Archive for the ‘Everyday life aids’ Category
Ingenious: A cooling vest and Cap which only needs water!
星期六, 七月 27th, 2013Due to the rather tropical outside temperatures I would like to call your attention like every year to two older blogposts!
One is about a
Cooling Vest
(click here)
and the other one about a
Cooling Cap
(click here)
Since the summer 2013 has found us as well I have the prototype of a cooling shirt, also from the company E-cooline in permanent test mode, and I am happy.
Read the comments to the blogposts, there are some tips of other readers!!!
Translator BL
Technical Aids for Quadriplegics Part XII
星期二, 三月 12th, 2013It doesn’t always have to be the expensive aids from the medical supply stores which make one’s life easier.
If you have finger motor functions as if you are wearing boxing gloves the little metal clip on the toast packaging becomes your object of hate.
These clips are “Newton’s” best friend.
For some time, I am only using re-usable
plastic fasteners
for plastic bags.
Simply great, these little clips.
They are available in some supermarkets or for little money at the yellow Swedes!
Translator BL
Technical Aids for Quadriplegics Part XI
星期四, 三月 7th, 2013Around 30 years ago I tried to learn to play guitar.
The success was so limited that I put the career aspiration to be a professional musician on hold for an indefinite period.
As mentioned already several times, my finger function is very limited since my accident so that playing the guitar was not necessarily on my priority list.
Many quadriplegics like me with our cervical spine injuries have difficulties with gripping.
Therefore it was so much surprising when Mary from Scotland (quadriplegic as well) showed me her self-constructed
guitar plectrum holder.
When she told me that in spite of her handicap she is able again to strum around on her guitar her eyes were sparkling.
A really great idea, we need more of these.
Tips as usual to contact: rollinator@eigude.de
Click here on “Quadriplegic Tips”, to read other tips!!!
Translator BL
Technical Aids Tips and Tricks XXVIII
星期五, 一月 18th, 2013The medically proven positive effect of hop blossom ice tea, or disdainfully just called beer, is generally known.
“Cold wheat soup” dope
is extensively carried out, especially in Bavaria with state recognition.
If you are not able to remove the crown cap of the medicine bottle any more due to the paralysis of your hands, illness, stroke or too much doping, there is only one thing to help, the
One-arm-hop-blossom-ice-tea-bottle-opener
Source of supply of this ingenious aid without medical device number is amongst others
the company www.Mehal.de
I have already reported about their knife holder (see older blogpost).
Here is a link to other helpful special openers:
2. self-developed technical aid, my medicine bottle opener
Security advice: Too much doping can influence the driving characteristics of your wheelchair substantially.
Special thanks to Technical Aids Stuntman Ochim, who immediately volunteered to test the opener with video evidence.
Translator BL
Technical Aids Tips and Tricks XLVIII
星期五, 十一月 2nd, 2012Since I am rolling through the world for 5 years now, I have another enemy besides disabled parking place occupiers, namely doors.
These mostly white pieces are slowly turning into a phobia.
Not so easy to pull the door shut when you are standing… eh, sitting in your own way.
Hold the handle tight, roll backwards and mind not to fall forward if possible, or to do a backflip with the wheelchair.
In hospital I already had a long ribbon with which I was always fishing for the door handles. This ribbon is still hanging on the door of my flat and is serving its purpose.
I hate my own kitchen door, it is one meter wide. I only say:
No arms, no cookies…!!!
Only the door knows why I haven’t hung such a ribbon on my beloved kitchen door during the last 4 years.
The blue-yellow nordic timber worms offer drawer handles in all designs, sizes and colours. There were no more hurdles for the
kitchen door tuning.
A mate has screwed such a handle on my favourite door from the inside.
Now I can eventually close the door even when I am already standing in the corridor.
Because the screws have to be very long I recommend to immediately take threaded bars (on IKEA handles mostly thread M4), and saw it off to size only at the end.
If you leave the bars a bit longer you can even mount two towel hooks at the inside on the door.
Tip, always drill the holes from outside to inside and use an air level.
Looks a bit like a towel rail, I like it. Next, the door of my flat will be refurbished.
Before spot-drilling the entrance door it can’t do any harm to integrate the landlord in selecting the handles.
Translator BL
Technical Aids for Quadriplegics Part X
星期四, 九月 27th, 2012One of the biggest difficulties for us quadriplegics is opening screw caps of jars and bottles.
The variant to beat them up with a hammer or to throw the jars and bottles in the easiest way on the floor to open them is working excellently, but proved out to be inefficient in practice after a longer test phase.
I have reported already several times about special openers, (see older blogposts).
