Are you afraid to be in crowds because you may fall if someone bumps you? Does your “good” leg hurt because it holds most of our weight? Try a cane. Here are a few tips on selecting and using a cane, which you can make yourself or purchase at a local drug store/medical supply store. Some insurance plans will cover the …
Shared peer advice from polio survivors about what works for them.
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Out to Sea – Accessible Cruising
I love to travel. No, I live to travel, and when I was mobile I did a lot of it, from camping here in the US to sightseeing in Europe. I can divide my travel history into three phases. Phase 1 – “Almost” able-bodied. I could walk distances, climb, pull my own luggage, hop on and off trains. No need …
And Away We Go! Traveling with Mobility Aids
Travel overseas – or anywhere – can be enjoyable, enriching, enlightening, or a complete disaster if your equipment ends up mutilated or at the wrong destination. You should have the adventures, not your wheelchair. I have flown with a power scooter and a manual wheelchair, and have accompanied others who traveled with power wheelchairs. Air travel affords you less control …
Keeping Mobility Equipment Together
A few months ago I flew to the east coast for a cruise and needed to take both my scooter and manual wheelchair. The problem was that both “vehicles” had loose parts and I was worried that something would get lost in the baggage compartment during the flight. My scooter has two parts that come off easily – the basket …
Positioning for Comfort during Work, Leisure Activities and Rest
I. INTRODUCTION Please understand that consistently using the principles discussed below is important when performing ANY activity. In other words, do not wait to use these principles just when you are in pain, but rather, use the principles all of the time. Why should you use these principles? To prevent pain and further malfunction. To maintain ease of movement during …
Facing Reality
Grace Young My most shocking revelation was that I really did have a disability. That didn’t happen for almost forty years after I had polio. At age 46 I started working at Kaiser and my supervisor asked me, “Grace, do you consider yourself disabled?” It was the height of affirmative-action consciousness and he needed to identify minority members of his …
Scooter or Power Chair: A Stigma
From the series, Polio Survivors Ask, by Nancy Baldwin Carter, B.A, M.Ed.Psych, from Omaha, Nebraska, is a polio survivor, a writer, and is founder and former director of Nebraska Polio Survivors Association. Q: I’m in the market for either a power chair or a scooter and am trying to make up my mind which would be better for me. I’ve heard there’s a …
The Point of the ADA
From the series, Polio Survivors Ask, by Nancy Baldwin Carter, B.A, M.Ed.Psych, from Omaha, Nebraska, is a polio survivor, a writer, and is founder and former director of Nebraska Polio Survivors Association. Q: I just remodeled my kitchen and found non-slip tile that is called “ADA tile.” The label helped me narrow the possibilities, but I wasn’t sure if that was a good …
Please Be Seated!
Prolonged standing is stressful; some people find it harder to stand in one place than to walk. We need to conserve energy while doing everyday tasks so we have vitality left for the fun stuff. So…..sit down! Sitting while performing activities takes 25% less energy – how easy is that? And the benefits don’t stop there; sitting places less demand …
Fear of Using a Cane
From the series, Polio Survivors Ask, by Nancy Baldwin Carter, B.A, M.Ed.Psych, from Omaha, Nebraska, is a polio survivor, a writer, and is founder and former director of Nebraska Polio Survivors Association. Q: A friend who had polio told me that since he uses a cane, people give him more room so he has less fear of being bumped by others. He wishes …