relatively common as well! You'll also see people replacing the standard wrist strap with a personalized one, or even adding a small charm to the ring the strap connects to. (nothing too large, or it gets annoying as the cane is swinging around everywhere)

(my canes, for reference)

If your character uses a cane full time, then they might also have multiple canes that look different aesthetically to match their outfits!

When it comes to practical things outside of the cane, you reasonably only have one hand available while it's being used. Many people will hook their cane onto their arm or let it dangle on the strap (if they have one) while using their cane arm, but it's often significantly less convenient than 2 hands. But, if you need 2 hands, then it's either setting the cane down or letting it hang!

For this reason, optimizing one handed use is ideal! Keeping bags/items on the side of your free hand helps keep your items accessible.

When sitting, the cane either leans against a wall or table, goes under the chair, or hooks onto the back of the chair. (It often falls when hanging off of a chair, in my experience)

When getting up, the user will either use their cane to help them balance/support as they stand, or get up and then grab their cane. This depends on what it's being used for (balance vs pain when walking, for instance!)

That's everything I can think of for now. Thank you for reading my long-but-absolutely-not-comprehensive list of things to keep in mind when writing or drawing a cane user!

Happy disability pride month! Go forth and make more characters use canes!!!

[twinknote]

i just stumbled upon this video and it feels life changing enough that i'm not only going to try it out myself, but i'm also going to share a written summary here!

PROBLEM: routines are especially difficult for anyone who has fluctuating energy and motivation levels from day to day (this often includes people with ADHD, autism, mental illness, and disabilities)

SOLUTION: having three options for a routine according to your energy and motivation levels makes it easier to be consistent, even if you're not doing the exact same thing every day

THE METHOD:

(the video and this post uses a morning routine as an example, but this technique can be used for any kind of routine)

list all the things you would ideally like to accomplish on a perfect day. this is the list she includes in the video:

(imo this is a lot of things! your list might look different and that's ok!)

this is your IDEAL ROUTINE. personally, i'm going to call mine the two spoon routine because 1. 'ideal' sounds a bit moralistic to me and 2. she specifically says that this is NOT the routine you'll be doing the most often. this is the routine you'll do when you wake up feeling the most energized and motivated.

next, you're going to make a second version of this routine. think of how you feel on an average day and get rid of the things that you don't generally have the energy or motivation to do. this is her list:

this is your MOST-LIKELY ROUTINE. i'm going to call this my one spoon routine. this is the routine you'll probably do the most often. it's for days when you're not incredibly energetic or motivated, but you feel relatively decent.

next, you're going to make one last version of this routine. think of how you feel on a bad day and get rid of the things that you don't generally have the energy or motivation to do. this is her list:

this is your MINIMUM ROUTINE. i'm going to call this my no spoon routine. this is what you'll do when you wake up with no energy or motivation. she also says in the video that if your minimum routine is simply having a bowl of cereal to fuel yourself, that's perfectly okay and so much better than not getting out of bed for hours and/or leaving the house without eating.

remember to be realistic about what you'll have the ability to accomplish for each of these! you can always add more things in the future, but starting off with too intimidating/strenuous of a routine will prevent you from being successful.

[creacherkeeper]

how to unfuck your sink (get those dishes warshed)

so, short intro for those who don't know me. disabled person, activist, developmental disability social worker. second part of the intro is i fucking hate doing the dishes they haunt and torment me. so this is how i get my sink empty when the dishes have piled up to the point of having voting rights and i need them to go away

take these steps over as long a period of time as you need to, but try as hard as you can not to go backwards in steps

step 1: make sure you have any accessibility tools you need to comfortably wash dishes. these might include rubber gloves, a soap dispensing scrubber wand, sensitive skin friendly dishsoap, noise canceling headphones, etc

step 2: do not add new dishes to the pile. when you use a dish, it gets washed and put away immediately

step 3: stop using clean dishes. when you need a dish, find one in your dirty pile and wash it, use it, wash it again, and put it away

step 4: wash a few dishes while waiting on timers. soup in the microwave for three minutes? wash dishes just for those three minutes and then be done

step 5: wash all dishes of like type. just go through and pick out all your forks and wash those. just wash the plates. just wash the cups. whatever you desperately need more clean things of, just wash those

step 6: finish your dishes!! after a little while of steps 2 through 5 you should start whittling down how many dishes are left in your sink. once it gets to a place where your brain says "oh that's not too bad" then put on a fun playlist or video or podcast and just finish up! you can even do this while waiting on a longer timer like if you're cooking a frozen pizza

and that's that! personally i cannot stand having dishes in the sink so once they start piling up it stresses me out so bad but also feels increasingly impossible to do. so this is the method i devised that works for me. i really just have to wash my dishes as soon as i use them or else i get Upsetti but inevitably theyll start to pile and then this is what i do

hope this can help someone!! go forth and kick chore ass!!