As self-confessed roamer on websites of the most different online medical supply stores I have found two new models made from silicone. The sunflower bottle opener
Model Geniosa
is working quite well, but needs getting used to. The
blue jar opener
has convinced me completely with its splines on the in- and outside whereby it gets a good grip, and is in my opinion even a little bit better than its competitor product of the company Dycem, whose products I think are excellent.
Source of supply of both items at www.dein-sanitätshaus.de
I assume no responsibility for an aching head on the next day after an extensive test series of the openers with e.g. a bottle of vodka and a jar of figs 
Translator BL
Addendum Technical Aids Tips and Tricks XLVI
星期五, 八月 24th, 2012Addendum to blogpost from 01. November 2011 about a self-constructed
window opener for wheelers.
From a fellow wheeler I have got the tip that she is using a window opener of the company
www.w-invention.de
for years and is very happy with it.
Source: w-invention.de
I had a closer look at this part in the internet and agree with her.
For buckled fingers like me with limited finger function the handle would have to be modified a little.
I consider the price as fair, which is probably because this window opener unfortunately doesn’t have a medical device number.
If someone should manage to convince his health insurance to cover the costs for this useful technical aid please send me a short message.
Again thanks for this tip to Bärbel from Berlin.
If you have more tricks on your mind, as usual e-mail to: rollinator@eigude.de
Translator BL
Technical Aids for Quadriplegics IX
星期五, 八月 10th, 2012There are often small things which can help to get mad a little less in spite of one’s handicap. With my buckled fingers I always have “slight” difficulties to hold a pen.
Even before my accident I already had a kind of cryptographic handwriting (dreadful scrawl), which I only could decipher myself, but now…
My “handwriting“ is quite dreadful despite occupational therapy in which I started like in first grade to draw “e” and “a”.
I always try to convince myself to see everything sportingly and stay quiet, but if it is about writing I rarely succeed.
Everybody who once had a healthy set of hands knows what I mean.
I recommend to everyone who would like to try out such a handicap to do the housekeeping for at least 1,5 hours with leather ski gloves, or just try to write an address on an envelope… with sender!
If I could really motivate somebody for this test I would appreciate to receive a test report. rollinator@eigude.de
I didn’t like pencils any more at all, these things were too smooth for me.
You might put rubber foam or rubber caps on the pencils, but it might work differently as well.
The company Staedtler is known for their writing utensils of all kind.
They are offering a
rubberized pencil (type Noris Ergosoft)
which I think is very recommendable due to its grip.
With this one you might be able to write a love letter in ski gloves.
Translator BL
Technical Aids Tips and Tricks Part LI
星期三, 六月 27th, 2012As offered on my front page, you can ask me all kinds of questions relating to technical aids, para- or quadriplegia etc. using rollinator@eigude.de.
I always try to answer these questions independently and free of charge.
Depending on the handicap the usually easiest activities become small and big challenges.
There are no problems, there are just challenges and a big challenge is a project.
Recently I received a most interesting enquiry, original text:
Because I am hemiplegic on the right side, you might know how I can stir the contents of a cooking pot on the stove without the pot stirring as well.
Maybe you have FINALLY an answer to that question!
I discussed with highly qualified colleagues to find a possible solution.
After several weeks of intensive research we came up with two solutions.
Option 1:
For e.g. sauce Bolognese you don’t only buy 500g of minced meat, but at least 2 kg, so that due to the gravitational force of the earth and the law of mass inertia according to Newton, at simultaneous roasting of the 2 kg meat with non-excessive stirring, the pot on the stove will not stir as well.
Option 2:
Silicon pot holders
Currently you can buy these again at the big coffee roaster (2 pieces for 4,95€).
You can not only use them as pot holders.
According to manufacturer instructions the pot holders can also be used as trivet.
They would be temperature-resistant until 230 degrees Celsius.
These are referred to in our specially developed
Glass ceramic stove top one arm pot stirring method
Before cooking, one of the silicon pot holders is placed next to the glass ceramic stove top.
If you feel the need to protect the hopefully later delicious food from the roasty flavour and stir the contents of the pot, you just pull the pot on one handle with one arm half or a little more on the silicon pot holder.
If the pot is pulled completely on the pot holder there will be difficulties with pulling it back to the stove later.
Now you can stir, stir, stir,… with one arm to your heart’s content without the pot stirring as well.
Then you pull the pot again back to the stove.
Sounds easy, and it is
Best try it before with the stove switched off.
These silicon pot holders are also perfectly suitable as non-slip mat and allegedly as jar opener as well.
Best technical aid in my opinion to open jars and bottles, see older blogpost.
Security advice:
I strongly advise against placing especially cast-iron and other pans and pressure cookers on the silicon pot holders because they may exceed the maximum temperature of 230° C.
Never place the pot holders on the stovetop!!!
Application of the tip on your own risk, I assume no liability.
Translator BL
Technical Aids and Tricks Part L
星期一, 五月 7th, 2012I have found a great technical aid to open canned staple food, with fish, instant noodles, goulash soup, wieners, Coke, Bed Rull, beer and cider.
The Canpull opener was awarded with a design prize, the unofficial Oscar for household items of all kind.
One reason more for an extensive Rollinator test as I always had ambivalent feelings towards designer parts. From experience, unfortunately modern appearance and functionality rarely fit together.
This is not the case with the
Canpuller and Soda Snap
With one side
dog, cat and human food cans
can be opened tetra easily.
A small plastic nose clicks into the ring-pull of the can so that the Canpuller doesn’t slip off when it is bent for opening. This is working without problems.
Unfortunately the Canpuller doesn’t help against the burning lips if three chilli peppers are displayed on the “devil’s goulash” can. I am currently a little handicapped.
The other side of the award winner is suitable to open beverage cans in record time.
Thus you can pass an opened can of Prosecco to your colleague even after the eight successful test series with hop blossom ice tea cans of which the content was professionally disposed into the gorge.
This can opener is a well-thought-out and functional technical aid.
Source of Supply: http://www.desicare.de
I give to the Canpuller 4,5 out of 5 possible Golden Steering Forks.
Half a steering fork had to be deducted because manual hands-on is still necessary.
Another type of can opener, (see older blogpost).
An ingenious bottle opener, (see older blogpost).
Translator BL
Addendum Technical Aids Tips and Tricks XLIX
星期三, 四月 18th, 2012I am always happy when my blog is not only read, but if other tips are sent to me as well.
In my blog of 04.02.2012 I described (see older blogpost), how fast the disabled parking permit escapes in the car at forceful braking and vanishes into the ventilation slot of the windscreen.
A citizen from Potsdam involved in the problem has given some thought and developed a
Parking Permit Holder
.
This object is great and is awarded after a long-time test for several weeks by the unbribable (except for fresh nut slices), independent Rollinator test team, with the new founded
Roll-On Innovation Award on the Silver Axis
for technical aids. The parking permit holder is a holder made from Plexiglas in which the conventional disabled or resident parking permits can be inserted.
The holder has a dovetail on the lower part with which it can be put in the much dreaded ventilation slot. Thereby the construction turns upwards, so that the permit clamps in parallel to the windscreen.
The permit thus will be seen very well, but can be removed any time “tetra easily” from the holder.
It is a well-thought new technical aid which is not only functional, but has a reasonable price as well.
For more information see www.parkausweishalterung.de
Translator BL
Technical Aids Tips und Tricks XLIX
星期六, 二月 4th, 2012I heard that disabled parking permits can virtually vanish into thin air and can’t be found in the car anymore.
They possibly fall into black holes. Partial drifts in the space-time continuum are nothing unusual anyway.
Everybody knows it when you are looking for something, can’t find it, and suddenly it is back again.
As rumour has it, the permits are also stolen at night by SUV and cabriolet driving pedestrians.
But there is also the variant that the permit has never left the vehicle.
The permit is not gone, you just don’t see it any more…!!!
The permits are laminated in plastic foil and therefore quite slippery. Apply the brakes forcefully a couple of times, and the parking permit vanishes rapidly between front screen and dashboard like in a letter box.
Then a good fisherman or the new application for the VIP permit is required!!!
I can’t advise the extraction of the car dashboard to anyone, something is always creaking afterwards.
It’s absolutely clear that most of the people with walking disability have fixed their parking permits in their cars in some way.
But if you are regularly taken along by different people in their cars the parking permit should stay removable and can’t be fixed with a “final solution”.
OK…, it could…!!!
As “final solution” I recommend to adhere the permit to the windscreen with a special glue which hardens under ultraviolet light (the sun will help), e.g. Loctite 30xx.
A theft of the parking permit is only possible including the screen then.
If I am on the road with a friend in his car, I made the experience that the dashboard jump for my permit is nothing unusual.
The easiest way is to stick some self-adhesive rubber pads or non-slip mat underneath the permit, or to put it like in the picture below in a thick cover.
The non-slip mat is available in the do-it-yourself store around the corner in car accessories or from the company Dycem, (see older blogposts Technical Aids for Quadriplegics Part I und Part IV), who makes very good technical aids which I have tested myself.
This special English disabled parking disc is good for maximum 3 hours parking, presumably like in Germany in restricted parking zones, is new to me.
I am currently thinking about illuminating my disabled parking permit with a LED matrix as you can see on television if a new CD is presented.
Click on tag “Handicap Parking to read other nice stories!
Translator BL