[rosesandthorns44]

Why did nobody ever tell me that one can rip the godforsaken push-and-turn cap off of pill bottles, and there is a perfectly functional, easy to open cap underneath???

What sorcery is this?!?!

Who knew about this and didn't tell the rest of us???

[us-the-voices-and-more-voices-2]

actually good cleaning hacks from someone who’s been through some shit

Get a steam mop I don’t care how much it is or cheap, just get one

if you have a pet invest in a wet dry vacuum, you will thank me.

get cleaning cloths you actually like the feel of, if you hate microfiber get a cheap set of tea towels and use them instead. Or chop up a dead tee shirt and use that.

plug in vacuums are 2x more powerful than non-plug in vacuums. You trade sucking power for mobility with cordless, so think that over when you get one.

buying a cheap mop every time one gets moldy is cheaper than having to deal with any mold you get from using a moldy mop.

invest in disinfectant/antifungal/antiviral/antibacterial liquid for your laundry, because that stuff makes getting rid of moldy musty musky shit easy. And it cleans your cleaning cloths without getting them greasy or soapy.

to fix “I accidentally left my clothes in the washing machine too long now they smell like mold” thing, you will need antifungal laundry liquid and the literal sun. Wash your clothes on the hottest setting you can with your clothing materials in mind, add the antifungal before you start, let it go for like 2 hours. And put it in the sun to dry. Repeat if it still smells moldy, until it doesn’t anymore, works like a charm!

to clean crystalline dog piss, you will need water, a steam mop, a wet dry vacuum (depending on if it’s in a carpet) dog cleaning spray or vinegar. Basically , rehydrate the piss, clean it up with dog spray or HOT vinegarish water, grab a steam mop and steam it (if not on carpet) and viola it should be okay now.

If it’s in the carpet you will need to rehydrate the piss, then just dowse the piss with water, use the wet dry vacuum to suck up the water, repeat until water comes up clean. Use whatever pet cleaner that’s good on your carpet to get the smell out, Patch test it in the corner of the carpet before you do it on the piss spot, soak up and remaining water from the carpet until it’s dry or blow dry it if you have to. And tada you have a cleaner carpet! The same works for dog shit too.

drain snakes are your best friend if you don’t remember to get the hair out the drain.

have one sponge for wiping down the sink and one for washing your dishes, because sometimes it’s easier to use a sponge to wipe down the sink than a cleaning cloth.

You can put sponges in the dishwasher and it cleans them REALLY WELL, do it everyday if you can.

Invest in a good glass cleaner for glass because when it gets greasy it’s hell.

Koh cleaner will literally cut through grease and oil, and fat. Like it wasn’t even there, if you don’t have the money white vinegar and bi-carbs does the same thing. Though be careful because it’s reactive and might destroy your countertop or pots, just invest in koh your life won’t be the same. (I can clean all the grease off things, that’s how good it works. Plus it doesn’t smell!!!)

Replace your toilet cleaner every 3 months, or make sure you don’t let it fester. That’s more of a hassle than replacing it every now and then.

Get a good dish soap, because you can use it for everything because of how mild it is.

After mopping always steam mop otherwise it will always be streaky or tacky, idk why but steam mops fix this 9/10 times.

there’s more, but I;m too tired.

[honey-crypt]

major recommendation from someone with chronic pain: invest in a massaging heating pad!!! i just got mine today and i’m testing it out now and oh my god it’s so good… especially since i accidentally caused myself to flare up cuz i was sitting at my desk and playing stardew valley for 3 hours straight >_<

edit: link to the one i got (on sale for $36)

[positivelyqueer]

Have difficulty cutting solid vegetables like pumpkin or potatoes or carrots? Roast then whole first! Boiling the smaller vegetables would also work but I like roasting because I can walk away from the oven for the forty or so minutes it takes to cook. Much much easier to chop up afterwards. I use technique to make soup but could be good for roast veggies, mash or other recipes. Enjoy!

[that-awkward-fae-nerd]

LIFE TIPS TIME, BITCHES!

Are you a struggling spoonie with lots of shit that needs dusting? Do you collect little knickknacks and collectibles to bring joy in your life? Do you find yourself despairing over dust goddamn everywhere?

Well do I have the product for you!

(This is not an actual product placement I’m actually just super excited about this)

Say hello to museum putty!

This shit. This shit is the TITS! And I’m talking top tier tits here, none of that Barbie doll shit!

Listen.

Listen to my wise words

You just take your various collectibles, slap a bit of museum putty on the bottom, and bam! It’s not moving. You can dust without moving all your little tchotchkes and filling yourself with despair at the idea of putting them back again.

But wait!

There’s MORE!

If you have cats, this makes anything unable to be knocked off tables or shelves!

If you live in an earthquake prone area, it keeps things in place while the planet has a temper tantrum!

Not to mention, it is reusable! You can use the same putty over and over again until it becomes a pile of sad grit that sticks to nothing!

It doesn’t work on fabric, because you don’t want putty in your fibers, but everything else? Oh ho, it is fair game!

Museum Putty! Hell yeah!

[lianabrooks]

You are too old to be wearing the expectations of other people.

- Liana Brooks

[sparkylurkdragon]

Accessibility suggestion for other folks who can walk but can't stand for long periods: Get a bar chair, the adjustable kind, for your kitchen. This way you can stand as needed when preparing food, and it's high enough that you're at about counter level.

[stefkaryan]

"A real meal is a meal made the hard way." That's a sign I see at the local KFC, and it ticks me RIGHT off.

There is nothing whatsoever that makes a meal "made the hard way" any more real than a meal made using short cuts. Sure, I love a good mirepoix for my soup, and I often make one from scratch. Most of the time, even. But you know what? My husband has NEVER turned up his nose at a homemade soup I've dished up that involves ingredients I bought pre-chopped.

Will buying veggies pre-cut help you to eat more of them? Pre-sliced cheese? Frozen burritos? Jarred spaghetti sauce? Good, good, good, and good. There is no moral failure to using convenience foods. Heck, there is no moral failure to using shopping and delivery services, either.

"Fed is best" is for more than just babies. Busy, sick, quarantined, have a disability, just bloody don't feel like [insert avoidable task here]? Then work around it, whatever that means for you.

Fond as I am of some of the Colonel's products, the attitude in the opening quote is puritanical, ableist, pointless nonsense. Life is hard enough. You owe it to nobody to make it harder than you need to, just because it is physically possible for you to do so.

[k41tlyn8487]

I’m bored so I’m on an Asking Spree

what’s one life hack that you know?

Oh wow ok

Not sure if this counts as a life hack but if i have a pot of dipping sauce ill put the sauce on my fork and then the food so that the food doesnt fall in the sauce the drown in it

Not sure if this counts though hahaha

[jowzii]

DISABILITY TIP: MAKING A BED

THIS IS PURELY FROM MY EXPERIENCE AS A HOUSEKEEPER WHO SUFFERED FROM hEDS AND MENTAL ILLNESS AND THE IMMENSE HATRED OF MAKING BEDS:

One of the most annoying parts of making a bed, I found, was actually finding what corners to put on the mattress. You'd think you'd get it right by putting one corner on first, but then the sheet couldn't stretch over to the other corner because it was actually the width of the bed - WHATEVER.

I noticed (in my two years of being the sole housekeeper for a 40+ room motel) that THE TAG ALWAYS GOES ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER.

It doesn't matter if you got a king bed, a twin bed, a cot, a queen bed, whatever; if your fitted sheet/flat sheet has a tag on it, 99% of the time whatever corner that tag is closest to (or on) is the BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER.

Meaning: if you were to hold that tag in your right hand and stand at the foot of your bed, the corner of the bed closest to you, on your right, belongs to the corner that you're holding (with the tag in your right hand!!!)

PRO TIP: if for some reason that doesn't work, pass the tagged corner over to your left hand, and your problem will be solved inshallah. I found all of this to be true with hotel linens and my own mismatched linens at home.

(I'm putting a bunch of tags because as a disabled and mentally ill/neurodivergent person, I remember absolutely having a meltdown because I couldn't find the correct corner before I was a housekeeper.)